Julian Assange and his organisation Wikileaks has been right on the front lines of the fight against the west’s now all pervasive military, security and surveillance state.
That position has put him in the firing line of both overt and covert attack by establishment loyalists, to the extent that he has spent the last few years of his life under virtual house arrest in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, with no prospect of either due process or fair trial.
Now, US Greens presidential candidate Jill Stein has drawn a very clear line by penning an op-ed in The Hill declaring Assange as a hero, and explicitly addressing the spurious claims of rape and sexual impropriety that the establishment has cleverly used to turn both the right wing and the left wing against him.
To my mind, Stein is a US Presidential candidate with more principled backbone than the rest of the field put together.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a hero. Like Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and other whistleblowers facing government persecution, Assange has sacrificed his personal comfort and safety to bring us the truth…
Many have asked how Greens, who count feminism among our ten key values, can support Assange when he’s been accused of rape. As a strong advocate for victims of sexual violence, I take this question seriously.
While countless media reports highlight the allegations against Assange, most people have never heard that an official UN report has declared the case against Assange to be unfounded. Three investigations have been dropped without charges ever having been filed. And the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has stated that Assange has been unlawfully detained and should be released. In light of these facts, it appears the allegations against Assange were a false pretext used by those who want to give him the Chelsea Manning treatment — or worse.
As the Presidential candidate of a party that has maintained principled criticism of powerful political, military and corporate institutions, I’ve gotten a first—hand look at how the establishment attacks people who challenge the status quo. These attacks are intended to brand their targets as pariahs and stigmatize anyone who dares to challenge this narrative.
That last line “These attacks are intended to brand their targets as pariahs and stigmatize anyone who dares to challenge this narrative” describes perfectly the smear and sneer campaign that the establishment routinely launches against whistleblowers.
They’ve also done it to Snowden (the high school drop out, army wash out and Russian secret agent) and to Manning (a sexually confused and disturbed young man who turned traitor against his own country).
What has also been fascinating is how many on the Left have fallen so easily and so quickly for these psy-op propagated smears.
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress