BC LEGAL
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

We're moments away from British judge announcing extradition decision in WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's case. I'll have live updates shortly.

 In their closing argument, Assange's legal team outlined how they believed the case brought by the Trump Justice Department was "politically motivated"

https://t.co/INOk0BQrou
The Crown Prosecution Service, which represents the US government in the extradition proceedings, has contended WikiLeaks is in the "business of encouraging individuals to hack into computers"—clearly criminalizing their decade-plus record of journalism. https://t.co/b1aE1galtQ
I see a bench inside of a glass container, where Assange will be isolated during the announcement of extradition decision. This has been standard practice during his case, even after he complained about how it infringed upon his ability to participate in his defense.
Overheard Fitzgerald, who is on Assange legal team, complaining about lack of water.

"It's not as bad as Iwo Jima, I suppose..."
Some more background ahead of decision: the Crown Prosecution Service maintained it was inappropriate for court to factor torture or war crimes revelations by Assange/WikiLeaks into decision.
https://t.co/HG7XP9nasD
In addition to the revelations around UC Global spying on Assange while he was in embassy, during extradition trial we also learned FBI seized legally privileged materials from him https://t.co/i9ibcwax6G
Assange is now seated in glass container. Court is in session.
Judge finds Assange is not protected by US/UK treaty and the Extradition Act of 2003, which does not protect against prosecution for political offenses, is what governs
Baraitser says Assange’s alleged activities went beyond mere encouragement of journalist. She outlines the alleged password-cracking conspiracy.
Baraitser heavily relies on AUSA Gordon Kromberg, whose submissions to the court were treated as sacrosanct during extradition trial. Kromberg never testified as witness. These are prosecutorial claims untested by Assange legal team.
Baraitser is repeating general allegations added in the superseding indictment issued in summer of 2020 and sprung on defense attorneys weeks before extradition trial.
Baraitser, referring to allegations of hacking in 2020 indictment, says this took [Assange] outside of any role of investigative journalism." He was trying to obtain information by hacking.
Baraitser: Free speech rights do not provide "unfettered discretion by Mr Assange to decide what he’s going to publish"
Judge cites this Guardian column condemning WikiLeaks as part of evidence (or justification) for extradition decision
https://t.co/ww0Ozi5V1x
Baraitser appears to have found Assange in violation of Official Secrets Act

If proven allegations "would therefore amount to offenses in this jurisdiction that would not be protected by his freedom of speech"
Baraitser says prosecutors brought charges against Assange in good faith

Also asserts insufficient evidence that decision was made not to prosecute Assange under Obama
Baraitser dismisses the allegations against UC Global related to spying on Assange in the Ecuador embassy.

She says it is inappropriate for court to make findings of fact on evidence still being investigated in Spain.
Baraitser cites a CNN article as evidence or justification for US government to engage in spying operation against Assange and the Ecuador embassy

Here is that article from 2019:
https://t.co/tbK3QDm3Fs
Judge did not find Assange would face grave problems...in light of passage of time since alleged offenses
Baraitser: Constitutional and procedural protections will be applied to Assange’s trial to ensure it is a fair trial
Baraitser essentially argues a US court is equipped to determine whether Espionage Act allows for prosecution against Assange (publisher) for the offenses alleged. She mentions challenges against overbreadth can be made during pretrial.
Baraitser does not believe US court would be able—or would try—to deny Assange rights under the US Constitution, as he will be put on trial on US soil
Baraitser goes on to add trust that US court will properly consider Assange’s right to freedom of speech
Judge accepted doctors' opinions that Assange sufferes from recurrent depressive disorder and suffers from autism (though he is a highly functioning case)
Baraitser says Assange is at high risk of suicide and that there is a "real risk" he will be detained subject to special administrative measures (SAMs) in US prison, especially because intelligence community is hostile to him
Baraitser: Extradition would be oppressive by reason of Assange’s mental health
The United States government's mass incarceration system just lost them their case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
Holy shit, the judge ends saying she is satisfied that procedures described by US would not prevent Assange from finding a way to commit suicide in US supermax prison
The judge and defense are discussing an application for bail. US government is going to immediately appeal.
BREAKING: Judge rules against US extradition of Julian Assange, contending extradition would be oppressive by reason of Assange’s mental health
Citing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's mental health, a British judge rejects the US government's extradition request
https://t.co/db9Zq33qWi
Key sections in British court's decision against US extradition request and why the judge determined it would be oppressive to approve the request against Assange
This is suddenly one of most crucial reports I wrote during Julian Assange's extradition trial.

As I noted, precedent in Lauri Love's case could have implications for Assange, especially since Fitzgerald, Assange attorney, was involved in the Love case

https://t.co/4CtEfDjmTj
Judge Baraitser accepted virtually all of allegations against Assange that made this a dangerous case for press freedom.

