Evidentally not according to John Kiriakou, American author, journalist and retired intelligence officer who also exposed the CIA torture program.
In a statement from readersupportednews which Kiriakou directed me to when i asked for his statement on Assange, he wrote:
“The issue here is that it is highly unusual – unprecedented, even – for a foreign national (Assange is Australian) to be charged with espionage when he did not steal the information. He was simply provided the information, which he then made public. Assange says that he was just a journalist doing his job, and no administration has ever charged a journalist with espionage for doing his job.
Second, this inadvertent disclosure confirmed that Assange has been charged in the Eastern District of Virginia – the so-called “Espionage Court.” That is just what many of us have feared. Remember, no national security defendant has ever been found not guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia. The Eastern District is also known as the “rocket docket” for the swiftness with which cases are heard and decided. Not ready to mount a defense? Need more time? Haven’t received all of your discovery? Tough luck. See you in court.
Third, I have long predicted that Assange would face Judge Leonie Brinkema were he to be charged in the Eastern District. Brinkema handled my case, as well as CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling’s. She also has reserved the Ed Snowden case for herself. Brinkema is a hanging judge. She was appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan after serving as a federal prosecutor. She was then elevated from administrative judge to trial judge by Bill Clinton, under the patronage of former Republican senator John Warner.”
Also in an article from counterpunch, Kiriakou states,
“No matter what happens, no matter what the charges, Julian cannot and will not get a fair trial in the Eastern District of Virginia.”
Judge Leonie Brinkema will not give Assange a chance for a defense as a “hang em high” judge she will likely give him the death penalty.
As John Kiriakou said,
Julian Assange doesn’t have a prayer of a fair trial in the Eastern District of Virginia. The only thing that can save him is jury nullification. Technically, jury nullification is illegal. That’s when a jury acquits, not because the defendant is innocent, but because the law itself is wrong. The Espionage Act is wrong. Julian Assange is a journalist. He should never have been charged with a crime in the first place. While the judge that will likely hear his case may disagree, a jury might agree. And it should.
We as a people must fight the extradition of Assange before it’s too late. Extradition can only lead to disaster in the case of an innocent man who only did his job as a journalist. Assange is a hero! Don’t let them make him a martyr!
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