Assange secures big win in US extradition hearing: How it happened

The UK High Court ruled that Washington’s assurances of a fair trial for the WikiLeaks founder were insufficient, allowing a full appeal

The High Court in London has ruled that WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has the right to appeal an extradition request by the US. Washington is seeking to put the Australian publisher on trial for espionage for disclosing alleged war crimes committed by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What Monday’s hearing was about

The UK High Court considered Washington’s assurances that Assange would be given a fair trial if extradited to the US. The court had previously requested two sets of written guarantees from the US stating that the WikiLeaks founder would not be discriminated against due to his Australian citizenship, and would not be held in a maximum security prison or receive the death penalty.

If the court had ruled that these guarantees were adequate, Assange would likely have been extradited to the US in a matter of days.

US assurances

While the US had provided the assurances, it did so with a number of conditions. The American side promised not to immediately place Assange in a maximum security prison, but reserved the right to do so based on his conduct.

US prosecutors also stated that the WikiLeaks founder would be able to rely on the First Amendment right to free speech during the trial, but noted that its applicability would be “exclusively within the purview of the US courts.”

Public support and criticism of US guarantees

Assange’s supporters slammed Washington’s diplomatic assurances, with Amnesty International’s criminal justice expert Juli Hall calling them “inherently unreliable because the US government gives itself an out.”

The publisher’s wife, Stella Assange, had also described the US guarantees as “blatant weasel words.”

Ahead of Monday’s ruling, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the High Court in London calling for Assange’s immediate release.

Assange’s defense

During the hearing, Assange’s lawyer Edward Fitzgerald told the judges that the assurances of a fair trial given by US prosecutors could not be relied upon as American courts would not be bound by them.

“We say this is a blatantly inadequate assurance,” Fitzgerald told the court.

The verdict

In a short ruling, the two senior judges of London’s High Court stated that the assurances provided by the US were not sufficient, and gave Assange’s legal team the right to a full appeal hearing.

While the legal battle continues, Assange himself will remain in London’s top-security Belmarsh Prison, where he has been held for the past five years since his arrest in 2019 when his asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London was revoked.

Response to the ruling

The legal victory was immediately celebrated by Assange’s supporters, with Amnesty International’s Simon Crowther calling it a “rare piece of positive news for Julian Assange and all defenders of press freedom.”

https://www.rt.com/news/597940-assange-us-extradition-win/

A new coup attempt in Türkiye: Who wants Erdogan gone?

The Turkish president faces a difficult time of internal instability and a foreign policy tightrope between Russia and the West

On May 15, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed members of parliament with a statement about a new attempted coup in the country. He said the alleged conspirators were supporters of preacher Fethullah Gulen, who resides in the US.

The day before, according to Turkish media reports, law enforcement conducted searches at the Ankara Security Directorate and the homes of high-ranking officials. As a result of the raids, a group of police officers was detained on suspicion of “conspiracy to commit a crime.” Later, the Ankara prosecutor’s office announced the start of an investigation into three officers from the capital’s police department regarding their connection with the leader of an organized crime group, Ayhan Bora Kaplan.

The same day, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted on X (formerly Twitter) about a large-scale police operation in 62 provinces of the country, during which 544 people, presumably linked to Gulen, were detained. The next day, Yerlikaya warned on social media that Turkish law enforcement would identify and hold accountable all conspirators within government institutions.

On May 14, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Erdogan’s ally in the parliamentary coalition, Devlet Bahceli, was the first to inform the parliament about a possible coup attempt. He stated that some law enforcement officers were trying to repeat the events of the failed military coup of 2016 and called not to limit the response to merely dismissing “a few police officers.”

From allies to adversaries: The relationship between Erdogan and Gulen

In recent years, Turkish authorities have frequently spoken about Gulenists who “failed to achieve their goals in 2016 and continue to harm the country.” But what led to such mutual intolerance?

Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric born in 1941, founded the Hizmet movement, also known as the Gulen movement, in the late 1960s. The movement emphasizes moderate Islam, education, and community service, and has a global presence with schools and cultural centers in over 160 countries. Since 1999, Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, US. The Hizmet movement continues to operate worldwide, though its activities in Türkiye are severely restricted.

The early 2000s marked a period of rapprochement between Erdogan and Gulen, two prominent figures in Türkiye’s Islamist movement. Erdogan, a former member of the Islamist Welfare Party, co-founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001. Gulen and his Hizmet movement focused on moderate Islam and interfaith dialogue.

https://www.rt.com/news/597934-coup-attempt-turkiye-erdogan/

ICC chief prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas leaders

Israel’s PM and defense minister as well as Hamas leaders, are suspected of committing war crimes, Karim Khan has said

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has said he's seeking arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

There are “reasonable grounds to believe” that the wanted persons are responsible for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Gaza and in Israel, Karim Khan outlined in a statement on Monday.

Along with Netanyahu, the prosecutor is looking to arrest Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The wanted Hamas officials include the Palestinian armed group’s leader Yahya Sinwar, the commander of its military wing –al-Qassam Brigades – Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, and the chief of Hamas’ Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh, the prosecutor’s statement reads.

According to Khan, Netanyahu and Gallant are suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza such as intentional attacks on a civilian population, willful killing and causing of suffering, using starvation as a method of warfare, “extermination and/or murder” as well as other “inhumane acts.”

The wanted Hamas leaders allegedly “bear criminal responsibility” for murder, rape and other acts of sexual violence, and for taking hostages, torture and other “inhumane acts,” the prosecutor said.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1792511246769570084

>>20892387

US Blasts 'Outrageous' ICC Pending Arrest Warrants Targeting Israel Leaders

Update(1307ET): The same Western officials who cheered on the Hague-based ICC when it issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin are now aghast that it would do the same for US ally Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Biden administration has condemned the pending formal arrest warrant applications, which also targets Israel's defense minister, as "outrageous". Below is the full statement:

Perhaps for the sake of a show of 'balance' - the ICC prosecutor is also seeking arrest warrants for Hamas top political and military leadership. However, that Israel is being targeted is a history-setting development.

• • *

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has pulled the trigger on issuing its controversial arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after months of speculation it may not go through with it amid a Washington pressure campaign. Its chief prosecutor Karim Khan revealed Monday that the world court is seeking arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel who are executing the war in Gaza, also including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Monday's action marks the first time ever that the Hague-based court has targeted a national leader of a close US ally. Netanyahu is now set to be on the court's 'wanted' list alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The prosecutor said that there were "reasonable grounds to believe Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity" and that an application is being filed Monday. The ICC judges are set to review the applications submitted by Khan for the arrest warrants for they formally go into effect.

Kahn further announced that the charges stem from the crimes of "causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict."

The ICC is also seeking the arrest warrant of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and Mohammed Deif, leader of the Al-Qassem Brigades, and Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/icc-unveils-arrest-warrants-israeli-leaders-historic-first-crimes-against-humanity

Netanyahu: ‘Absurd’ ICC bid to arrest Israeli leaders is ‘the new antisemitism’

One hundred and six out of 120 Knesset lawmakers from both sides of the aisle sign a letter condemning International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza.

The text is read out loud in the Knesset plenum by Speaker Amir Ohana.

“The State of Israel is in the midst of a just war against a criminal terrorist organization. The IDF is the most moral army in the world. Our heroic soldiers fight with unparalleled courage and morality, in accordance with international law, as no other army has ever done,” the letter states.

“The scandalous comparison of the prosecutor in The Hague between the leaders of Israel and the heads of the terrorist organization Hamas is an indelible historical crime and a clear manifestation of antisemitism.”

Comparing democratic Israel, which “defends human rights and fights” and is defending itself, to Hamas terrorists who “kidnapped, butchered, burned and raped its citizens” is a “distortion” which Israelis “reject with disgust.”

“80 years after the Holocaust, no one will tie the hands of the Jewish state [to prevent it] from defending itself,” the letter states.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-may-20-2024/

Harvard Study: Covid Shots Cause Sudden Deaths, Strokes

A damning new study from some of America’s most well-respected researchers has determined that Covid mRNA shots are causing surging cases of strokes and sudden deaths.

The case study was conducted by Harvard Medical School and chronicled soaring cases of fatal cerebral ischemia over the past three years.

Cerebral ischemia is a form of deadly brain damage triggered by insufficient blood flow to the brain.

The Harvard researchers found that Moderna’s Covid mRNA injections specifically caused the recent spike in the fatal disorder.

Leading experts have been responding to the explosive study by raising the alarm about the mRNA vaccines.

The study is the latest in a long line of studies linking the shots to sudden death and potentially fatal side effects.

However, it is the first major study to specifically link Moderna’s injection to cerebral ischemia and sudden deaths.

Among those reacting to the study is Dr. John Campbell – a top British oncologist, immunologist, and immunotherapy expert.

Campbell has published a video breaking down the results of the study.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10091442/

Knesset signs historic bipartisan statement against ICC charges

"The state of Israel is in the midst of a just war against a criminal terror organization. The IDF is the most moral army in the world."

The statement read:

"The state of Israel is in the midst of a just war against a criminal terror organization. The IDF is the most moral army in the world. Our heroic soldiers are fighting with courage and dedication that has no second, according to international law, like no other army has ever done.

"The scandalous comparison by the Hague prosecutor between Israel's leaders and the heads of terror organizations is an unerasable historic crime and a clear expression of antisemitism. We reject this with revulsion. 80 years after the Holocaust, no one will block the Jewish state from defending itself."

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-801920

FREE SPEECH IS ANTISEMETIC

WATCH: College Admins Tell Texas Students They'll Be Arrested for Saying 'From The River to the Sea'

Administrators with the University of Texas at San Antonio filmed themselves telling student protesters that under an executive order signed by Governor Greg Abbott they'll be reported to law enforcement for criminal "antisemitic" speech if they chant "From the River to the Sea."

Gov. Abbott, a Republican, signed an Executive Order in March to require "all higher education institutions in Texas" to "review their free speech policies" to "establish appropriate punishments for antisemitic rhetoric."

Abbott said the EO was needed to make campuses a "safe space" for Jewish students.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=64457

Pfizer whistle-blower says about a third of Pfizer’s covid injections contained graphene oxide, but the debate continues

Melissa McAtee worked for Pfizer while their covid mRNA products were in development. When she became aware of the problems taking place in her facility, McAtee became a whistle-blower.

From communications among staff about contaminants in the injections to blacked-out windows when the US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) inspectors made their rounds, she refused to stay silent when the injectables were set to be rolled out to the public.

On CHD.TV’s ‘Doctors & Scientists’ last week, Melissa McAtee laid out all she collected, observed, and discovered in the process of digging up the truth about the Big Pharma giant.

During the interview, she discussed the presence of graphene oxide in covid injections.

“The first thing I found was in … June or July of 2021, and it was a graphene oxide report from Spain that this lab had found graphene oxide in one vial of Pfizer vaccine that didn’t have a full dosage in it,” McAtee told Brian Hooker.

The whistle-blower added, “And so, they compared it under a microscope to 100 per cent graphene oxide and they determined that it looks almost identical, but requested more samples so that they could do a more structural chemical analysis than just visual.”

McAtee said that “later, much later, I followed up on them to see what happened, and if I remember correctly, 28 vials out of a hundred did have graphene oxide, of the Pfizer vials.”

The Pfizer whistle-blower goes on to note that the Spanish laboratory “requested more and when … I found this on the internal Pfizer database, I didn’t know it was the internal Pfizer database, I actually thought it was just internet public knowledge. But I shared that report on my Facebook and I got a call not long after that, I don’t know how long, but not long after that from a Pfizer lawyer telling me that I had to take down the post because that was company property. And that’s when I realised, ‘Hey, I guess I can see [Pfizer’s] internal database …”

McAtee searched the database for the code “HEK 293T” and the first returned in the search results were emails in which Pfizer executives and communications department were conspiring to hide that aborted foetal cell lines were used in the development and confirmatory tests for the vaccine. This was because of the Vatican’s stance on encouraging the public to get the vaccine.

McAtee only talks about vaccine hesitancy based on religious and moral grounds. However, aside from the religious apsect and exemptions based on religious beliefs, there is the risk of cancer from the HEK 293T cell line.

HEK 293T is code for “human embryonic kidney 293T cells.” The “T” in HEK 293T refers to the presence of the Simian Vacuolating Virus 40 (“SV40”) large T-antigen. The SV40 T-antigen is a protein and is a dominant-acting oncoprotein, a gene that has the potential to cause cancer.

According to McAtee, the covid vaccine manufacturers did not include HEK cells, they were only used in the development of the vaccines.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HXZ43qkrlqza95RnCrETzciWmVMQXbT3/edit#slide=id.p1

Scottish Greens Expel 13 Members for Declaring That “Sex Is a Biological Reality”

Thirteen members on the Scottish Green Party have been expelled for daring to declare that “sex is a biological reality”. The Sunday Post has the story.

A former Scottish Greens co-convener is calling on members to oust the current leadership after a group of rebels was expelled for declaring “sex is a biological reality”.

Robin Harper, who was leader between 2004 and 2008 before tearing up his membership last year, revealed he has been approached by several individuals to see if he would be interested in forming a breakaway party.

It comes after 13 people – including office bearers and some who have campaigned for the Greens for more than 40 years – were accused of making the party less safe for trans and non-binary members.

The group signed a declaration stating women have a right to maintain the sex-based protections enshrined in the Equality Act.

It added that “women and girls have the right to discuss policies which affect them without being abused, harassed or intimidated”.

Complainants said the signatories broke rules prohibiting the undermining of party policy and behaviours that constitute prejudice and are a threat to others.

The party has had a rule since 2018 that states “trans-exclusionary individuals of any kind are not welcome as members”.

Harper told the Sunday Post the claim that the group had been expelled to keep trans members safe is “utterly laughable”.

He said: “We went through that letter sentence by sentence to see if there was anything in it that could be represented as being aggressive or critical to trans people. It’s just not there.

“Really what needs to be done now is the party needs to get together and lodge a vote of no confidence in the current leadership and take it from there.” …

He believes the Greens have been infiltrated by a group with political views that have little to do with the original aims of the party and hopes members will be able wrestle back control to return the focus to environmental issues.

https://dailysceptic.org/2024/05/20/scottish-greens-expel-13-members-for-declaring-that-sex-is-a-biological-reality/

Communism And Depopulation In America: WE ARE HEADING TO TOTAL TYRANNY: Our rights to free speech are all but gone and our ability to assemble peacefully is now seen as extremism.

I once had a favorite meme I would push out as kind of a tongue-in-cheek that said “When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are ruled by criminals”. Seemed pretty funny at the time.

Today, not so funny. In fact, what we are experiencing is very real.

Let’s take a look at the definition of tyranny according to legaldictionary.net:

An oppressive or severe form of government

An unrestrained use of authority or power

A state ruled by, or government of, an absolute ruler

Excessive severity

Cruel and unfair treatment by someone in authority

What we lack in the world, not just the United States, is a system of checks and balances. Governments are out of control as they care very little about the laws they have established unless it relates to you the citizen, and they certainly give complete disregard for the voting system as we are finding out they have been manipulating the outcomes to meet their agenda for quite some time.

Our rights to free speech are all but gone and our ability to assemble peacefully is now seen as extremism. Think about it for a minute, when Patriots assemble to voice their concern, they have to worry that either the assembly will be infiltrated by people seeking to create a negative image of them, or those same people causing violence, thus putting Patriots front and center as targets by their own government.

https://prepper1cense.com/2024/05/19/communism-and-depopulation-in-america-we-are-heading-to-total-tyrannyour-rights-to-free-speech-are-all-but-gone-and-our-ability-to-assemble-peacefully-is-now-seen-as-extremism/

>>20892599

UK Government to give police new powers to shut down pro-Palestine protests

Londoners have been marching almost every week in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to hold the UK Government to account [GETTY]

The Metropolitan Police will be given new powers to shut down pro-Palestine protests after receiving criticism from a pro-Israel charity over how they have been handling marches in London, specifically their lack of tackling alleged antisemitism within these marches.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said on X that they have held a series of meetings with the Home Office and officials at Downing Street over the past few weeks to discuss the alleged issue of how the police handle the protests.

The CAA is a charity "dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance law enforcement" and has been branding pro-Palestine marches as antisemitic.

The Telegraph revealed that the Home Office is preparing to amend sections of the Public Order Act, allowing marches to be banned and public assemblies to be restricted.

These changes come after the head of the Met Police, Sir Mark Rowley, has been facing calls to quit after defending the police officer who called Gideon Falter, the chief executive of the CAA, "openly Jewish" at a pro-Palestinian rally in London.

Falter accused the police of doing "practically nothing" to restrict the protests.

The CAA said they turned to the government to call for clarifications on the Public Order Act to give the police "both the power and the duty to act" on the protests and to end the weekly marches.

https://www.newarab.com/news/uk-shut-down-gaza-protests-over-antisemitism-allegations

Jewish Rabbi EXPOSES Israel at UN conference

https://youtu.be/eYC6rjpeTPI

Israeli military censored over 600 articles last year: report

An Israeli report revealed there has been a sharp increase in the monitoring of journalists’ work, particularly regarding Israel’s war on Hamas.

The Israeli military prevented the publication of at least 613 articles in 2023, four times more than in 2022, according to a report in Israeli media.

At least 2,703 other news items were also deleted, three times as much as the previous year, the report by Israeli news site Mekomit said on Wednesday.

The data in the report was provided by the military censorship department in response to a freedom of information request submitted to the army.

According to the report, the department intervenes several times a day in information journalists convey to the public, even outside of war time, and can reach between 1,000 and 3,000 times a year.

While there is no monthly breakdown of the censored items and quantities, the report states "it is clear the reason for the jump is the Hamas attack on October 7 and the war in Gaza which went on throughout the last quarter of the year and is ongoing".

The report adds the last time censorship levels and the silencing of journalists were so high was during an Israeli military operation in Gaza in 2014, when the military censorship took action on 3,122 news items and rejected 597.

"The law in Israel requires journalists to hand over any for review any article that is expected to be published that deals with security issues – which is a very broad topic and covers six thorough pages of sub-topics," the report states.

The censored items are not blacked out in articles, but rather omitted from being published.

The censorship department has also previously intervened in the documents of the State Archives.

Marwa Fatafta, the MENA policy and advocacy director at Access Now, an NGO focused on digital civil rights told The New Arab that the war on Gaza has been revealing in many ways in terms of media control.

"For one, it shattered the facade of Israel as a democracy. For the past seven months, the Israeli government has dialled up its repression to control the narrative, spread war propaganda and censor reality," she said.

"From internet shutdowns to blatant censorship, the Gaza war has been a war on truth as much as it's a war on the Palestinian people," she added.

Prior to Israel’s war on Gaza, censorship representatives would also physically show up to newsrooms and studios to scan media entities and social networks for violations.

Israel’s state-owned Kan11 news agency previously said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to advance a law that would increase censorship and the arrest of journalists who report what is happening within the political-security cabinet without first being checked.

https://www.mekomit.co.il/%d7%a9%d7%99%d7%90-%d7%97%d7%93%d7%a9-%d7%94%d7%a6%d7%a0%d7%96%d7%95%d7%a8%d7%94-%d7%94%d7%a6%d7%91%d7%90%d7%99%d7%aa-%d7%9e%d7%a0%d7%a2%d7%94-%d7%a4%d7%a8%d7%a1%d7%95%d7%9d-%d7%a9%d7%9c-613-%d7%9b/

Israeli army steps up attacks across Gaza as top US official visits Israel

Air and ground attacks kill dozens across besieged enclave as US adviser Jake Sullivan holds talks with Israeli leaders.

The Israeli army has stepped up attacks across Gaza, killing dozens of Palestinians in the central part of the besieged enclave, as US national security adviser Jake Sullivan travelled to Israel to hold talks with senior officials.

Sullivan was expected to press Israeli leaders on Sunday to take a more targeted approach in the country’s Gaza offensive and avoid a wider-scale assault on the southern city of Rafah.

He met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to move forward with the Rafah offensive despite concerns from the United States.

The top US official “reaffirmed the need for Israel to connect its military operations to a political strategy that can ensure the lasting defeat of Hamas, the release of all the hostages, and a better future for Gaza”, the White House said in a readout of the discussions.

Nearly 800,000 Palestinians have been displaced from Rafah since Israel launched an assault on the city last week, according to the United Nations, prompting condemnations from UN officials as well as human rights groups.

The Israeli government maintains that a military operation there is necessary to destroy the last bastion of the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Israeli military has carried out intensified air and ground attacks across the Palestinian territory, with air strikes killing at least 31 people on Sunday in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/19/israeli-army-steps-up-attacks-across-gaza-as-top-us-official-visits-israel