Julian Assange is Sentenced to 50 Weeks in Prison
Jose Nino
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Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has been sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for skipping bail in the United Kingdom in 2012.
Judge Deborah Taylor declared that Assange should serve the maximum sentence of one year given the gravity of his offense.
Taylor rejected Assange’s claim for leniency because of the time he spent, seven years, in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
CBC reports that Assange stood still with his hands clasped as his sentence was read at London’s Southwark Crown Court.
Attorney Mark Summers read a letter in which Assange admitted that he was “struggling with terrifying circumstances” and did he what he thought best. The journalist “apologized unreservedly” in a letter that was read to the court, but this was not enough to sway the judge.
Taylor said, “By hiding in the embassy you deliberately put yourself out of reach, while remaining in the UK… In so doing, you exploited your privileged position to flout the law.”
Assange supporters in the public gallery chanted “no justice in the UK” and “shame on you” at the judge while police called for reinforcements.
Assange’s arrest on April 11, 2019, was a highly publicized affair that received a polarizing response in political circles.
BLP reported on neoconservatives and their neoliberal counterparts cheering Assange’s arrest, deriding him as a subversive for his decision to expose some of the more unsavory aspects of the military-industrial complex and the politicians who wage never-ending wars.
America First supporters like Cassandra Fairbanks were disappointed in Trump’s lack of support for the Wikileaks founder throughout his arrest.
https://twitter.com/CassandraRules/status/1120841213588983808
Assange and his leaks arguably played a huge role in getting Trump elected.
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