Despite the fact that the request was rejected, there is plenty in this ruling to cause alarm. Because someone else could easily be criminalized in future.
Fitzgerald tells judge they would like to make bail application on Wednesday. #Assange
Judge grants Assange legal team's request for time to prepare bail application and schedules hearing for Wednesday
In the final minutes of the live feed from court, Assange turns to someone talking to him and we see a grin.
Court is adjourned. I'll be covering the bail application hearing on Wednesday. Until then, I'm moderating a panel discussion on the ruling hosted by @DefenseAssange at 3 pm ET.

It will feature Noam Chomsky, Marjorie Cohn, and Daniel Ellsberg.

https://t.co/StgRXsTt3k
Also I curate a newsletter called The Dissenter that you can subscribe to for further reporting on Assange extradition decision (as well as whistleblower stories).

Today I'm offering a 50 percent discount to all who sign up for a year.

https://t.co/V1iTt1Ieka
I'm going live at the top of the hour with a breakdown of the extradition decision in Julian Assange's case

https://t.co/Lapo5PbAgp

More from Legal

Angela Ramirez
Angela Ramirez
@coangelaramirez
LATEST:

#BLM & Movement for Black Lives are promoting a 128 page bill that brings their radical protest demands into political reality.

The bill eliminates DoD ops, stops counter-terrorism programs, offers social services to illegal immigrants, &

Due to the exorbitant length of the bill (it's 128 pages) I have to explain the specifics of the BREATEHE act in sections. This article only includes the first section of the bill, which is pages 1-10.

You can find the full bill here: https://t.co/3WgchuFqXf


In the first 10 pages, the BREATHE Act moves to:

1. Repeal federal funding for local law enforcement.

The first two pages alone "abolishes" the D.E.A. and removes local law enforcement's ability to access federal funding for bulletproof vests.


2. Eliminate Department of Homeland Security (@DHSgov) programs, including ICE and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs.


The specific programs that they move to abolish include:

ICE

Border Enforcement Security program

Countering Violent Extremism program

Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Denaturalization Program
LEGAL
Carissa Byrne Hessick
Carissa Byrne Hessick
@CBHessick
I have seen so many people (including folks on #lawtwitter) comparing what happened at the Capitol yesterday with the violence and property damage that happened in some cities during protests last summer.

Let me explain what is wrong with that analogy . . . . .

To clarify -- my disagreement is not with those who are pointing out that law enforcement didn't respond with the same level of force and arrests at the capitol as it did during BLM protests.

That comparison deserves to be drawn and it raises some very important questions.

My disagreement is with those who are saying that what happened at the Capitol yesterday is so similar to what happened during protests this summer, that people's reactions ought to be similar--a suggestion that those reacting more strongly now are hypocritical.

Here's one example of someone (a law professor) making the argument. But I've seen it plastered across the site all day, it keeps cropping up in my mentions, and so I want to respond.


There are a number of things that distinguish what happened at the Capitol from what happened during BLM protests. The most obvious is the reason that people protested---some protested about factually false claims about election fraud; others about real police shootings.
LEGAL
Advertisement
John Scott-Railton
John Scott-Railton
@jsrailton
BREAKING: at least six men that provided security for Roger Stone entered the #Capitol during the siege, per a @nytimes visual investigation.

All six are associated with the far-right #OathKeepers militia.

THREAD 1/

Story: https://t.co/abZlcVyaR6


2/ On January 5th, Stone appeared at the Supreme Court, glad-handing and being driven in a go-kart. Later he attended a rally near the White House.

As the @nytimes team shows, his security entourage featured a host of #OathKeepers...


3/ In the morning of the 6th, Stone stood outside the Willard InterContinental hotel, again flanked by men associated with the #OathKeepers.

Some of them, like Rob Minuta, have been named in prior


4/ Interesting detail: while scrutinizing the video of Roger Stone I spotted Rudy Giuliani exiting the same hotel.

Giuliani is accompanied by a man wearing the same outfit as Trump supporter John Eastman & other not-yet ID'd people.

Video source: https://t.co/Rure8TiQTp


5/ Now to the #Capitol: We see a several of Roger Stone's #OathKeeper guards amidst a larger group yelling at police. Video surfaced by the @CTExposers team.👇👇

https://t.co/NWsONDz0OA
LEGAL
Adam Rawnsley
Adam Rawnsley
@arawnsley
New from me: Prosecutors have charged an alleged Colorado militia member, Robert Gieswein, which The Daily Beast has been tracking since he appeared in photos of the riot at the Capitol.

The FBI says Gieswein "appears to be affiliated with the radical militia group known as the Three Percenters." Working with @jsrailton, we found similar evidence. Here's a picture of Gieswein from his now-deleted Facebook page posing in front of CO Rep Lauren Boebert's bar


Gieswein, kneeling with the rifle. is flashing the Three Percenter hand signs in front of Beobert's bar in this picture from November 2019.

One of the ways we were able to identify Gieswein was from the distinctive "Woodland Wild Dogs" patch he wore on his chest. If you check website registrations, you can find that Gieswein registered websites for the group as well as "Rocky Mountain Oathkeepers"


And to tie it in further, Gieswein also put the Woodland Wild Dogs logo on his FB page.
LEGAL
MichaelOKeeffe
MichaelOKeeffe
@MickO_Keeffe
Diversity crimes....

https://t.co/uPAL7fI9vT


https://t.co/i4qRuFDm24


https://t.co/rgojynTya9


https://t.co/HJgFbvINPr


https://t.co/glVzcosx5u
LEGAL

You May Also Like

The Troll Zoo
The Troll Zoo
@TrollZoo
1. This is "Hollie The Card".

