Big Win For Julian Assange

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights based in Costa Rica has ruled that the British government has to let Assange leave the Ecuadorian embassy without harassment or threat of arrest and let him go to Ecuador where he was granted citizenship. The big question is will they allow this to happen? The bigger question is that if he is allowed to board a plane what will the US ask its allies to do?

Remember when Bolivian president, Eva Morales' plane was searched by Austria after it was rerouted to Austria when France, Spain, and Italy[2] reportedly denied access to their airspace, allegedly due to suspicions that Snowden was on board? Who's to say that any plane that is thought to have Assange on it won't face the same thing?

Julian Assange Scores Major Legal Victory as Court Orders Safe Passage of Wikileaks Founder Out of Embassy Written by Adam Garrie on 2018-07-13

Relevant portions of the press release from the Court can be read below:

“The Court interpreted the reach of the protection given under Article 22(7) of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article XXVII of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, which recognize the right to seek and receive asylum in a foreign territory. In particular, the Court declared upon the relative issue of whether this human right protects both territorial asylum and diplomatic asylum. Similarly, the Court determined the human rights obligations of Member States of the Organization of American States regarding the host country and, in this case, for third States, in virtue of the risk that persons seeking international protection could suffer, which was the reason for the principle of non-refoulement. Starting with the inclusion of the term “in a foreign territory” within the instruments, (which clearly refers to the protection derived from territorial asylum as opposed to diplomatic asylum), and in an analysis of the preparatory work of the American Declaration regarding the choice of the States to omit the concept of diplomatic asylum as a protected classification under such human rights norms, the Court held that, given the protections enshrined by Article 22(7) of the American Convention and Article XXVII of the American Declaration, the right to seek and receive asylum can be contemplated as a human right to seek and receive international protection in a foreign territory, including refugee status under the relevant United Nations instruments or corresponding national laws as well as territorial asylum under the different Inter-American conventions on the topic. Similarly, the Court concluded that the scope and breadth of diplomatic asylum should be governed by the appropriate interstate conventions and the provisions of internal legislation, considering that the States have the sovereign right to
choose whether to grant such asylum.

Let's hope that the hideous treatment of Julian Assange is finally going to come to end just because he dared to show us the truth that the PTB would rather have been kept hidden. Thank you Julian for all that you have done and sacrificed for the truth.

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mimi's picture

nobody would see him until he arrives. /s

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dance you monster's picture

@mimi

. . . that is the first point of vulnerability. I saw your snark tag, but let's explore this. Would the UK protect him? The vehicles should be sovereign territory just like the embassy, but the UK's options lie between pleasing the US and meeting diplomatic obligations to South American nations. Every Latin country would regard what the UK does to one Latin country as indicative of what they'd do to any. How principled is Britain?

And then, if he was able to board a submarine, would the US just say "screw the rules" and sink it enroute to Ecuador? The world knows which country on this planet is the rogue one, so do our PTB care if there is another brief flash of outcry in a long, long chain of outcries?

Or say they let him get to Ecuador. Then it's just another bit of wet work for a nation that thinks rules are for suckers.

Leaving that embassy is likely to shorten Assange's life expectancy considerably. Wasn't it Hillary who as SoS queried (facetiously, of course -- wink, wink) why we don't send a cruise missile into that embassy in London, in the capitol of our closest ally, just to get Assange? That's how sick we are. That's a suggestion that now is considered just lighthearted fun. The US, regardless of whose administration is the current occupant, is a nation that "sends a lesson."

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mimi's picture

@dance you monster
with your wonderfully well-meant answers. Thank You.

Right now I have only silly songs: (I suggest to skip listening to them) Wink
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtHr7gluh08&list=PLhlqpCiqU_2yul3sCnrX34...

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OLinda's picture

Hi Snoopydawg. I don't hold much hope for the U.S. paying attention to any rulings or laws they don't care for. I expect them to ignore it. They are currently ignoring 2 U.N. rulings that say Assange is being held illegally. Also, his current status of not being allowed visitors, communication, internet, phone, etc., is against asylum conditions.

