S6: Episode 13 - Political Case Against Julian Assange

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola spend the full episode going through parts of the indictment against WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange. They react to his expulsion from the Ecuador embassy in the United Kingdom and how British police entered the embassy to drag him out to a police van. Kevin, who has covered Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, and WikiLeaks since 2010, addresses how much of the indictment makes the case that Assange "aided" and "abetted" "espionage," even though what was charged is a computer crime. Contrary to what much of the U.S. establishment press contended, the Justice Department is targeting the publication of information. This case has troubling implications for world press freedom. Later in the show, Rania and Kevin talk about whether the US will succeed in extraditing Assange and Ecuador's betrayal. The country granted Assange asylum, as well as citizenship, and then discarded him to be snatched up by the United States. Clearly, they are no longer an independent state. Their rulers are serving U.S. interests and not the Ecuadorian people or global human rights.

Shaving Mirror Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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