Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison • Hacker News Board

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#181

Post by banads » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:09 PM UTC

anongraddebt wrote: post #122

Synaesthesia wrote: post #82

Wikileaks has a faultless record. They’ve never had to retract a publication. Assange, like him not not, was a reporter, who reported uncomfortable facts about the military and our ruling class. He is being punished, tortured really for this “crime”. He has been endlessly and baselessly slandered. All that alleged bad behaviour while he was imprisoned in the embassy ... funny how there’s been no footage of it, despit…

I used to be a fairly strong supporter of our military. Not blanket support (since there are always exceptions to anything), and I wasn't super enthusiastic/patriotic like some are, but in general I had a pretty positive view. My uncle is a general in the Air Force, all three of my grandfathers fought in WW2 (my Dad's biological father was killed by a drunk driver when he was 7), etc etc. I have pictures of my grandf…

>They made you face up to the ground-level reality.

The news media has consciously hidden and censored the ground level reality of war since Vietnam, where they made the mistake of showing families the graphic ground level realities of war in color while they ate TV dinners in their living rooms. This created what was perhaps the greatest anti war sentiment in US history -- it was not sustainable. Meanwhile Hollywood perpetually pushed out war and action movies glorifying violence while also censoring the disgusting reality of it.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#182

Post by nabla9 » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:12 PM UTC

shkkmo wrote: post #159

nabla9 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nils Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture has said that Assange is not held in solitary confinement at HMP Belmarsh. Melzer objected against the limited ability of Assange to prepare his legal case. It seems that John Shipton (father of Assange) used therm solitary confinement to describe situation where Assange's access to outside is limited to his lawyers and family. I thing Assage is currently in the the p…

Melzer was pretty specific and his concerns are not just about "access to legal counsel". > «He continues to be detained under oppressive conditions of isolation and surveillance, not justified by his detention status,” said Melzer Melzer fairly clearly states that he believes there is credible evidence that Assange has been subjected to psychological torture.

"Isolation and detained" refers to his condition being held in jail. He is not in solitary confinement. Melzer arguent opinion that Assagne should should be released and not be detained.

>Although Mr. Assange is not being held in solitary confinement, Mr. Melzer said he was gravely concerned over the limited frequency and duration of lawyers’ visits and lack of access to case files, which make it impossible to prepare and adequate defense.

sources:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1039581

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?N...

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#183

Post by philwelch » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

cryptica wrote: post #60

moksly wrote: post #10

Why is the WikiLeaks foundation responsible for the content posted on their platform, when Google and Facebook aren’t? I haven’t really been following this a whole lot, but as I understand it, the US wants him extradited because his platform was used to leak sensible information that put American soldiers in danger. But why is that a thing when it isn’t for other platforms? I mean, twitter, Facebook and YouTube have…

>> Why is the WikiLeaks foundation responsible for the content posted on their platform, when Google and Facebook aren’t? Governments still have control over Facebook and Google. They don't like WikiLeaks because they cannot control it. But it's still a good point though; I think Google and Facebook do much more harm to American citizens than WikiLeaks ever could. It's just that with Google and Facebook, it's less ob…

The Russian government has no problem controlling WikiLeaks.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#184

Post by chx » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

Synaesthesia wrote: post #82

Wikileaks has a faultless record. They’ve never had to retract a publication. Assange, like him not not, was a reporter, who reported uncomfortable facts about the military and our ruling class. He is being punished, tortured really for this “crime”. He has been endlessly and baselessly slandered. All that alleged bad behaviour while he was imprisoned in the embassy ... funny how there’s been no footage of it, despit…

What journalist? Assange is a Russian agent. Even previously there was no doubt but since Mueller this is cemented.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#185

Post by SeanBoocock » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

fenomas wrote: post #166

Synaesthesia wrote: post #82

Wikileaks has a faultless record. They’ve never had to retract a publication. Assange, like him not not, was a reporter, who reported uncomfortable facts about the military and our ruling class. He is being punished, tortured really for this “crime”. He has been endlessly and baselessly slandered. All that alleged bad behaviour while he was imprisoned in the embassy ... funny how there’s been no footage of it, despit…

