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    Desperate Christmas Eve phone call from Assange in Belmarsh Archived Message

    Posted by Tomski on January 5, 2020, 2:02 pm, in reply to ""We Knew Julian Assange Hated Hillary Clinton. We Didn’t Know He Was Secretly Advising Trump.""

    From memory Greenwald occasionally puts out articles on the Intercept, lately on Brazil. In general I am wary of the Intercept's output, especially after outing of that whistleblower and keeping the lid on the Snowden files.

    Just received an update on one of Free Assange petitions. Shortened URL

    shorturl.at/iBM79

    Vaughan Smith RT interview describing desperate Christmas Eve phone call from Assange in Belmarsh

    5 JAN 2020 —

    This petition to the UK Government, demanding they immediately transfer Julian Assange out of maximum security prison, has now surged past 21,000 signatures. The urgency of this demand was confirmed last week when news emerged that Julian himself during a phone call to an old friend and UK journalist Vaughn Smith had said he was “slowly dying” inside Belmarsh.

    So much effort has been made to totally silence the voice of Julian Assange. Even before his arrest he was cut off from the internet. Now he is held in isolation 23 hours a day in the “healthcare” ward of the most notorious maximum security prison in the UK. His mail has once again been cut off. It is in this context that Julian Assange chose to use his one allotted phone call on Christmas Eve to get a message out to a journalist. It is this context that we must seek to ensure that Julian’s message from this night is amplified and shared as much as possible.

    Below is the full transcript of Vaughan Smith’s interview with RT Moscow on December 31st in which Vaughan not only relays Julian’s message but also raises alarm about his sedation by authorities and demands the UK Government justify why Julian is being held in Belmarsh to begin with.

    ‘I’m slowly dying here’: ‘Sedated’ Assange tells friend during Christmas Eve call from UK prison as health concerns mount

    31 Dec, 2019

    RT Moscow Journalist: This is Vaughan Smith who is an independent video journalist and also a friend of Julian Assange who kindly joins me on the line now. A very good evening to you Vaughan. I can't imagine that Julian Assange has too many phone calls he could make but he did make one of them to you I believe on Christmas Eve. What did he say about he feels his mental, physical condition and the conditions at Belmarsh prison where he is?

    Vaughan Smith: To be honest he didn’t talk too much about his conditions, Julian rang me because he spent Christmas with me and my family in 2010 while on bail all that time ago. I think he simply wanted a few minutes of escape and to talk to us because of the memory of that, happy memories.

    His speech was slurred, he was speaking slowly. Now Julian is a highly articulate very clear person when he speaks, and he sounded awful and it was very upsetting to hear him. He didn't actually say he was sedated, it seemed pretty obvious that he was and the idea that he is being sedated has come from several people who have visited him who have clearly been told and the British Government have been asked about it and they refuse to address that matter. So what they say is that are not mistreating him but clearly he is being kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day and not addressing these allegations and I think we need to know more about it. What is happening to Julian? What are they doing to him?

    RT Moscow: I was just wondering what your thoughts were at the time. You must have had lots of questions you wanted to ask him out of natural curiosity, especially considering your a journalist but at the same time your thinking well let's talk about what he wants to talk about

    Vaughan Smith: Yes, I understood from what he said that he was allowed one call for Christmas and that he chose to call us and so he spoke to my family and my wife and my children and we just wanted to do what we could to cheer him up. It was incredibly sad to hear him. He is obviously having a really vile time and I just don't understand why is he in Belmarsh Prison in the first place. He is a remand prisoner and actually putting someone in Belmarsh is an incredibly expensive thing to do, why are we spending this money on Julian Assange, he is not a danger to the public.

    RT Moscow: I wanted to ask you, given the reports he is in solitary confinement, why on earth would that be. One tends to think of dangerous individuals and or in fact people who are a danger to themselves to be put in solitary confinement but why Julian Assange

    Vaughan Smith: I think the British Government need to answer some questions about his conditions here and we are not getting the answers, there are too many questions like this and now the thing is that is clear is that what is happening to Julian is much more about vengeance and setting an example to dissuade other people from holding American power to account in this way. So actually perhaps we are supposed to know these things about him. I know it sounds awful but is that really possible. I think we need some answers from the British Government. Why are they treating him like this? Why can't we have some independent assessment? A hundred international doctors have asked to arrange a visit, at least to send some representatives to check on him but that hasn't been allowed. Nils Melser the UN Rapporteur on Torture has been very clear on Assange’s mistreatment and describes it in the most appalling terms and yet claims that as recently as November the British Government has completely ignored his requests to see Julian properly his health properly assessed.

    RT Moscow: How did he compare to the Julian Assange you know in terms of how he spoke and his spirits

    Vaughan Smith: Julian was extremely good company over Christmas in 2010. He had a great Christmas despite the fact he was restrained and had to live only in my house. His whole face looked different. You know he lost more than 15 kilograms now. He was very good company and you know just hearing him on the phone he sounded awful and he said to me “I am slowly dying here”. He said that also to my wife, not of course to my children. His father keeps telling us this. His father is telling us this too. We must stop this. What I find so depressing as a country is that clearly we harbour political prisoners, we have political prisoners because that is exactly what he is. I didn't think we were the sort of country that mistreated them in this way.