The US has put pressure on Ecuador and U.K. to contain Assange.

One hope would be that Trump has pissed off May and other U.K. officials at the recent meetings, and they would decide to do what is right instead of being bullied. Doubtful, however. If he does get out, he should perhaps not go to Ecuador. Even with citizenship, the new president is not on Assange's side.

The U.N. should put together a contingent of armed rescuers. I thought of Assange when that guy was rescued from prison with a helicopter landing and armed men picking him up.

Also, someone, was it Pompeo?, said Assange has no rights, so that tells you how sick they are.

It's a sickening, tragic situation. Someone(s) other than the authorities needs to help him.

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OLinda's picture

@OLinda

"Organization 1" in the recent indictment is supposed to be Wikileaks. Mueller apparently has messages between Guccifer 2.0 and WL, who everyone assumes was Assange doing the writing. He asks for material on Hillary and says when he would like to have it. Mueller says Guccifer 2.0 is now known to be Russian. Whether Assange knew that is not known, but it will be assumed he did. Anyway, the indictment is not helpful for him. Reputationally with the U.S. govt. if nothing else. This will not help his case.

Sorry to be so pessimistic. Sad

Assange is driven, and wants to be the one with the big scoops. He points out to Guccifer that the material will get much more viewership if Wikileaks publishes it, than if Guccifer gives it to someone else. Rather than colluding or trying to affect an election, to me, Assange was just trying to get it on the action and score another coup for Wikileaks. If DNC or Hillary info is going to be published, he wants it!!

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@OLinda
It's what real investigative reporters do instead of parroting US governmeny and Goldman-Sachs press releases.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

snoopydawg's picture

@OLinda

Organization 1" in the recent indictment is supposed to be Wikileaks. Mueller apparently has messages between Guccifer 2.0 and WL, who everyone assumes was Assange doing the writing. He asks for material on Hillary and says when he would like to have it.

Wikileaks isn't in the habit of asking people to asking people for information so they can release it. There have been some abnormal tweets from Wikileaks recently that are nothing like the tweets they have previously written. Who's to say that the CIA hasn't been faking Wikileaks information? As to you being pessimistic I don't think you are. More of a realist. The only way he gets out of the embassy safely is by how you said. Only some organization with enough power to hold off the US and its goons from stopping it. But one thing that ruling shows is how Assange is being illegally kept in the embassy because of the fear that he will be extradited to the USA and not given a fair trial. He should never have been charged because he has broken no laws. Our media is too craven to point that out.

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snoopydawg's picture

@OLinda

Was it from the article that James Risen wrote for the Intercept? If so then I'm sure it's false. Risen refused to give up his source for the information they reported on, but after 6 years the case against him went away. Why? This is what I have always wondered. Not many see the charges just dropped.

Risen' article
https://theintercept.com/2018/07/13/indictment-of-russian-intelligence-o...

Who he is
https://theintercept.com/staff/jimrisen/

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OLinda's picture

@snoopydawg

Darn, now I'll have to go look! I am pretty sure it is in the indictment. I had seen it previously somewhere else, also just pretty sure on that too.

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OLinda's picture

@snoopydawg

Well, rereading, I see Organization 1 is mentioned in my comment. That WL asked Guccifer for Hillary info is from the indictment. I'll see if I can find the actual language.

Of course Indictments are not evidence.

(Assange nor WL are indicted, just mentioned.)

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OLinda's picture

@snoopydawg

I can't recall where I saw it when I composed the comment, so I went to the source - the indictment. It is here: https://www.justice.gov/file/1080281/download

and is searchable with your browser find feature. I searched for Organization to find references to Organization 1 - Wikileaks. There is more than I'm putting here if you want to check it out.

Emphasis mine.

7. The Conspirators also used the Guccifer 2.0 persona to release additional stolen documents through a website maintained by an organization (“Organization 1”), that had previously posted documents stolen from U.S. persons, entities, and the U.S. government. The Conspirators continued their U.S. election-interference operations through in or around November 2016.

….

