For Julian Assange, the definition of heaven is to regain the freedom of which he has been deprived since 2010; that of hell is to be deported to the United States, where he would face a sentence of up to 175 years in prison, or even the death penalty, and that of purgatory is to be in London’s Belmarsh prison, ill , depressed and in legal limbo until his case is finally resolved.
Purgatory is where he will continue for now, after two High Court judges yesterday granted him the right to appeal against his transfer to the other side of the Atlantic, because he considers that the requirements have not been met that they had presented to Washington in exchange for extradition: that the death penalty not be applied to him in any case, that he not be discriminated against because of his nationality (he is not American, but Australian) and that he enjoy the right to freedom of expression regulated in the first amendment to the Constitution.
It was particularly on this last point that the US Department of Justice decided not to take sides, arguing that freedom of expression does not justify an action like Assange’s, obtaining and disseminating hundreds of thousands of secret documents and diplomatic cables detailing assassinations, torture and extraordinary renditions – sent to third countries for imprisonment or information extraction – committed by the military in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“No one, neither a national nor a foreigner, regardless of where he was born and where the crime was committed, can invoke the first amendment as a pretext to hack into Government computers and disclose secret material that has endangered the lives of informants and agents of the intelligence services”, said lawyer John Lewis, representative of the American authorities, at the hearing.
It was this stance that tipped the scales in favor of granting Julian Assange the right to a new appeal, as he continues to languish physically and mentally in the maximum security prison at Belmarsh, a prison complex in southern east London which has been his residence since 2019. He did not go to the courtroom yesterday to hear the verdict live, claiming he was not feeling well. He was represented by his legal team, which includes his wife, Stella Morris.
Assange’s lawyers took for granted President Joe’s personal assurances that there would be no death penalty, even if he were found guilty of the seventeen counts of espionage (and one count of hacking). about him, although they emphasized the fact that the Virginia State Attorney’s Office, which would handle the case, has not said anything about it, which raises the suspicion that it is keeping all options open.
Stella Morris had commented to the press that any of three scenarios could emerge from yesterday’s hearing: freedom, extradition or a new appeal. The winner has been the latter, proclaimed by journalists and defenders of civil rights as a victory (at least provisional) of freedom of expression over the almost absolute power of the State, and its refusal to accept any challenge, especially if it calls into question its image or that concept as broad and ambiguous as “national security” (which in some countries allows any activity, even demonstrations, to fit under the umbrella of terrorism).
But for Assange it is the continuation of the purgatory in which he lives since two women accused him in Sweden of rape and sexual abuse (there are all kinds of conspiracy theories about this), which launched a legal process that brought him first to take refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and later to enter Belmarsh prison while his extradition is being elucidated. The British Conservative Government had already said that it has no objection to his transfer to the United States, and to sign all the necessary papers, but it is the judges who have granted him a new pardon. In theory, his lawyers could apply for provisional release, but they will only do so if they think he has a chance of being granted it.
With the prospect of presidential elections in November, Biden has ignored the numerous demands to withdraw the charges against Assange and establish himself as a champion of freedom of expression, including that of the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
Biden’s biggest concern is white voters in Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and he doesn’t want to appear weak on a national security issue to an electorate of doughnuts, rifles, bibles, bars and stars.