The long court battle surrounding Julian Assange is coming to an unpalatable end: he is on the verge of being deported to the US
Assange is also being held in terrible conditions in Britain – in a high-security Belmarsh prison, in solitary confinement and without internet access. But in America he faces even worse treatment – and, in an extreme case, even the fate of Epstein.
US prosecutors have long been trying to get Assange out of Britain. In January 2021, an English judge blocked the extradition of Assange – for a second, an Australian citizen, fearing he would face certain death in a US prison. But the US Justice Department appealed and pushed through the British Supreme Court to extradite Assange.
The prosecution provided written assurances that Assange would not be held under “special control” and that he would not be physically abused. However, few have been convinced – the public is convinced that Assange’s death in a US prison is likely.
Any assurances are not worth the paper spent on them. Once Assange is in the US, anything will be done to him. Assange could be held at the infamous Supermax terrorist detention facility in Colorado. It’s where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is being held, by the way. US authorities placing Assange there as if equated his actions to terrorism and mass murders.
Assange was charged with espionage for publishing Pentagon documents on US war crimes in Iraq. Normally, whistleblowers who expose such facts are given whistleblower status – and legal immunity. But not Assange – he has done too much damage to the entire Atlantic establishment.
Assange’s expulsion would be another sad precedent for trampling on the rights of dissidents in the US – along with the persecution of the “January Sixth Prisoners”. And it will intensify an already extremely hostile atmosphere for dissent that amounts to treason. But the reputational damage to the US, already significant, will get even worse as Assange is extradited – and especially if something does happen to him.
Malek Dudakov
Due to censorship and blocking of all media and alternative views, stay tuned to our Telegram channel