12. Defendant IVAN SERGEYEVICH YERMAKOV (Ермаков Иван Сергеевич) was a
Russian military officer assigned to ANTONOV’s department within Unit 26165. Since in or around 2010, YERMAKOV used various online personas, including “Kate S. Milton,” “James
McMorgans,” and “Karen W. Millen,” to conduct hacking operations on behalf of Unit 26165. In or around March 2016, YERMAKOV participated in hacking at least two email accounts from which campaign-related documents were released through DCLeaks. In or around May 2016, YERMAKOV also participated in hacking the DNC email server and stealing DNC emails that were later released through Organization 1.

….

47. In order to expand their interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Conspirators transferred many of the documents they stole from the DNC and the chairman of the Clinton Campaign to Organization 1. The Conspirators, posing as Guccifer 2.0, discussed the release of the stolen documents and the timing of those releases with Organization 1 to heighten their impact on the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

a. On or about June 22, 2016, Organization 1 sent a private message to Guccifer 2.0 to “[s]end any new material [stolen from the DNC] here for us to review and it will have a much higher impact than what you are doing.” On or about July 6, 2016,

Organization 1 added, “if you have anything hillary related we want it in the nexttweo [sic] days prefable [sic] because the DNC [Democratic National Convention] is approaching and she will solidify bernie supporters behind her after.” The Conspirators responded, “ok . . . i see.” Organization 1 explained, “we think trump has only a 25% chance of winning against hillary . . . so conflict between bernie and hillary is interesting.”

b. After failed attempts to transfer the stolen documents starting in late June 2016, on or about July 14, 2016, the Conspirators, posing as Guccifer 2.0, sent Organization 1 an email with an attachment titled “wk dnc link1.txt.gpg.” The Conspirators explained to Organization 1 that the encrypted file contained instructions on how to access an online archive of stolen DNC documents. On orabout July 18, 2016, Organization 1 confirmed it had “the 1Gb or so archive” and would make a release of the stolen documents “this week.”

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snoopydawg's picture

@OLinda

This just doesn't seem like something Wikileaks would do to get information. I wasn't aware that they had ever asked for information before, but who knows?

This just seems weird.

He asks for material on Hillary and says when he would like to have it.

Craig Murray has stated that he met with one of the people who gave the DNC computers information to Wikileaks and Ray McGovern's group has shown how that information had to have been downloaded, not hacked from the outside because of the transfer speed.

Either way, we know that the PTB will do anything to derail the Trump/Putin meeting and the timing of this information is conveniently just in time to do that. Plus it's funny to watch which persons from the democrats and republicans who have called for the meeting to not happen. They don't want anything to happen to their little regime change in Russia.

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OLinda's picture

@snoopydawg

I have spoken up about Assange in the past saying how he has no control over what he receives. Whatever people send him, he publishes, if he can validate it. I have always hheld that belief. In this case, I do hate to say it, but it sounds like Assange to me. (And "sounds like" is certainly not evidence - ha!)

He is Very Competitive. If word was out that Guccifer 2.0 had coveted docs, Assange reaching out would not surprise me. Guccifer is not a publisher and needed an outlet to put the info out. Now Assange would not say "Can you get me... such n such..." But, knowing someone already had them, it is not far fetched to me that he would want them bad. Wikileaks supremacy in the work it does is Assange raison d'etre. He would not want others to have it!

Once he commented re Snowden "What else has he done?" Putting Snowden down, showing how Wikileaks is multitudes better at releasing top secret info. As if Snowden was in the publishing business, or leaking business! He only meant to do that one huge NSA leak, not make a career out of it. I believe those words "What else has he done" came out of Assange's mouth because Assange didn't get that scoop and he is jealous! He knows how huge and important the Snowden docs are.Com. pet. i. tive..

In case it sounds like I don't, I really like Assange. Love what he has done.

It is sickening that he is in solitary confinement and cannot comment on these current events.

Also, I definitely agree, we would be stupid to take an FBI indictment at face value. Plenty of skepticism still required, snoopy.

