Tariq Ali is a writer, film-maker and a longstanding editor of New Left Review.

Margaret Kunstler is a civil rights attorney in private practice. She co-authored Hell No: Your Right to Dissent in Twenty-First-Century America.

From the Introduction:

The following are some of the most significant challenges we face in our global mission to support and defend Julian Assange.

A Decade-Long Character Assassination.

The U.S. espionage indictment against Assange shows that he has been the victim of psychological operation warfare-rumor, disinformation and false news-designed to destroy his reputation and defame his character. While Assange and his lawyers have consistently maintained that the primary reason he sought protection in the Ecuadoran Embassy was to avoid extradition on espionage, the media has insisted otherwise, downplaying the threat from the US. For seven years, while Assange remained in the embassy under worsening conditions, this big lie provided the corporate media with a blind from which to issue myriad attacks on Assange. Segments of a contribution by Caitlin Johnstone appearing throughout this anthology explore and debunk the accusations designed to isolate Assange and mute the opposition to U.S. efforts to close down national security journalism. This character assassination greatly hinders the public’s understanding that his persecution under Espionage charges will open the door for anyone, anywhere around the world, to suffer the same fate.

Swedish Rape Allegations.

Another reason for the lack of support for Assange, especially in the U.S. and the U.K., is the rape investigation in Sweden. The manipulation of the Swedish sexual assault investigation began in 2010 in the immediate wake of WikiLeaks’ release of Chelsea Manning’s cache of damning U.S. war secrets. Two of the lesser allegations have been dismissed because the statute of limitations has run. The most serious accusation, that Assange did not receive consent for sex from his partner, is again under investigation. One of the reasons for the heated criticism of Assange was the belief that his primary motive for fleeing to the Ecuadorian embassy was to avoid the rape investigation rather than to escape extradition to the U.S., which, it was widely contended, was never a serious threat.

Tariq Ali is a writer, film-maker and a longstanding editor of New Left Review.

Margaret Kunstler is a civil rights attorney in private practice. She co-authored Hell No: Your Right to Dissent in Twenty-First-Century America.

From the Introduction:

The following are some of the most significant challenges we face in our global mission to support and defend Julian Assange.

A Decade-Long Character Assassination.

The U.S. espionage indictment against Assange shows that he has been the victim of psychological operation warfare-rumor, disinformation and false news-designed to destroy his reputation and defame his character. While Assange and his lawyers have consistently maintained that the primary reason he sought protection in the Ecuadoran Embassy was to avoid extradition on espionage, the media has insisted otherwise, downplaying the threat from the US. For seven years, while Assange remained in the embassy under worsening conditions, this big lie provided the corporate media with a blind from which to issue myriad attacks on Assange. Segments of a contribution by Caitlin Johnstone appearing throughout this anthology explore and debunk the accusations designed to isolate Assange and mute the opposition to U.S. efforts to close down national security journalism. This character assassination greatly hinders the public’s understanding that his persecution under Espionage charges will open the door for anyone, anywhere around the world, to suffer the same fate.

Swedish Rape Allegations.

Another reason for the lack of support for Assange, especially in the U.S. and the U.K., is the rape investigation in Sweden. The manipulation of the Swedish sexual assault investigation began in 2010 in the immediate wake of WikiLeaks’ release of Chelsea Manning’s cache of damning U.S. war secrets. Two of the lesser allegations have been dismissed because the statute of limitations has run. The most serious accusation, that Assange did not receive consent for sex from his partner, is again under investigation. One of the reasons for the heated criticism of Assange was the belief that his primary motive for fleeing to the Ecuadorian embassy was to avoid the rape investigation rather than to escape extradition to the U.S., which, it was widely contended, was never a serious threat.