#19. Julian Assange.
Introduction
Today was a normal day. I woke up early and while preparing my things for the day I opened twitter. Then it was no longer a normal day. The first thing piece of news that hit my weary eyes was the following post from the Wikileaks Twitter account.
And suddenly, today was not a normal day. Today was a day that most people thought would never come. Julian Assange, isolated and exiled for over a decade, is finally free.
Profile
For those unaware of who Julian Assange is or perhaps at least not fully aware, he is the founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, through which he became a pivotal figure of journalism and whistleblowing.
The 52 year old Australian, started his early career as a hacker, even penning a book on his exploits titled "Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier". After he was hit with a raft of hacking charges in the early 90’s, he turned to programming open source projects, which led to Rubberhose, an encryption software that human rights workers would use to protect sensitive data.
All this led to Wikileaks, two decades of major revelations, legal wranglings, isolation and death threats.
Assange had been held at Belmarsh prison by UK authorities since 2019, fighting extradition charges to the US.
Today, he is on his way home.
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks was created by Assange, and uknown others, in 2006.
Their goal? Providing a platform for whistleblowers to publish classified and sensitive documents anonymously.
Assange’s profile as a programmer and hacker, envisioned WikiLeaks as a tool to expose government and corporate misconduct. The early days were quiet. Leaks on Kenyan officials and Guantanamo were low profile. Then in 2010, Wikileaks dropped “Collateral Murder” and the world paid attention.
Breakthrough and Prominence
Collateral Murder started a firestorm in 2010 leading to a series of high-profile leaks which pulled back the curtain on US military action in the Middle East. The Collateral Murder video, which showed a U.S. helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed several people, including two Reuters journalists, was one of the first major releases.
This was quickly followed by the publication of the Afghan War Diary and the Iraq War Logs, which comprised tens of thousands of classified U.S. military documents. These ‘logs’ revealed the extent of casualties in the war which was previously unkown. Furthermore, they revealed torture abuses, secret task forces, corruption and even how US ally Pakistan was secretly funding the enemy, the Taliban.
The publication of U.S. diplomatic cables, known as "Cablegate" proved embarrasing. The trove spanning from the 1960s til 2010 revealed candid assessments of foreign leaders and exposed covert operations, leading to diplomatic tensions between the United States and several countries.
The cables revelead deeply sensitive information such as instructions for U.S. diplomats to spy on UN officials, including then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; and Arab leaders, notably US ally Saudi King Abdullah.
Additionally, the cables exposed U.S. covert actions, such as secret bombings in Yemen, and raised further ethical concerns about espionage under the guise of diplomacy. The embarrasing leak had significant diplomatic repercussions, straining U.S. relations with various countries, sparking global debates on transparency and security.
Target Acquired
WikiLeaks’s audience was growing and Assange’s role in its operations led to several legal challenges. In 2010, Swedish authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant for Assange over allegations of sexual misconduct. Assange denied the allegations, arguing that they were politically motivated and tied to his work with WikiLeaks. His fear was not extradition to Sweden, but further extradition to the US empire.
Assange fought the allegations in London but in 2012 when it was clear his case would be pursued, he sought asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy. He remained there for nearly seven years, living in a small room under constant surveillance.
Asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy
Assange’s stay in the Ecuadorian Embassy was littered with a series of diplomatic and legal battles. The Ecuadorian government initially granted him asylum, citing concerns over potential human rights violations if he were extradited to the U.S. Whilst prosecutors desperately tried to find diplomatic routes to extradite him, Assange continued to run WikiLeaks and remained a vocal critic of government secrecy and media censorship.
In America, Assange and his actions polarised the parties with key members of the Obama administration vociferously critical of him. Hillary Clinton allegedly “joked” about drone striking Assange. Other critics such as Mike Pompeo from across the aisle accused Assange of “putting American lives at risk”.
Assange was looking at a possible 175 year sentence. In 2019, relations between Assange and the Ecuadorian government broke down. Ecuador revoked his asylum, citing repeated violations of international conventions and daily life protocols. British police were invited into the embassy to arrest Assange on April 11, 2019.
Arrest and Legal Proceedings
Following his arrest, Assange was immediately taken to a British court where he was found guilty of breaching bail conditions related to the 2010 Swedish case. Concurrently, the United States unsealed an indictment against Assange, charging him with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion in relation to the 2010 leaks provided by Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst turned whistleblower. It was Manning that had provided the classified documents to Assange. Manning’s 35-year prison sentence was commuted in 2017 by outgoing President, Barack Obama.
Subsequent U.S. charges expanded to include violations of the Espionage Act, raising significant concerns among journalists and press freedom advocates about the implications for investigative journalism and the protection of sources.
The Unexpected
Julian Assange has been released. As I type this he is on his way to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory. Assange is expected to be sentenced there under the US espionage charge, where his prison time will be credited as time served. Then he goes home.
This is a win albeit a tainted one. Assange has lost 14 years of his and his children’s lives. His mental health has been severely effected and free speech has been severely attacked. Accepting the charges still incriminates Assange, setting a dangerous precedent for free speech journalism.
Hopefully nothing happens to Assange en route to Saipan and Australia or that nothing happens, perhaps rather cynically of me, post US election. One must ask whether this is a vote grabber.
Nevertheless, the saga is nearing it’s end.
Julian Assange, the man who exposed war crimes and corruption is going home. A remarkably moment. For me, as someone who has followed this story from the beginninga all those years ago, it’s a significant chapter closed.
Good luck Julian.