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OLinda's picture

@snoopydawg

snoopy, I am sure not trying to be disagreeable, just want to share information I have run across since the indictment came out. Had read that the indictment mentioned files being compressed - thus accounting for the speed. Searched for compress in the previously linked indictment and here it is:

27. The Conspirators searched for and identified computers within the DCCC and DNC networks that stored information related to the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

For example, on or about April 15, 2016, the Conspirators searched one hacked DCCC computer for terms that included “hillary,” “cruz,” and “trump.” The Conspirators also copied select DCCC folders, including “Benghazi Investigations.” The Conspirators targeted computers containing information such as opposition research and field operation plans for the 2016 elections.

28. To enable them to steal a large number of documents at once without detection, the Conspirators used a publicly available tool to gather and compress multiple documents on the DCCC and DNC networks. The Conspirators then used other GRU malware, known as “X-Tunnel,” to move the stolen documents outside the DCCC and DNC networks through encrypted channels.

a. For example, on or about April 22, 2016, the Conspirators compressed gigabytes of data from DNC computers, including opposition research. The Conspirators later moved the compressed DNC data using X-Tunnel to a GRU-leased computer located in Illinois.

b. On or about April 28, 2016, the Conspirators connected to and tested the same computer located in Illinois. Later that day, the Conspirators used X-Tunnel to connect to that computer to steal additional documents from the DCCC network.

29. Between on or about May 25, 2016 and June 1, 2016, the Conspirators hacked the DNC Microsoft Exchange Server and stole thousands of emails from the work accounts of DNC employees. During that time, YERMAKOV researched PowerShell commands related to accessing and managing the Microsoft Exchange Server.

This could explain it. I am sure not a techy. Would be interesting to see what Ray McGovern says.

I sure don't know, snoopy, but I am considering what the indictment says. Not fully believing and trusting, but checking it out! The indictment reads like Mueller has some super computer forensics people.

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snoopydawg's picture

@OLinda

You have read things that I might have missed and have a different take on things and that is just fine. I will look for the McGovern article that discusses the way that the information was taken from the DNC computers. This is what's great about this place. We can disagree with each other and go from there. Appreciate your comments on this topic. The main thing is that Assange should be allowed to go home to his family, right? Not arrested and possibly never seen again. This ruling is one more in his favor.

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OLinda's picture

@snoopydawg

and I don't even necessarily disagree with you. Just bringing in some new information I've found. Still very hard to know what's true, who to believe. Been reading a lot of opinions today, but that's all they are - opinions. Still very interesting and things to think about.

Yes, Assange deserves to be home. And, compensated somehow for his mistreatment. It's disgusting. And, to me, it is on the USA. It is all because of U.S. pressure.

If he really does not have ANY communication, he doesn't even know about WL being mentioned in the indictment. I have wondered if he is able to talk at all with embassy personnel - if he has made any friends in that area that might get word to him occasionally.

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snoopydawg's picture

@OLinda

according to the UN because of his isolation without access to the internet, his friends and family and the fact that he hasn't been able to go outside for 6 years. Plus he is under constant stress about whether he is going to be kicked out of the embassy and then handed over to this country to be possibly thrown into prison indefinitely without any reason to believe that he will see freedom again.

I read the link to the recent indictment of the 12 Russian officers who are accused of hacking into the DNC computers. This is pretty much the same type of action Mueller previously took against the 13 other Russians and 3 Russian companies that he said placed their ads on Facebook during the election. Many of the ads were placed after the election was over and they were targeted at Russians who were living here in America. This is why I am skeptical of the recent indictments.

Mueller thought that those people would never be extradited to this country, but one of the companies sent their lawyers to defend them. When the lawyers asked to see the charges against them Mueller balked. He said that the showing them that information was against our national security and he couldn't show it to them. The judge said that he does have to shows it to them. Mueller is still stalling.

Here are two articles you might be interested in. One is by Caitlin who has been against Russia Gate since it started. There is a link in it that states that Mueller has sat on this information for a few months. If true then why did he bring the charges just a few days before the Trump/Putin meeting? We are seeing a full court press by many people in congress and the media including Fox who has been skeptical of this for some time.

http://www.mcscnetwork.com/2018/07/14/five-things-that-would-make-the-ci...

This one is very powerful because it answers some of the questions I've had about why people have bought into the Russian narrative. My opinion about what Russia Gate is about is for people to give their permission for us to go to war with Russia. It has already been being planned since 2014 when Obama overthrew the Ukraine government and installed neo Nazis. This removed a Russian friendly government on Russia's border which is a huge threat to them. Imagine if some country overthrew Mexico's government and installed Al Qaida. This country would never allow that to stand because of the threat to it.

I'm interested in your opinion of the two articles if you do read them. Thanks for the dialogue, Linda.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/10/hardcore-hitler-on-hitler-in-hel...

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OLinda's picture

@snoopydawg

I'll definitely read the articles, snoopy. Probably later today. Thanks.

Yes, it's horrible what Assange is going through. I've been saying for some time now that there are no real laws. All of us are at the mercy of various authorities. They do whatever they want, and there is little and sometimes nothing we can do about it.

I wish the UN and Human Rights people would just start raising hell about this. Publishing document opinions and rulings is not getting it. They need to get together and roar that it will not stand! Make demands of the U.S. and UK! Threaten them. Force them to obey the law! Charge them with crimes!

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Mark from Queens's picture

institutions (seem to remember Spain calling for war crimes against Cheney also), made public announcements that they would prosecute for war crimes. This strikes me as a similar thing. Great to hear, but ultimately of no consequence whatsoever.

America is like Donald Trump. It is a collection of beholden bureaucrats and connected thieves who view themselves as above the law. Same goes for the Economic Terrorists of Wall St, powerful politicians and cops. None of these smug, entitled and pampered thugs loses any sleep over this kind of pronouncement. Their protectorates up and down the ladder of our Justice system are paid and given favors to ensure that outcome.

There is no "law." We are not a "nation of laws, and not men," as milquetoast politicians love to sling on the campaign trail to show they're going to be tough on corruption. There's definitely no "law and order" either, that fear-laden RW fascist conservatives like to bandy about. Those employed to enforce it, as well as the "justice" system, are paid to enforce the status quo and serve at the behest of the wealthy, who control the whole farce.

If one day we wake up to this reality and decided to act collectively in solidarity things might change. It would take various forms of non-compliance, i.e. the way tenants came together during the Great Depression to block evictions and/or re-install evicted families back into their homes (or read about the very radical Farmers Alliance revolts in the Midwest during the same time); or building and honoring alternative systems that dignify human beings rather than continuing to have fealty to a ridiculously puritanical, punitive system that corrals only the poor, minorities and dissenters.

I think at some point Assange has to take his chances and walk out of the embassy with the dignity of his head held high and belief in a higher truth. Then let the brilliant and brave man eviscerate the system in court. The great radical lawyer William Kunstler believed that's what the courts were for, to expose the system's rot. They're unjust, on the take and full of lies. You can't win, or rarely do. But you can make the whole rotten system exposed for the masses to see that their notions of "freedom," "liberty" and "justice" are a fraud.

As James Baldwin said in the context of the rampant police brutality in Harlem in 1964 that led to a revolt, "The law is meant to be my servant and not my master, still less my torturer and my murderer."

Good luck, Julian. You are a great man who will go down as one of history's great dissenters.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

@Mark from Queens
He has to risk it eventually.
He still defied UK law, so he will be arrested over a minor charge anyway.
The only thing left to wait for is to see if the May government falls.

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Wink's picture

@Mark from Queens

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

snoopydawg's picture

@Mark from Queens

As you stated this country is not a nation of laws. If, and that is a big if, Assange is allowed a trial he would be tried under the espionage act where he would not be allowed to mount a real defense. The espionage act is setup that way deliberately. Look at how Chelsea Manning wasn't able to bring up many reasons or previous actions to let her have a fair trial. Sorry I'm drawing a blank on the details, but no one tried under it has gone free.

Except for maybe David Petraous who charged with giving his girlfriend classified information about his time in Afghanistan so she could write a book. He was fined $100,000 and given two years probation. The sailor who took a picture of the inside of his submarine was charged under the espionage act and found guilty. He was sentenced to a year in prison. Then of course there is how Hillary couldn't be held accountable for her mishandling classified information because she never intended to do it. Obama made sure that she would not be charged when he said that she had no intention of putting the information at risk. This gave Lynch and Comey the cover they needed to not charge her.

