Nils
Melzer, speciaal VN rapporteur martelen (en andere wrede inhumane
behandelingen van gevangenen) heeft moeite met de rechter die over de
uitzetting van Julian Assange gaat, daar zij banden heeft met groepen
die belang hebben bij de uitlevering van Assange aan de VS (zoals je
weet een land waar al lang geen recht meer wordt gedaan)……..
Rechter
Lady
Emma Arbuthnot zou als elke rechter
onafhankelijk moeten zijn, maar is dat zoals de meeste
rechters niet. In dit geval gaat e.e.a. nog verder: deze rechter
heeft meerdere banden met mensen en groepen die tegen Wikileaks zijn
en zoals je weet Wikileaks is opgezet door Assange……..
Arbuthnot weigert terug te treden en stelt simpelweg dat ze onafhankelijk is…… Elke rechter die echt onafhankelijk is, zou terugtreden nadat dergelijke feiten bekend zouden zijn geworden in een zaak als deze, sterker nog zelfs al bij dit soort beschuldigingen….. Alleen dat is al een teken aan de wand: Assange zal en moet uitgeleverd worden aan de verenging van terreurstaten, aangeduid als VS……
In
het volgende artikel gaat de schrijver, Tom Coburg, dieper in op de
banden van de rechter met derden die haar onafhankelijkheid zonder
meer aantasten. Het artikel verscheen eerder op The Canary:
UN
Rapporteur questions Assange judge’s role as more conflict of
interest evidence emerges
26th
June 2019
A
search of WikiLeaks suggests
one of the judges overseeing Julian
Assange‘s
pre-extradition hearings may be compromised via family and business
links to the UK intelligence and defence establishment. An earlier
article in The
Canary highlighted some
of those links.
Now Nils
Melzer,
the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, has also raised this “conflict
of interest” issue:
In UK courts #Assange is insulted a ‘narcissist‘; jailed for seeking asylum; facing US extradition for journalism; prosecuted by CPS known to have instigated his persecution; under a judge with known conflict of interest; under a Govt having prejudged him. bit.ly/2Xjvlna
Assange judge refuses to step down, despite evidence of intelligence and defence links | The Canary
Questions over extradition impartiality
It
now seems that further evidence from WikiLeaks may
add to these concerns. Although the judge – Lady Emma Arbuthnot –
acts independently, there are family links, past and present, to
people and organisations diametrically opposed to the publishing work
of WikiLeaks.
For example, some files show family business and intelligence
connections with a secret meeting with Israeli intelligence (Mossad);
a meeting about the UK’s nuclear deterrent; and UK defence spending
for the Afghan conflict.
Direct
family links
The
Canary reported that
Baron James Arbuthnot, the husband of
the judge – Lady Emma Arbuthnot – is a member of
the advisory board of the prestigious Royal United Services Institute
for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI).
He’s
also chair of
the advisory board of the UK division of multinational defence and
security systems manufacturer, Thales.
Prior
to his elevation to
the House of Lords in October 2015, Arbuthnot was a Tory MP for 28
years. He was also chair of
the Defence Select Committee between 2005 and 2014.
The
company you keep
Lord
Arbuthnot is listed as
a senior consultant to SC Security. Until 2017,
he was also a director. His co-directors were Lord Alex Carlile and
former MI6 head Sir John Scarlett, both of whom remain active in
the company.
In
October 2013, Carlile argued that
the publication of whistleblower Edward
Snowden‘s
revelations about mass surveillance “amounted to a criminal act”.
Carlile also oversaw UK
anti-terrorism laws and supported the
introduction of the ‘Snoopers’
Charter’.
Scarlett
was on a panel of experts that oversaw a
report, arguing that the security and intelligence agencies should
retain powers to “collect bulk communications data”, as warned of
by Edward Snowden. And as chair of the government’s Joint
Intelligence Committee (JIC),
he was responsible for
the compilation of the ‘dodgy dossier’ on Saddam Hussein’s WMD
(Weapons of Mass Destruction). This dossier provided an excuse for
the US and its allies to invade Iraq.
Now
more evidence emerges
WikiLeaks’ work
has included exposing
war crimes committed
during the Iraq War. It also provided
assistance to
Snowden when trying to escape US authorities.
But
a detailed search of the WikiLeaks databases
also reveals numerous files relating to Thales, RUSI, Scarlett,
Carlile and to Lord Arbuthnot himself:
-
WikiLeaks revealed a
total of 1,980 files about Thales, mostly from the Global
Intelligence files(GIF)
hacked from Stratfor. -
On
RUSI, it revealed 478
files, with one 2009 classified US cable revealing MoD
plans to increase spending for the Afghan conflict. -
It revealed around
30 files about John Scarlett, including a
secret US cable on a 2006 meeting with a Mossad chief on Lebanon,
Syria and Iran. -
On
Lord Carlile, it revealed 22
files, including a
restricted US Congress report on terrorism.
A WikiLeaks search
on James Arbuthnot reveals 62 files (mostly covering the Afghan
conflict). One file that mentions him is a US secret cable on a
meeting of “experts”, chaired by
Arbuthnot, on the renewal of the UK strategic nuclear deterrent.
Conflict
of interest
Lady
Arbuthnot is presiding
over the initial extradition proceedings of Assange. These includedan
application by Assange to cancel his arrest warrant in February 2018.
That application was denied and
she followed up with a detailed
explanation of
her decision.
The
Canary contacted
Lady Arbuthnot and Lord Arbuthnot for comment. At the time of
publication, there was no response.
In
April 2019, Liam Walker, a lawyer working with Assange’s legal
team, raised the
matter of Lady Arbuthnot’s apparent conflict of interest in a court
hearing presided by Judge Michael Snow.
Referring to an earlier hearing, presided over by Lady Arbuthnot,
Walker told the
judge his client had been:
subjected
to a tribunal that was clearly conflicted in its ability to judge Mr
Assange impartially.
In
an extensive interview with US journalist Chris Hedges, Melzer
referred to that conflict of interest and to a “file” lodged with
the court that provided the details:
But
despite Walker’s objection to the court, Lady
Arbuthnot continued to
rule on Assange matters.
As The
Canary also emphasised,
hundreds of citizens face similar class bias via the justice system
every single day. Likewise, thanks
to cut-backs,
the prison conditions they experience, including lack of legal aid
and poor access to lawyers and documents, are the norm.
Arguably,
no legal case should be allowed to continue where the potential for
bias by the overseeing judge or magistrate has been identified. And
in this particular case, the evidence of a conflict of interest seems
to be mounting.
Featured
image via Wikimedia
– Lonpicman
========================================
Zie ook:
‘Het meest gecensureerde nieuws van deze eeuw: het proces tegen journalist Julian Assange‘
‘Julian Assange het slachtoffer van de grootste persbreidel in deze eeuw‘
‘Julian Assange moet onmiddellijk vrijgelaten worden!‘
‘CNN met nog smeriger lastercampagne tegen Julian Assange‘
‘Belangrijk account voor de verdediging Julian Assange geblokkeerd door Twitter‘
‘Het westen vervolgt journalist Assange, Rusland laat journalist vrij na onrust over diens gevangenschap‘ (en nog hadden de reguliere media een grote bek over Rusland, media die niet anders hebben gedaan dan collega Assange besmeuren…..)
‘VN rapport: Assange is gedemoniseerd en psychisch gemarteld‘
‘Media wakker geschrokken en ontwaken in Assange nachtmerrie‘
‘Dag van Persvrijheid: Assange wordt zoveel mogelijk uitermate hypocriet gemeden door de pers‘
‘Julian Assange (brekend nieuws) veroordeeld tot 50 weken gevangenisstraf……‘
‘Russiagate: nog overtuigd van bestaan daarvan? Lees dit!‘ (en zie de links in dat bericht)
‘Chelsea Manning blijft voor onbepaalde tijd in de gevangenis‘
‘Julian Assanges vervolging is de genadeklap voor klokkenluiders en (echte) journalisten‘ (zie ook de iets oudere links in dat bericht)
‘WhiteHouse: US, Ecuador Coordinating About Future Of Assange Asylum‘
‘De prijs op het hoofd van Julian Assange: 1 miljard dollar…..‘
‘WhiteHouse: US, Ecuador Coordinating About Future Of Assange Asylum‘
