Assange’s father tells RT: Julian's survival hinged on plea deal
According to John Shipton, the father of the Wikileaks co-founder, the US behaves in a “ruthless and vindictive” manner towards individuals it disapproves of. Read Full Article at RT.com
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John Shipton, father of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, recently spoke with RTN about his son's plea deal with the US and what Assange has been doing since his release four months ago.
Assange spent five years in a high-security prison in the UK while he fought extradition to the US, where he faced accusations of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified information, much of which was related to American war crimes. In June, he entered into a plea bargain with the US Justice Department, admitting some guilt and waiving his right to legal recourse in exchange for his freedom. “I pled guilty to journalism,” Assange later explained.
Reflecting on his son’s experience, Shipton, who is visiting Russia, told RTN on Saturday that “the US, in its pursuit of those that it does not like, is clearly quite ruthless and vindictive.”
He emphasized, “I imagine if not for the intercession of the Australian government, the Australian people and the Australian parliament, if not for that intercession [which made the plea deal possible], Julian would not have survived.”
In the Moscow interview, Shipton was accompanied by Mira Terada, a Russian journalist who was extradited to the US from Finland in the late 2010s on charges of money laundering and who spent 46 months behind bars in the US. Shipton traveled to Moscow at Terada’s invitation; she is currently co-chair of the BRICS Journalists Association.
Terada described life in a US prison as “the worst experience” one could endure, asserting, “It is a human rights violation from the moment when they kidnap you to the moment when they release you,” and noted that inmates suffer from both physical and psychological torture.
She expressed her doubts about Assange receiving a fair trial in the US, stating, “I am confident that he [Assange] would never have a fair trial [in the US], but it is a big question if he would make it alive till the trial.”
Shipton expressed his relief at Assange’s release, saying he felt “elated” and that “a great burden had been lifted from myself and many hundreds of thousands of people, who ardently fought for Julian’s freedom for many years.” He mentioned that many of the activists who supported them from countries like the UK, Germany, France, Russia, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and South America became “rather like an extended family” to them.
According to Assange’s father, he “did not use hope as a tool for energy” during his son’s imprisonment, instead relying on “faith that the people of the world would object fundamentally to the site of an injustice and move towards righting that and bringing about justice.”
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
Assange spent five years in a high-security prison in the UK while he fought extradition to the US, where he faced accusations of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified information, much of which was related to American war crimes. In June, he entered into a plea bargain with the US Justice Department, admitting some guilt and waiving his right to legal recourse in exchange for his freedom. “I pled guilty to journalism,” Assange later explained.
Reflecting on his son’s experience, Shipton, who is visiting Russia, told RTN on Saturday that “the US, in its pursuit of those that it does not like, is clearly quite ruthless and vindictive.”
He emphasized, “I imagine if not for the intercession of the Australian government, the Australian people and the Australian parliament, if not for that intercession [which made the plea deal possible], Julian would not have survived.”
In the Moscow interview, Shipton was accompanied by Mira Terada, a Russian journalist who was extradited to the US from Finland in the late 2010s on charges of money laundering and who spent 46 months behind bars in the US. Shipton traveled to Moscow at Terada’s invitation; she is currently co-chair of the BRICS Journalists Association.
Terada described life in a US prison as “the worst experience” one could endure, asserting, “It is a human rights violation from the moment when they kidnap you to the moment when they release you,” and noted that inmates suffer from both physical and psychological torture.
She expressed her doubts about Assange receiving a fair trial in the US, stating, “I am confident that he [Assange] would never have a fair trial [in the US], but it is a big question if he would make it alive till the trial.”
Shipton expressed his relief at Assange’s release, saying he felt “elated” and that “a great burden had been lifted from myself and many hundreds of thousands of people, who ardently fought for Julian’s freedom for many years.” He mentioned that many of the activists who supported them from countries like the UK, Germany, France, Russia, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and South America became “rather like an extended family” to them.
According to Assange’s father, he “did not use hope as a tool for energy” during his son’s imprisonment, instead relying on “faith that the people of the world would object fundamentally to the site of an injustice and move towards righting that and bringing about justice.”
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