Nope. If this country ever gets their hands on Julian it's very possible he will never be seen again. BTW. Do you know how the espionage act came into being? Wilson created it as a way to shut Eugene Debs up. His crime? Being against WWI.

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Alligator Ed's picture

@Mark from Queens

I think at some point Assange has to take his chances and walk out of the embassy with the dignity of his head held high and belief in a higher truth.

He won't get two steps from the Embassy's gate before a bullet hits him in the forehead. The only thing getting eviscerated will be Assange at his autopsy.

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didn't see Assange as a dead duck, but that is all I see in his future.

He really needs a security detail of some sort when/if he leaves.

Maybe he can set up a go-fund me page.

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dfarrah

Alligator Ed's picture

@dfarrah Diablo

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divineorder's picture

He still needs a pocket full of miracles going forward.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

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GreyWolf's picture

Outcome of Assange Case Could Undermine the Rights of Millions
If Australia reneges on its obligations to protect Assange and fight for his rights, the implications such actions would hold for every other citizen of the country are as vast as they are chilling.

... While the “vassal state” status of Australia and potentially Ecuador may do much to endanger the status of Assange, a negative decision by both governments on this single case would also set dangerous precedents for the rights of all citizens of both of those countries, a combined population of over 41 million people. As a result, the outcome of Assange’s case could well be much more damaging to Australia or Ecuador than the content of any past or future WikiLeaks release. If both countries fail to act on their obligation to protect one of their own, it will force them both to acknowledge that their citizens’ rights and their national sovereignty come second to the lures and demands of the American empire.

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snoopydawg's picture

@GreyWolf

Thanks for posting this here. And the ruling would not only have those outcomes, but it could also affect journalists in every country that reports on subjects that the PTB would rather remain hidden. This is why every journalist that has kept their mouths shut about what is happening to Julian should just admit that they don't believe in the first amendment and freedom of the press and quit their jobs!

The talking heads like on CNN, MSDNC, Fox and especially Rachel knows damn well that they are not reporting news, but they are just repeating the talking points and propaganda they are given to do. The Rhodes scholar Rachel should give hers back.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

The bigger question is that if he is allowed to board a plane what will the US ask its allies to do?

Look what they did to Malaysia Air (The safest airline in the world) after the War Crimes Tribunal in Kuala Lumpur found specific participants in the Bush Regime guilty of war crimes, with outstanding warrants for their arrest. Aeroflot has been fending even worse since Russia granted Edward Snowden asylum.

Ecuador was threatened with the collapse of their export market (roses) for considering citizenship for Snowden, which was revoked. And, of course, US Vassal States in Europe yanked the President of Bolivia out of the sky to search his plane.

Just sayin'

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Pluto's Republic's picture

Kuala Lumpur tribunal: Bush and Blair guilty

A war crimes tribunal in Malaysia offers a devastating critique of international criminal law institutions today.

28 Nov 2011

In Kuala Lumpur, after two years of investigation by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission (KLWCC), a tribunal (the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, or KLWCT) consisting of five judges with judicial and academic backgrounds reached a unanimous verdict that found George W Bush and Tony Blair guilty of crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and genocide as a result of their roles in the Iraq War.

The proceedings took place over a four-day period from November 19-22, and included an opportunity for court-appointed defense counsel to offer the tribunal arguments and evidence on behalf of the absent defendants. They had been invited to offer their own defense or send a representative, but declined to do so. The prosecution team was headed by two prominent legal personalities with strong professional legal credentials: Gurdeal Singh Nijar and Francis Boyle. The verdict issued on November 22, 2011 happens to coincide with the 48th anniversary of the assassination of John F Kennedy.

The tribunal acknowledged that its verdict was not enforceable in a normal manner associated with a criminal court operating within a sovereign state or as constituted by international agreement, as is the case with the International Criminal Court. But the KLWCT followed a juridical procedure purported to operate in a legally responsible manner. This would endow its findings and recommendations with a legal weight expected to extend beyond a moral condemnation of the defendants, but in a manner that is not entirely evident.