    RT Moscow: This must be quite shocking given what we know about Julian Assange, given what the public knows. This is a man whose obviously got strongly held beliefs and principles who was willing to de facto be in prison inside the Embassy for several years for what he believes in. To hear him sound so down beaten must be quite shocking.

    Vaughan Smith: It is shocking and I think it shows, reveals a lot about our country that I think we need to attend to. I think a country is judged by the way it treats people that perhaps are contentious that we don't agree with today that perhaps future generations will treat quite differently or perceive quite differently. That has happened many times historically. I think we have to find a way to treat people like Julian Assange who are saying things to us that perhaps not all of us want to hear in a way that reflects the values of the society that we claim to hold.

    RT Moscow: I was just thinking he has not really been found guilty of any wrongdoing as of yet apart from skipping bail but he believes he is running away from charges that he never carried out. If he should let speculate been found completely innocent of any charges in the US, doesn’t go to prison, what on earth can you do to try and make things right given everything Julian Assange has been through

    Vaughan Smith: I think that is a very interesting question but please remember that he has served the time for the bail charge, he has served his time for that. He is now on remand. It is highly unusual to put a remand prisoner in Belmarsh when they are not a physical or violent threat to society. Many of the court cases, he is about to have a case, his main case in February, its going to be held at Belmarsh where there is restricted public access. The whole thing we really need to be asking more questions. This needs to be held much more in the open. As to how anyone might come to redress such ills, I don't think that ever happens. Julian has had his freedom compromised for nearly a decade now. Its completely, this is bullying and he deserves better.

    RT Moscow: You talked about the 60 doctors writing to the UK Government. You've got medical experts saying they are fearful for his condition. Julian Assange himself saying he feels like he is dying in prison. It all appears to make no sense at all. The fact that he is being held in such conditions. What do you think the fears of the government are as they seem to breaking the normal rules of the way they would treat a prisoner in such a situation. What do you think they are so afraid of?

    Vaughan Smith: I think is this world where elections can be won on Facebook, where information is power and where authorities can gather a great deal of information an unprecedented amount of information. I think Julian represents something for the public that concerns power because potentially it constrains it. What Julian represents is incredibly important to the public and I think it's time for the public to say we want some answers and we would to have people treated a little bit better. Of course what Julian has done is contentious but he did he delivered a discussion a debate on what transparency should look like in the digital age in the internet age. The debate got squashed, it never really happened. Instead he has been victimised and been promoted with a vast smear campaign online as someone who is a threat to the public. That's why he is Belmarsh. I think it's very worrying. It's also very worrying to journalism. Whats happening to Julian, if Julian was extradited to America it does open the door to similar sorts of matters, of cases for restrictions to happen to the more regular press who won't have the protection of Julian whose function as he set himself up to deliver was to process whistleblowing material. So will we not get that? Nothing Julian has published has been inaccurate, its been all the truth. Isn't that all we have, the truth? Isn't that of great importance to the public to have the truth

    RT Moscow: As a journalist myself, my biggest concern, different to what you think is that he published these materials and seems to have been published prior to any kind of official trial. I mean the man has been through hell and back and he is yet to be tried for anything. That concerns me, what about you?

    Vaughan Smith: I am very concerned, and I think the case in February is going to be very interesting and I hope there is a great deal of public interest in it because there should be great public concern but on the one hand the act, the extradition acts from the US to the UK does not allow for the extradition of political prisoners so I don't know how that is going to work. The other thing the Americans have been caught spying on Julian Assange's legal team and that’s something of a no no too I mean how can you have a fair trial if the prosecutors have secret access because they have spied on the defence team. At the same time Julian has clearly said and in court I heard him he didn't feel able, he didn't have access to the materials he needed to participate in his defence and yet still it hasn't changed and I am extremely worried because it reflects our countries legal system in a way that clearly the law is not applied equally to us all and I find that deeply shocking.

    The full video of this interview can be watched here

    UPCOMING COURT APPEARANCES AND PROTESTS

    January 14th - Next Administrative “roll over” hearing that must occur for a prisoner on remand in the UK every 28 days to renew their detention. Westminster Magistrates Court 9 AM

    January 23rd - Case Management Hearing - Westminster Magistrates Court 9AM

    January 25th - Yellow Vests protest at Belmarsh! A contingent of French Yellow Vest protestors will be joining their British comrades outside the walls of Belmarsh itself to demand his release! Please join the Facebook event wherever you are in the world and click “interested” and invite 10 friends. Lets spread the word about this important act of international solidarity for Assange.

    February 24th - Global Day of protest to mark the start of the Full extradition hearing at the court adjacent to Belmarsh Prison.

    Join or start a Free Assange Committee in your workplace or community. A list of existing active groups can be found here

    Keep sharing the petition to add even more voices to this clarion call - Assange out of Belmarsh now!

    Keep building the mass movement to Free Julian Assange!

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