The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 28th June 2024
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 28th June 2024
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London followed by five years cooped up in a dungeon in Belmarsh, Julian Assange paid a very high price for defending journalistic freedom. Now he walks free following a plea-bargain deal with the US courts that led to his release this week. We all wish him well as he starts to rebuild his life in Australia.
The WikiLeaks founder will now fight for a pardon that Donald Trump says he will consider seriously if he returns to the White House while Assange supporters vow to continue to campaign to change the law in the USA to prevent further prosecutions against journalists.
We’ve learned many lessons from the Assange campaign, whose ultimate victory was undoubtedly due to Assange’s refusal to grovel to imperialist demands and his campaign’s determination to fight for his freedom across the globe. That campaign swayed the Australian Labor government into pressing for his release. It clearly also influenced the Biden administration that is well aware that it needs to woo the liberal constituency in the USA with a show of clemency if it hopes to beat off the challenge from the Trump camp at the presidential elections in November.
The lesson learnt is to have no faith in British ‘justice’ nor the courts and constitutions of the other members of the so-called ‘free world’ in Europe. They will all do the bidding of their masters in Washington when the chips are down. The American whistle-blower Edward Snowden made a wiser choice when he fled to Russia in 2013…