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.