The Essence of Journalism: Unveiling the Profile of Julian Assange
Introduction
There is the internet and now it has been foretold the advent of web 3.0. We are not sure if the tenets of free speech is possible because human beings are gullible and the centralized apparatuses are the crafty watch dogs. What is the essence of journalism? I guess it is telling it as it is. What does that mean? You should guess it to be mean being JUST, the verb to justice. Be just when you do some personal or public journalism. Be truthful without bias and prejudice. But how far can you go when you do good journalism which is free of sentiments and rooted in justice and truth? This is the profile of Julian Assange!
Bubbly Quote
"Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air" .-----Henry Grunwald. This writer has summarized the responsibility of good journalism. People may not always know and might not always be in the know and can not know the whole truth about a thing until good journalism brings it to the limelight.
Who is Julian Assange?
Julian Paul Hawkins was born on 3 July 1971 in Townsville Queensland, Australia. He assumed the name of Julian Assange in . Assange is a programmer, editor, activist and publisher. He started the famous 'WikiLeaks' where he was the director and editor-in-chief from 2006 to 2018 and remained a WikiLeaks publisher since 2018. He has been a skillful hacker since he was 16 and had hacked into several high profiled systems to share information and this adventures of his, had resulted in several court cases against him in Australia which he was able to resolved. He won several awards through his works in WikiLeaks including Stuttgart peace prize, global exchange human right award people's choice and the Martha Gellhorn prize for journalism. Read more about Assange here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange
Personal Life
As a child, Julian Assange lived in multiple Australian towns with his parents who eventually settled in Melbourne. His parents are Christine Ann Hawkins and John Shipton, a visual artist and anti-war activist respectively. John separated from Christine before Julian was born. When Christine remarried Berret Assange, Julian assumed the surname of Assange . Julian Assange was married to Teresa Assange from 1989 to 1999 and later to present wife, Stella Assange, a human rights activist and lawyer in 2022. Assange majored in mathematics, physics and programming at both the universities of Melbourne and central Queensland without landing a degree.
The U.S.A Extradition Case
In 2010, Assange publicly published a series of leaked top secret and highly confidential files of the USA government on WikiLeaks. The files were about the USA operations in Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Also leaked were files from the cables of the USA diplomacy. Chelsea Manning was said to have leaked these files to WikiLeaks. Manning was an analyst of the USA Army intelligence. By publishing these files, Assange claimed to be doing his job as an editor-in-chief and publisher. The USA government on the other side called Assange's action as espionage which must be punished.
Journalism and Free speech
Assange has been hailed as a hero for exposing such an overwhelming evidence of the USA atrocities against humanity and argued that his extradition from the United Kingdom to the USA would mean an assault on free speech and transparent journalism.
Ecuadorian Embassy in London
Assange had lived in the Ecuadorian embassy in central London for 7 years as an asylum seeker following an attempt by the government of Sweden to arrest him over a sexual molestation case which Assange claimed he was innocent of. The Swedish government asked for Assange to be repatriated to Sweden for a possible court proceeding but Assange feared that if he was extradited to Sweden from the UK, the Swedish government would eventually extradite him to the USA. He applied for an asylum status in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 and was granted asylum by the government of Ecuador. Swedish government later dropped all charges against him.
Incarceration at Belmarsh Prison London.
Assange has been incarcerated at Belmarsh prison in London since 2019 by the British government after he was shown the way out of Ecuadorian embassy in London; his asylum status revoked. Belmarsh is a maximum national security prison and people have wondered why Assange should be placed there when he was not a hard criminal. Assange had sent a mail to King Charles urging him to visit and see a part of his kingdom called Belmarsh. Full story here: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/may/06/julian-assange-writes-letter-to-king-charles-and-urges-him-to-visit-belmarsh-prison. Despite his troubles, Assange has perpetually displayed his defiance of tyranny and injustice as was portrayed in his satirical letter to King Charles. Assange is locked in his cell for 23 hours and has 1 hour for recreation.
The possibility of a suicide
Assange's lawyers gave a public warning about Assange's mental state and hinted that the famous editor and publisher could commit a suicide if the UK courts decided to grant an extradition to the USA. The final court hearing about Assange's possible extradition to the USA is happening in February 2024.
The potential penalty.
Assange could be imprisoned for 175 years in the USA if he is extradited, which is technically a life imprisonment, for publicly publishing the leaked US military and diplomatic files on WikiLeaks. It is also unclear if he could face similar charges back home in Australia for exposing certain political misdeeds. Even while in Ecuadorian embassy in London, Assange continued to expose several personalities and government across the world. In 2016, he released emails of some top USA politicians which reiterated support for a particular presidential candidate than another. Assange has so many enemies in the governments across the world and can be likened like the golden fish that has nowhere to hide.
Assange''s case is worse than Joshua Schulte
Joshua Schulte was a suspected Wikileaks whistle blower who is alleged to have hacked and transferred the files containing the USA military atrocities to WikiLeaks. Convicted in 2022 and given a 40 years prison term, Schulte is speculated to be a scapegoat of the USA government who wants to use him as a warning to the public. Schulte's prison cell conditions are said to be a nightmare and Assange could be made to face tougher conditions if he is extradited to the USA. Detailed story here: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/02/03/pkdo-f03.html
The stance of the Australian government.
The government in Australia has had a series of discussion over Julian Assange's espionage case labelled against him by the USA government. The Australian government wants the USA to drop charges against Assange. There is also the plan to welcome Assange back to his native Australia if he is left off the USA'S hook.
Conclusion
Free speech is a paradox: It has been called to exist by all rational peoples and yet it has always been restricted and resisted by those who fear its powerful wings. Julian Assange is an eagle in the free skies being haunted by the tamers of eagles. Good and just journalism is on trial again. “It’s okay to be crazy and scared and brave at the same time.”--- Kelly Epperson.
Reference
ABC News
ABC News(2024) Julian Assange's lawyer warns his life is 'at risk' if final UK appeal against extradition to US fails. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-10/assange-lawyer-says-us-extradition-suicide-risk-if-appeal-fails/103300784
WSWS
Grenfell, O. (2024)Alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower hit with 40-year sentence: A warning of what’s in store for Assange if extradition is not defeated. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/02/03/pkdo-f03.html
Reuters
Reuters(2024) Julian Assange's 'final' appeal against U.S. extradition to be held in February
https://www.reuters.com/world/julian-assanges-final-appeal-against-us-extradition-be-held-february-2023-12-19/
The Guardian News
The Guardian(2023). Julian Assange writes letter to King Charles and urges him to visit Belmarsh prison https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/may/06/julian-assange-writes-letter-to-king-charles-and-urges-him-to-visit-belmarsh-prison
The Guardian(2023) Julian Assange: more than 60 Australian MPs urge US to let WikiLeaks founder walks free. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/14/julian-assange-more-than-60-australian-mps-urge-us-to-let-wikileaks-founder-walk-free
Wikipedia
Wikipedia(2024) Julian Assange. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange
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