Julian Assange: By His Father | John Shipton
Where to find the show
iTunes | Spotify | Google Play | Deezer | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | TuneIn | RSS Feed
Download Episode MP3 File
The file will open in a new window. Click down arrow to download the file.
If you want peace, be prepared to fight.
SHOW DESCRIPTION
Location: London
Date: Tuesday, 10th March 2020
In 2010 WikiLeaks gained global recognition when Chelsea Manning, a US Army Soldier, turned whistleblower, released numerous documents via WikiLeaks including the now infamous Collateral Murder. Collateral Murder showed a team of two US AH-64 Apache helicopters firing upon and killing several men including civilians, two of whom were war correspondents working for Reuters.
WikiLeaks was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange and specialises in publishing leaked materials. In Assange's own words: "WikiLeaks is a giant library of the world's most persecuted documents. We give asylum to these documents, we analyse them, we promote them, and we obtain more."
In 2010 Sweden released an arrest warrant for Assange that alleged two cases of sexual assault. Assange feared that extradition to Sweden, may, in turn, lead to extradition to the US where he believed he could face prosecution for WikiLeaks' publication of the secret US government files.
Following a hearing and subsequent legal battle, the UK courts ruled that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face trial.
To prevent extradition, in August 2012, Assange entered the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he was granted political asylum. He remained there until his arrest in April 2019.
Swedish prosecutors have discontinued the investigation into the alleged sexual assault in 2010. However, Assange may still be extradited to the US, where he faces 18 charges of attempted hacking and breaches of the Espionage Act with a possible sentence of 170 years. Since early 2019 Assange has been imprisoned awaiting trial and extradition to the US. The case is in the hands of the UK courts and will, likely, be decided in May 2020.
Throughout the nearly seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy and the past year that Assange has been imprisoned, there have been several concerns raised over both his physical and mental health and the potential violations of Julian's human rights.
In this interview, I talk to John Shipton, Julian's father, an anti-war activist who has been campaigning to drop the extradition charge and see his son freed. We discuss John & Julian's relationship, Julian's ongoing case and the impact of WikiLeaks.
SUPPORT THE SHOW
The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
Leave a review of the show on iTunes (5* really helps, if you think the show deserves it).
Share the show and episodes out with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Follow Defiance on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Subscribe to the Defiance mailing list.
Donate Bitcoin here: bc1qd3anlc8lh0cl9ulqah03dmg3r2uxm5r657zr5p
If you have any questions then please email Defiance.
TIMESTAMPS
Coming soon…
SHOW NOTES
More from John:
Assange Campaign: Australian Assange Campaign
Al Jazeera: Julian Assange's father: My greatest worry is he will die in jail
Mentioned in the show:
Wikipedia: Julian Assange
BBC: Julian Assange: What is extradition and how does it work?
New York Times: Julian Assange Faces Hearing on Extradition to the U.S.
United Nations: UN experts warn Assange arrest exposes him to risk of serious human rights violations
The Guardian: Julian Assange’s extradition fight could turn on reports he was spied on for CIA
Al Jazeera: How Assange case highlights crime of psychological torture
Al Jazeera: Doctors tell UK authorities Julian Assange 'could die' in jail
New York Times: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Inquiry
Al Jazeera: WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning released from jail | News
BBC: Iran's Qasem Soleimani: Why the US had him in its sights
Wikipedia: Thirty Years' War
Wikipedia: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Wikipedia: Magna Carta
The Guardian: Donald Trump 'offered Julian Assange a pardon if he denied Russia link to hack'
WikiLeaks: WikiLeaks' Collateral Murder
THANK YOU TO MY SPONSOR
Kraken - the best place to buy, sell or trade Bitcoin.