𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻 ‘𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹’ 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦, 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗜𝗔 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀

 Stev Sweeney, Morning Star, Friday, June 17, 2022

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“Hard to believe but it looks real,” he said after the announcement today. “Every press freedom group in the world has protested against this.

“It is an appalling symbol of how far the British and US governments’ commitment to human rights has declined.

“How can we condemn authoritarian abuses abroad?” he asked rhetorically.

Former UN special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas slammed British Home Secretary Priti Patel’s decision, saying it reflected “the breakdown of the rule of law in the UK and the subservience of the judiciary to the executive.

“If the European Court of Human Rights blocks deportations from the UK to Rwanda, will the ECHR block the deportation of Assange and order his release? That is a litmus test,” he said.

The International Federation of Journalists described the move as “vindictive and a real blow to press freedom.

“He has simply exposed issues that were in the public interest and Patel's failure to acknowledge this is shameful and sets a terrible precedent,” it said.

France’s Jean-Luc Melechon has said that if he is PM on Monday after the weekend’s elections he will grant Assange citizenship.

“If I am Prime Minister on Monday Julian Assange will be made a naturalised French citizen and given a medal,” he told a press briefing.

Former Greek MP Yannis Varoufakis’s Democracy in Europe Movement demanded the immediate release of the journalist, saying there can be no justice as long as he remains behind bars.

“Telling the truth is a revolutionary act. And it is the only way to keep society from straying into the abyss.

“Julian Assange has told the truth about the crimes of those in power,” it said in a statement.

Mr Assange faces 175 years in a US prison under the draconian Espionage Act after he exposed war crimes committed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Last year it was alleged that the CIA plotted to kill him on the streets of London. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been summoned to answer questions to that end by a Spanish court.

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https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/assange-extradition-an-appalling-symbol-of-the-decline-of-human-rights-in-britain-and-the-us-former-cia-whistleblower-says