Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media, citing the occupation army: We tried to "eliminate" Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida
Al-Mashat: I call on everyone worldwide to avoid dealing with any assets of the entity, and there is still an opportunity for settlers to return to their countries
Al-Mashat: A final warning to all companies in the occupation entity to leave before it’s too late
The Israeli occupation army carries out a deadly airstrike on a populated residential building in the densely populated al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City, resulting in dozens of fatalities and injuries: Al Mayadeen's correspondent
Al-Mashat: We say to Gaza, we stand firm regarding our stance, no matter the sacrifices
Al-Mashat: We will meet challenge with challenge, and you will no longer have any sense of security
Al-Mashat: We say to the Zionists, our revenge is unyielding, and dark days await you
Al-Mashat: We will take revenge, and we will come out victorious from the depths of our wounds
Al-Mashat: Our people are capable of overcoming all difficulties and challenges, and the enemy will not be able to break our steadfastness, nor will we be intimidated by raids or terrified by threats
President of the Yemeni Supreme Political Council Mahdi al-Mashat: The Government of Change and Building will carry out its duties in a caretaker capacity, and the blood of the martyrs will serve as a motivation for steadfastness and reconstruction

Julian Assange and the day democracy died

  • Fra Hughes Fra Hughes
  • Source: Al Mayadeen Net
  • 18 Dec 2021 23:49
  • 18 Shares
7 Min Read

The travesty of Justice which we have witnessed in the persecution of Julian Assange has proven beyond all shadow of a doubt that there is no press freedom in the Western world.

  • x
  • Julian Assange and the day democracy died
    Julian Assange and the day democracy died

The real losers in the Julian Assange case are Julian Assange, his family, freedom of the Press, truth, and justice.

Britains decision to grant America's appeal, to have Julian Assange extradited to face 175 years in a deep dark windowless dungeon, in isolation, in the most inhospitable hole in the ground the American penal system can find, where most likely he will be waterboarded to gain information on anyone else who might hold power to account over past and present US-NATO war crimes, is nothing more than the latest stain on Britains Judiciary, who claim to be the arbiters of all that is good, wholesome and democratic.

Britain, which claims to be the home of democracy, is nothing more than the facilitator of oppression and injustice which can be verified by a simple cursory look at its slave-trading history, its colonial past, its current political sanction policies, and its shameful prosecution of a man who the world rightly sees as a hero of press freedoms, a voice of the voiceless, a stalwart of democracy and a defender of the truth.

Oh, if only we had more like him!

Nous Sommes Julian Assange

Those who expose war crimes like Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange are censured and demonized, called unpatriotic and accused of putting allied troops lives in peril, yet those who murder or send others to bomb, maim, torture, shoot, and kill on their behalfs, like Tony Blair and George W. Bush, are above the law, exempt from criminal prosecution, living the lifestyles of millionaires, while those they have murdered shot and bombed lived on a few dollars a day.

Innocent people end up in prison while the guilty walk free. 

Democracy and decency are turned on their heads when the system needs sacrifice and scapegoat.

The world doesn’t look at the war crimes committed by US and NATO  troops in Afghanistan Iraq, Libya, Syria, to name but a few; it watches the pound of flesh demanded from the truth seekers as atonement for disclosure.

The travesty of Justice which we have witnessed in the persecution of Julian Assange, the 50-year-old journalist and co-founder of WikiLeaks, has proven beyond all shadow of a doubt that there is no press freedom in the Western world. It could be argued, there is no press freedom in many regions of the world but the cruel unjust demonization and vilification of an honest, sincere, just, moral crusader for the truth, proves for all those who do not already know, holding power to account can be a very dangerous pastime. Such a quest for the truth can lead to a very dark place, as leaving the safety of the community of writers of consensus, standing alone, losing one’s freedom, one’s sanity, one’s dignity and one’s future is a very heavy price to pay for a man of principle.

It is only in the last decade that I personally have begun to seek out alternative Media, to avail of the myriad of publishers in print, on the airwaves, and on the internet, to find a counterbalance to the narrative that I have read in the daily western papers, watched on the daily western television news programs, and listened to on the daily radio talk shows, that sometimes pass for light entertainment but are also used by state media to control the narrative of public debate around crucial world political developments.

Since I have been old enough to read, I believe I have been manipulated by the mainstream Media into joining in the consensus created, sometimes by the government, other times by the deep state and on many occasions by influencers who also want to control the public narrative to support their political agenda.