The most detailed, nuanced account of Assange I've seen is this one[0] by Andrew O'Hagan (an author hired to ghostwrite Assange's autobiography who spent a year or so in and out of his orbit). And it's hard to square that account with the image of Assange as a journalist who's being persecuted for the truths he's shared. Though O'Hagan is sympathetic in many ways he doesn't sugarcoat anything, and I came away with th…

Indeed, this is essential reading in its entirety. The image that emerges is one of a vain and duplicitous man who treats his projects as vehicles for self-aggrandizement. His poor character and lack of integrity are unbecoming in anyone who claims to speak truth to power.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#186

Post by banads » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

actsof wrote: post #162

jellicle wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which health conditions are improved by solitary confinement?

Not that it improves the condition, but psychosis leading to violent outbursts could be used to justify it. Anti-psychotics are also usually sedative in nature, which would explain the rest.

That same justification was used against political dissidents in the Soviet Union

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatr...

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#187

Post by geofft » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:17 PM UTC

officialjunk wrote: post #174

zepto wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But not a faultless record.

Can you name another news source that has made no retractions in the past 13 years?

Sure, PR Newswire has never retracted an article in the past 13 years, to my knowledge. They've published corrections given to them by sources, but the original article was accurate to what the source gave to them. They are truly modern-day heroes.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#188

Post by wolfgke » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:20 PM UTC

samatman wrote: post #49

INGELRII wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not mutually exclusive. * Sometimes individuals must break the law for greater good. This is called civil disobedience, or civil resistance. * Just because one is breaking the law for common good, civil servants can't and should not be expected to stop enforcing the law. If you allow that, it's the end of the rule of law based society. The whole idea of just society is that you restrict what individuals in the g…

Civil disobedience is breaking a law because you believe the law itself is wrong. As invented by Thoreau, and practiced by Gandhi and MLK. Breaking a law you otherwise believe in, in the service of some broader goal, is called direct action, riot, or terrorism, depending on the severity of the law broken, and/or the sympathies of the person describing it.

> Breaking a law you otherwise believe in

You won't consciously break a law that you believe in. "otherwise believe" means that you don't believe in the law.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#189

Post by cies » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:20 PM UTC

Synaesthesia wrote: post #82

Wikileaks has a faultless record. They’ve never had to retract a publication. Assange, like him not not, was a reporter, who reported uncomfortable facts about the military and our ruling class. He is being punished, tortured really for this “crime”. He has been endlessly and baselessly slandered. All that alleged bad behaviour while he was imprisoned in the embassy ... funny how there’s been no footage of it, despit…

See what HKers are doing because they wanted to (initially) safe guard their reporters?

See what the west here does to stop rather similar practices of which Assange happens to be at the receiving end? Very little. We let him die, and I include myself into "we". This is just abhorrent. And it seems we dont even know what to point our anger to, the US govt? The UK? The fucking-were-so-enlightended Swedish govt? Any (western) govt that fails to stand up for him?

To stay in xmas spirit: Assange is the modern day Jesus of reporting dying for our freedom and our right te be informed of our sick and twisted govts.

I'm angry now.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#190

Post by Lammy » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 5:25 PM UTC

fzeroracer wrote: post #177

officialjunk wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you name another news source that has made no retractions in the past 13 years?

Since when does no retractions mean a faultless record? That just means you stand with all of the bullshit you spew, not that you're a fully truthful source. Like when Wikileaks was perpetuating the nonsense Seth Rich conspiracy as cover.

I believe what they’re trying to say is that the context clues in the top-level comment tell us that the comment author defines “faultless record” as “no retractions”. You, me, or any other person can have a different definition of “faultless”, but that is just making conversation break down when we’re all replying to one particular definition that seemed (to me at least) clearly spelled out.