Anti-War Solidarity with Julian Assange - Verdict on Extradition Thurs Feb 24th. 2011
international |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report 
Friday February 18, 2011 07:29
by Ciaron - Giuseppe Conlon House/ London Catholic Worker
London, England
Youtube (4mins 39 secs) - Anti-War Solidarity with Manning & Assange outside Julian Assange Extraditon Hearing in London
Verdict - February 24th 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_QcSBGj_-8
Members of three Catholic Worker communities - Giuseppe Conlon House/ London. Rickmansworth/ Farmhouse & St. Francis/ Oxford - joined with folks from WikiLeaks London Support, Justice for Assange and Anonymous over last week's three days of Julian Assange's extradition at Woolwich Courty/ an appenage to Cat A Belmarsh Prison.
Catholic Workers set up a shrine to the war dead and anti-war prisoners. They also respectfully read out names of Afghan and British military war dead. The magistrate decided to adjourn and hand down a wirtten appeal.
It appears that there has been a intense British media campaign to prepare the public for the returning of Julian Assange to solitary confinement. Panorama, the Guardian et. al have been lined up to send Assange down, offline and put back in the box of Category A Belmarsh's solitary confinement..
Support outside the court has been - numberswise - pathetic, whether this indicates trhe death of the British anti-war movement. its consrervative opportiunisitc nature (it knows nothing of serious resistance and the solidarity required to sustain it) under 10 long years of SWP/Labor Party leadership OR the disconnect between a cyber generation and a recognition of turning up to court OR whether it's because Assange is Australian who knows????
Catholic Workers will be heading back to Woolkwich Court/ Belmarsh Prison on verdict day - this coming Thursday Feb. 24th. Verdict set to be handed down 10 am. There is a tunnel that connects court and prison, Assange will most likely be taken through the tunnel if decisionis negative pending application for bail in relation to an appeal. We now know that it was the British government (probably at direction of the Americans) who opposed bail so vigoriously in December - not the Swedes,
The Swediish dimension has always been nothing more than a holding action, as the Guardian reports this week that a secret grand jury has been meeeting in Alexanderia, Vriginia to deal with Assange and a number of the other key WikiLeaks activists. Assange will eventually face direct extraditon to the U.S. from England.
That both the Guardian, and the former WikiLeaks dude, are trying to hock books attacking Assange during this period o ffree promotional publicity as the world's media report his likely return to jail, possibly for life.... this is as low as liberals go.
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Jump To Comment: 1Veterans For Peace Demands Apology From Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Watches as Police Manhandle Peaceful Protester- Ray McGovern
WASHINGTON - February 17 - Just minutes after Secretary Clinton began a speech lauding freedom of the internet, two security personnel forcefully removed an audience member wearing a Veterans For Peace t-shirt who had silently stood and turned his back to her. Ray McGovern, a 71-year old veteran, and former CIA analyst was violently grabbed and forcibly removed from the auditorium in direct view of Mrs. Clinton. According to Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney with the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, “For this peaceful expression of dissent, he ended up bruised, bloodied, arrested, and jailed. Secretary Clinton never paused, continuing her speech lecturing other countries about the need to allow freedom of expression and dissent, while Mr. McGovern was hauled out in front of her.”
Mr. McGovern is covered with bruises, and the metal handcuffs were fastened so tightly that his wrists were cut and bloody. After being held by local police, he was told that he was being charged with “disorderly conduct.”
We asked Ray for a quick statement after his release. He wrote:
“I find myself wondering if this show of brutality may be a signpost on a path to even wider and more brutal repression. I have been comparing what happened during Clinton’s speech Tuesday with my four-minute mini-debate with Donald Rumsfeld on May 4, 2006 in Atlanta (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MInHphR4zBg). Halfway through, Rumsfeld gives the nod to a black-hatted security fellow to elbow me away from the microphone.
I shout, ‘So this is America.’ Rumsfeld takes one look at the TV cameras streaming live, makes a snap decision, and tells the security fellow to let me stay. During that same speech in Atlanta, one fearless witness stands dead-center in the audience with his back to Rumsfeld for the entire speech and is not bothered, much less beaten and jailed.
The contrast between the experience of May 2006 and February 2011 can be viewed through the prism of the proverbial ‘boiling frog.’ There does seem to be a subtle but successful campaign to get people gradually accustomed to increasingly repressive measures; and many, perhaps most, Americans seem oblivious.
After 9/11 Norman Mailer saw a ‘pre-fascist climate’ reigning in America. If we don’t stand up for our rights, it may not be long before we shall have to drop the ‘pre.’”
Veterans For Peace is proud of our member Ray McGovern, whose simple, dignified action speaks volumes about the power of non-violence. We abhor the actions of the security personnel who reacted violently and in flagrant violation of Mr. McGovern’s First Amendment rights. We also deplore the indifference of Secretary Clinton who didn’t bat an eye and we demand that she apologize for her silence and hypocrisy. Most importantly, we call on the American public to wake up to the dark reality of what this country has become…a place where civil liberties and freedom of expression are becoming increasingly endangered, and the government’s response to every situation is intimidation and force.
Call 202-647-4000 and write Sec. Clinton to protest.
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