The breakup of the former Yugoslavia is a perfect example of how the west manipulated public opinion into accepting the bombing of Serbia, while Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were another state-fuelled lie.

Julian Assange chose to fight for truth and justice. He walked in the shadows of the Twilight Zone, between the darkness and the light. His job, as he saw it was to bring the truth of war, with all its crimes against humanity, to the international court of public opinion. He exposed the lies of the government perpetrated in our name when he exposed some of the US military war crimes in Afghanistan.

While mainstream media acted as cheerleaders in the wars on Afghanistan, on Iraq, on Libya, on Syria, they disguised the real human cost of war as humanitarian interventions to save lives.

While the truth is very far from the sanitized reality of Western media propaganda coverage of these events, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning exposed the truth of how war dehumanizes the victims, destroys the combatants, and the ultimate price is paid in human lives, human dignity, human morality, and human kindness.

Related News

After Alaska, Ukraine alliance envisions new war against Russia once current one ends

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

Julian Assange who has been railroaded by the British government, British judiciary, the British police and the British Parliament, is the victim of a travesty of Justice. An abuse of authoritarian power by those who govern us.

Julian Assange should be seen as a true hero of the 21st century, a modern visionary, a prophet for truth and freedom and the best example of journalism to be found anywhere in the world.

The trial and prosecution of Julian Assange have a dual purpose. On one level, it is revenge by the US government and administration against Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning in order to destroy their credibility and continue to keep secret the war crimes committed in our names by many western governments, chiefly Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, and US. The second part of this constructed attack upon Julian Assange is designed to frighten anyone who would dare stand up against the racist fascist authoritarian regimes now governing western nations. The punishment of Julian is nothing more than a warning to others to stay quiet, to stay obedient, and to stay in line.

The truth of war is death and destruction

They say truth is the first casualty of war, and it is because if we the people, really knew what they did in our names, for the benefit of big business, the military-industrial war complex, and the corporations who increasingly sponsor our political elites, we would demand they stop.

Two million people could not prevent Blair from taking Britain into an illegal concocted war against Iraq.

One man nearly succeeded where so many others have failed.

Julian Assange is a hero.

Julian Assange is a fighter for truth.

Julian Assange may never be seen again.

Words are inadequate to describe the horrors he will undoubtedly face and they cannot articulate the depth of depravity that sees this man extradited to America.

Julian Assange is all of us.

God give him the strength to face the ordeal that awaits him.

Democracy is dead in Britain, it is dead in the US, and it is dead in the EU.

We are led by liars, hypocrites and warmongers. Pursuant of personal power, personal wealth and personal aggrandizement.

Democracy has died many times over, in the various colonisations and occupations in the history of the world.

It died with every genocide, every man-made famine, siege, collateral damage and it died in Afghanistan the day they murdered unarmed people on the streets.  

It died on the day they exposed the Afghan war logs, and it died on December 10, 2021, on International Human Rights Day.

Democracy is dead. The guilty are free and the innocent are facing death in jail.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • United States
  • Justice
  • UK
  • WikiLeaks
  • Julian Assange
Fra Hughes

Fra Hughes

Journalist, author, and activist.

Most Read

All
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Although it does seem likely they will launch some kind of operation in northern Gaza, one which will accelerate its mass murder of civilians, but will fail to achieve its stated objectives. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Here is why the Israeli occupation of Gaza won’t work

  • Opinion
  • 26 Aug 2025
Palestine will not be liberated by UN reports, but by pursuing a different strategic horizon: one that does not beg for recognition. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Economy of Genocide: Albanese's report accuses, but doesn't dismantle system

  • Opinion
  • 18 Aug 2025
Those in Occupied Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria – directly affected by Israeli occupation and apartheid – can claim their right to armed struggle under a series of UN resolutions. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Resistance and regime change in occupied Palestine

  • Opinion
  • 17 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
Star power or superpower? When politics becomes a reality show

Star power or superpower? When politics becomes a reality show

Even if America really did reduce its military budget by half, it would still dwarf monies spent by its own “perceived adversaries”. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

The Russian Trap: Putin to demilitarise while Europe rearms?

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the revolutionary who fought for the oppressed

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the revolutionary who fought for the oppressed

2024 a year in review from Gaza to Lebanon, from Syria to Yemen, from Iraq to Iran

2024 a year in review from Gaza to Lebanon, from Syria to Yemen, from Iraq to Iran

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS