From an interview by Katie Halper and Matt Taibbi This conversation was held Live on the day of the court ruling in the UK against Julian Assange, founder and publisher of WikiLeaks. The British Court of Appeal ruled that Assange could be extradited to the US to face charges under the Espionage Act of 1917.
The WikiLeaks website came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of documents and films provided by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. These leaks included the Baghdad airstrike Collateral Murder video and the Afghanistan war logs. All with evidence of war crimes.
Six years later WikiLeaks published the Democratic National Committee email leaks which showed attempts to denigrate the Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and promote the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Julian Assange was blamed for having helped Trump win the election.
However the Trump administration, with Attorney General William Barr, showed no gratitude for Assange’s alleged support. On May 23, 2019, they charged him with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and raised the bar for him to 175 years in prison and demanded his extradition from the UK. Ironically the current Biden administration fully endorses the Donald Trump charges.
Among the voices who condemn the granting of the extradition request are fellow journalists, publishers and defenders of free speech and whistle blowers. However among those who get their information from commercial media prejudice and bias towards Julian Assange clouds the issue. They call him a hacker, one who damaged the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and a rapist. Allegations that even clouded the view of today’s guest, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer. What follows is an in depth exploration of the prejudice against Assange – who so urgently needs support – and where it is based on lies and illegal court proceedings.
On these matters at this time nobody is more qualified than UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and professor of international law at the University of Glasgow, Nils Melzer. Katie Halper and Matt Taibbi spoke to him on December 10,2021. Matt Taibbi is an American author, journalist, and podcaster. He has reported on finance, media, politics, and sports. He is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, and co-host, with Katie Halper, of Useful Idiots. Katie Halper is a comedian, writer, filmmaker, podcaster, and political commentator. She is the host of the podcast The Katie Halper Show.
Nils Melzer refers to his book The Trial of Julian Assange, due out in February 2022. You can find the over one hour program by Katie Halper and Matt Taibbi on YouTube and the Useful Idiots channel under Assange.
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