Fester, Assange will never receive a fair trial. He's committed no crime. This case is not about justice. It's about the US extracting revenge and sending a chilling and threatening warning to all journalists and whistle-blowers. We the public will suffer, as journalists and witnesses of government crimes fear to act as truth-tellers and to expose wrong-doing. We will be kept in the dark, apart from the brave few who are still prepared to risk their lives. This is a dark time for all truth-seekers, which should be all of us.

The UN rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, explains why the US government has been so determined to control all aspects of this show-trial. “The choice of location is not by coincidence, because the jury members must be chosen in proportion to the local population, and 85 percent of Alexandria residents work in the national security community—at the CIA, the NSA, the Defense Department and the State Department. When people are tried for harming national security in front of a jury like that, the verdict is clear from the very beginning. The cases are always tried in front of the same judge behind closed doors and on the strength of classified evidence. No one has ever been acquitted there on a similar case.” (7 September 2020)

There will never be justice for Julian Assange. He has millions of supporters around the world, but they will never be enough to overcome the all-powerful intelligence, military and legal stranglehold of the US government.

So much for democracy.

Thanks Bronwyn.

Even though I think Jules a pretty horrible person, I would would have great sympathy for him were he in the danger you outline. I think the main difference in our views here is that I don't see the conspiracies and I think that the justice systems in Sweden, the UK and the US are fair. However, you have convinced me that Jules actually believes the conspiracy theories, and that makes me very sorry for him. It also makes me annoyed at his friends and associates, as they seem to be feeding his delusions (hopefully not for personal gain!). I hope he can use his mental state to get a substantial mitigation for any sentence he gets as I think he has put himself through far more than Swedish and US justice would have. He is bonkers.

Whatever Assange is according to opinion, he is innocent according to Law.

JF, were some here talking about George, they might say, "Whatever George is according to Law, he is guilty according to my opinion.". Jules is innocent according to Law, but a trial in the US might find otherwise. He avoided a trial for sexual assault charges, but does avoiding charges make you innocent of them? Innocent according to Law perhaps, but in that instance he is innocent by a legal technicality.

Fester,

Talking about legal technicalities:

http://theconversation.com/how-george-pell-won-in-the-high-court-on-a-legal-technicality-133156