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Although the current charges against Assange do not carry the death penalty, the U.S. has stated more charges will be,added once Assange is extradited. If the possibility of the death penalty exists. according to the U.S./U.K. extradition treaty, the British cannot allow Assange to be sent to the U.S.

According to StateWatch, pdf. can be seen here:

Article 7 of the UK-US treaty covers the death penalty, stating that: “the executive authority may refuse extradition unless the Requesting State provides an assurance that the death penalty will not be imposed or, if imposed, will not be carried out”.

In an article by the Standard, (can be viewed here), the following statement appears:

If Assange is sent to the U.S. to face charges and receives the death penalty, no person will be safe from the tyrannical government. People worldwide will not only be silenced but live in fear. The precedent set will enable the DOJ to extradite any individual who exposes criminal activity by the United States government. This will include its own citizens as well as foreigners.

A new bill has been introduced in Congress to protect journalists and whistleblowers from the ancient Espionage Act, (article seen here), the question still arises whether it will pass in both the Senate and Congress. It would be foolish on the part of elected officials not to pass it, but no one ever said politicians were wise.

The legislation to amend the 1917 Espionage Act was introduced by Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden in the Senate and California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna in the House of Representatives. Wyden and Khanna told The Intercept they crafted the legislation to preserve the government’s need for secrecy while strengthening protections for members of the press and expanding legal channels for government whistleblowers. “When I think about espionage, I’m thinking about somebody like Aldrich Ames,” Wyden said in an interview, referring to the CIA officer who passed secrets to the KGB before his arrest in 1994. “What my bill does is refocus the Espionage Act to the core issue, which is ensuring that the more than four million government employees and contractors with a security clearance don’t violate their oaths by divulging government secrets.”

In fact, I believe this is what the Espionage Act was intended to do, not be used against whistleblowers and journalists. Using it for any other reason is corrupt and abuse of power by those involved. Arresting journalists and whistleblowers for exposing criminal activity is against the Constitution. U.S. citizens need to remind their government of this.

In other Assange case news, healthcare staff have not followed the duties they are assigned in the case of Julian. Here is a copy of what is expected of them.

They have not reported the torture of Assange and have actually participated in it.

Assange has been in solitary confinement for nearly all of his 10-month incarceration, with over 20 hours spent in his cell per day. He has been hot-boxed, his legal papers confiscated, strip-searched, and who really knows what else during his detainment. Yet it seems the only one who truly cares is Nils Melzer, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture. He continues to advocate for Assange’s freedom yet is met with either silence or denial by the governments involved in this case.

A quote from Eva Joly from Twitter states:

“The trial of Julian Assange is the most important of this decade (….) Being able to publish what is of general interest, even the origin is illicit, is the very foundation of journalism. Power always seeks to hide. ”

Judge Vanessa Baraitser, who is overseeing this case, seems to be promoting the torture of Assange, rather than doing anything judicially to stop it. By keeping Assange isolated and unable to communicate with his lawyers confidentially, due process is nowhere to be seen in her courtroom. By further isolating Assange, the feeling of helplessness and depression is used to break him. Perhaps, Baraitser is hoping he will commit suicide so she doesn’t have to rule in this case which affects the world.

Some say Julian put lives at risk. However, it was the New York Times and the Guardian who released the key to the documents before Assange was able to redact the names. Once they had done this, Assange attempted to contact the State Department and the U.N. to save those lives who were at risk with no action taken. If anyone should be prosecuted for this, it should be the journalists who published the key. Why are they free while Julian is in jail? Why is Assange being tortured for doing his job? Why is an award-winning, 8-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize being threatened with 175 years imprisonment for exposing crimes in the public interest?

Furthermore, why aren’t YOU doing anything about this travesty of justice? It is time to call your elected officials, write them, protest and save Assange!

The UK is detaining Julian Assange arbitrarily, as it has, since 2010! He now exhibits signs of psychological torture but is denied the medical & psychological care experts demand, because his exceptionally powerful journalism exposed our exceptionally corrupt governments! Only the working people of the world can save this man from injustice! Only YOU can make a difference! Do it now before freedom is completely lost!