April 1, 2024 (EIRNS)—Former British diplomat Craig Murray points out that there is no real urgency for the U.S. to achieve the extradition of Julian Assange to stand trial. So long as Assange is held isolated and incommunicado in Britain, that serves the aims of the Anglo-American censorship apparatus perfectly well, without the potential difficulty of him actually going on trial in the United States or provoking protests by his presence in the country.
“Assange is not currently a major public issue in the United States, because he is not currently in the United States. Were he to arrive there in chains, the media coverage would be massive and the issue unavoidable in the presidential election campaign,” writes the former U.K. ambassador, who posits that the goal is to delay Assange’s extradition beyond the November U.S. presidential election.
The most recent legal development in the appeal of the United States request for the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition is to put on hold the decision of whether or not Assange will be allowed to formally appeal the decision by the U.K. legal system to extradite him. The judges have slowed down the process by demanding certain assurances from the U.S., such as agreeing not to subject the publisher to the death penalty, and to afford him rights to political expression under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