The KLWCT added two "Orders" to its verdict that had been adopted in accordance with the charter of the KLWCC that controlled the operating framework of the tribunal: 1) Report the findings of guilt of the two accused former heads of state to the International Criminal Court in The Hague; and 2) Enter the names of Bush and Blair in the Register of War Criminals maintained by the KLWCC.

The tribunal also added several recommendations to its verdict: 1) Report findings in accord with Part VI (calling for future accountability) of the Nuremberg Judgment of 1945 addressing crimes of surviving political and military leaders of Nazi Germany; 2) File reports of genocide and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague; 3) Approach the UN General Assembly to pass a resolution demanding that the United States end its occupation of Iraq; 4) Communicate the findings of the tribunal to all members of the Rome Statute (which governs the International Criminal Court) and to all states asserting Universal Jurisdiction that allows for the prosecution of international crimes in national courts; and 5) Urge the UN Security Council to take responsibility to ensure that full sovereign rights are vested in the people of Iraq and that the independence of its government be protected by a UN peacekeeping force.

Read More: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/20111128105712109215.html

That should clear up any lingering questions about what happened to Malaysia Air 370 and 17. After 62 years of a perfect flying record, Malaysia Air is no more.

@Pluto's Republic

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

@Pluto's Republic How the US spy satellite network that, forty years ago, could detect Russian submarines submerged a thousand feet down and trying to be stealthy, couldn't find the wreckage of an airliner.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Pluto's Republic's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

....from the four geostationary satellites over Ukraine when MH17 was shot down. On the night MH370 disappeared forever, we happened to be engaged in war games off the coast of Malaysia somewhere near Diego Garcia, but the military can't seem to find any of that full spectrum environmental data, either.

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The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
thanatokephaloides's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

It is strange, isn't it? How the US spy satellite network that, forty years ago, could detect Russian submarines submerged a thousand feet down and trying to be stealthy, couldn't find the wreckage of an airliner.

In fairness, no matter how careful one is to mask it, a working submarine emits things (heat, noise) by which it can be located.

Dead aircraft full of dead bodies don't.

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

snoopydawg's picture

@Pluto's Republic

Gawd! They don't try hiding things from us anymore do they? Remember the plane that was blown up over Ukraine after being rerouted out of the safe flight pattern? The plane was full of scientists who worked on AIDS treatments. Who else was on it that needed to die? Evil has always walked among us, but lately it seems like evil things have gotten much worse.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Pluto's Republic's picture

@snoopydawg

I hope that is not because the end-days are approaching.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
snoopydawg's picture

@Pluto's Republic

But I'm betting something big is being planned right now and it's going to be a doozy. A terrorist attack, the economy crashing again or something else could trigger martial law. The laws are in place for such an event. Man it's horrible to be this paranoid, but .....

I thought I'd be dead before the really stinky poo hit the fan, but I'm having doubts I'll be so lucky.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Pluto's Republic's picture

@snoopydawg

...this week when the IRS announced that you don't get a passport to leave the US if your tax return looks "off" or if the IRS thinks you may owe them money. I figured at the time of our stupid attack on Afghanistan that the US would eventually go on total lockdown. But I was never clever enough to figure out how it would come about. It's brilliant, really....

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
thanatokephaloides's picture

@Pluto's Republic

As far as I'm concerned, martial law was declared this week when the IRS announced that you don't get a passport to leave the US if your tax return looks "off" or if the IRS thinks you may owe them money.

It's not quite that nasty.

First, you actually have to owe IRS at least $51,000. There's no provision regarding tax returns, but only actual dollar sums owed.
Second, all administrative remedies have to be exhausted.
Third, anyone falling under tax-based passport restrictions will have a notice (Notice CP 508C) sent to them at their regular mailing address, advising them of the fact and detailing remedies to resolve it.

I don't have to worry -- the amount of back taxes one must owe resembles my lifetime income in toto! Smile

More info about this can be had here.

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides