Unfortunately, there would be an even greater risk to his safety if he weren’t in solitary confinement due to his high profile. It’s actually common to have these sorts of people in the same area as sex offenders and the like because they need protection from the mainstream population. The courts are at fault, prisons would be doing what they can to actuallt protect him, as bizarre as it sounds.
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Before he was PM, Boris shot his mouth off about the Brit and set everything back. Might explain the low UK media profile.
You might be interested in the discussion on QandA on Asange, towards the end of the program - you can pick it up up on ABC IView
I did see it - it’s unfortunate that the only person who seemed to know the facts on Assange was the lady asking the question. The responses from the panel ranged from horrifically ignorant to ill advised.
The Lib MP - Fletcher, as usual running the pre-approved Gov’t line of “consular assistance” which is doublespeak for doing absolutely ■■■■ all, and the easily debunked smear that Assange’s disclosures “cost lives” (they didn’t). Why couldn’t any of the panelists ask Fletcher why the Government made diplomatic efforts to free Greste from Egypt but will not use the special relationship it has with the UK to do similar for Assange.
There’s also a criminal under reporting of Assange’s plight in Australia. This is why panelists can still talk ■■■■ about “Swedish charges” and never be corrected as JA has never been charged.
There was no discussion on Nils Melzter’s UN report which basically says Assange has been tortured by the UK, the U.S and Ecuador.
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Listen to it again, three of the panelists did not display ignorance.
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Seriously? They had no clue. It was embarrassing. I just gave you an example of Fletcher completely regurgitating the smear that the Iraq/Afghan cables cost lives.
The only person who had a clue was the lady who asked the question.
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No worries. Just a rhetorical question.
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Kerry O’Brien and two female panelists ?
Kerry O’Brien I’ll give you, but the first female panelist while she wasn’t completely clueless, she assumed Assange “hacked” the US DoD to obtain the files. How can you be that ignorant? It was Manning who gave Assange all the disclosures.
And she accepted the correction that hacking was the US charge.
There were three panelists supportive of Asange and who were not buying into Fletcher’s spin
Morrison just said that the Foreign Minister is actively engaged in relation to the Australian in Bulgaria. But Fletcher said that Australia offering standard consular support to Asante, consistent with Australian practice.
The UK’s contempt for the rule of law RE: Assange is showing it up for the rogue State that it is. The extradition hearing on Monday was akin to the Stalin show trials against the Trotskyists
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26 days since the last post. Assange is not getting much traction here or in the Aussie press.
Being treated even worse than a criminal. Whistle blowers seem to get a raw deal, wherever they are in the information chain.
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He’s finally getting some traction in Oz - Andrew Wilkie (■■■■■■■ hero) has created a Parliamentary Group called ‘Bring Julian Assange Home’
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I don’t understand this thing about Assange or whoever else not getting traction in AU. There was even Barnaby Joyce everywhere in the media (last week?) against US extradition.
Blitz isn’t the sample of 1 to use as an argument for anything, really.
Fairfax and News don’t give it much of a run, perhaps because there is no apparent division between ALP and Coalition.
It gets featured a lot in less mainstream domestic media ( lots on line) and internationally sourced news, like the Guardian.
Whereas the Israeli extradition issue and that soccer player detained in Thailand ( for which AFP has apologised) might be seen as more of domestic human interest.
The hatchet job done on Assange as a person did not help.
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In the past month in AU media, much of the whistle blower energy has been directed toward the likes of Witness K and that ATO whistle blower.
Whistle blowing has been a huge issue here.
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And MSM pulling out all the stops on media right to know without legal consequences for reporting their sources.
Assange way down the pecking order, but there is an Assange connection with Media campaign of right to know, which media should address,
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I care much more about Collaery, Witness K and sundry Australian whistle-blowers than I do about Assange.
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They’re all connected. You can’t ignore Assange while championing Witness K and Collaery.
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That they don’t is by design. The MSM could sway public opinion overnight if they weren’t merely courtiers of power, rather than the actual journalists that they purport to be.