She's a Doctor, Physician, PhD, MA, Clinical Psychologist, Hospital Consultant, PTSD consultant, Long Covid Consultant.

(Thread)


2. Although sometimes she’s also an AUTHOR and English Academic.


3. A Hospital Consultant and ex Gymnast.

(Pinterest public profile)


4. A Physician, Doctor, or hospital consultant.

A “Hospital Consultant”, would probably mean a senior doctor, in the UK at least.


5. Hollie changes her Twitter picture and bio so often, it’s hard to keep up with her qualifications.
TWITTER
UN Watch
UN Watch
@UNWatch
The UN just voted to condemn Israel 9 times, and the rest of the world 0.

View the resolutions and voting results here:

The resolution titled "The occupied Syrian Golan," which condemns Israel for "repressive measures" against Syrian citizens in the Golan Heights, was adopted by a vote of 151 - 2 - 14.

Israel and the U.S. voted 'No' https://t.co/HoO7oz0dwr


The resolution titled "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people..." was adopted by a vote of 153 - 6 - 9.

Australia, Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and the U.S. voted 'No' https://t.co/1Ntpi7Vqab


The resolution titled "Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan" was adopted by a vote of 153 – 5 – 10.

Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and the U.S. voted 'No'
https://t.co/REumYgyRuF


The resolution titled "Applicability of the Geneva Convention... to the
Occupied Palestinian Territory..." was adopted by a vote of 154 - 5 - 8.

Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and the U.S. voted 'No'
https://t.co/xDAeS9K1kW
SOCIETY
Advertisement
Anu Satheesh
Anu Satheesh
@AnuSatheesh5
Ameda Temple
Ernakulam, Kerala 🚩
#keralatemples

Ameda Ksetram is located in the banks of Vembanad Lake. Temple is very unique and Powerful Sarpa Kavu.
Parashurama did Prathishta here. Vilakku which was lighted by Parasurama is still seen inside the temple.


The oil from this lamp is given to bhakthas for recovering from illness.

Sthala puranam says that, Once, when Parashurama was travelling through Kerala, he reached this place. As it was evening, he stepped into the Lake for Sandhya Vandanam
At that Sapthamathrukkal 👇


(Brahmini, maheshwari, kowmari, vaishnavi, varahi, indirani and chamundi) were travelling there on a tortoise through the water. The tortoise was unable to move, because the Water had made its way for Parashurama. The place where the tortoise became Still came to be known as 👇


Aama Ni Nidayam' ( Aama means tortoise) and later become ‘Ameda’. Parashurama came to know about the journey of Sapthamathrukkal. Thus, he did Prathishta for the Sapthamathrukkal here.
7 forms of Aadi Parashakthi are Sapthamathrukkal. Veerabhadra and Ganesha have Sannidhi here.


The main Garbhagriham in the temple is the Sapthamathrukkal. There are Sannidhi to Nagas, Nagayakshi and Vishnu too. Sarparadhana or snake worship is done here. Naga Panchami is famous here. Those who have Naga Dosham come here and get relieved of their Doshas.
🕉🙏🕉
ALL
Zach Weinersmith
Zach Weinersmith
@ZachWeiner
Hey, for people interested in this stuff, here's a thread about a change we made to running our facebook account:

So, about 5 years ago, we got on facebook. Why? Well, facebook has a big audience and they like to consume on facebook. So, we started posting comics there, even though we got paid nothing and facebook made money off the free content.

Why? Because back then, once in a while, you would say "also hey, I sell books" or "hey, I'm going to be signing at this event" and your facebook followers would actually see it.

Effectively, the implicit old arrangement was "facebook lets me reach readers efficiently, and I supply facebook with free content they run ads on."

Over time, like a bad business partner, facebook basically made it impossible to reach your audience without *paying them*. Thus, you supply them free content on which they run ads, and you get nothing in exchange.
MARKETING
Anu Satheesh \U0001f1ee\U0001f1f3
Anu Satheesh 🇮🇳...
@AnuSatheesh5
Eri Katha Ramar Temple
Maduranthakam

Eri Katha Ramar temple is located at Maduranthakam near Chengalpattu of Tamil Nadu. Beautiful Kodanda Ramar of about 8ft holding Ma Sita's hand & with Lakshmana. This temple story is connected with Sri Ramanujar.
@LostTemple7


It was here Periya Nambigal performed Pancha Samskaaram to Ramanujar under Magizham tree.
Sri Ramanujar was on his way from Kanchipuram to meet Sri Periya Nambigal at Sri Rangam to become his disciple. Sri Periya Nambigal also started towards Kanchipuram to meet Ramanujar.


They both met here at Madurantakam.
Small Mandapam where Ramanujar undertook Pancha Samskaaram is seen in the temple. Separate sannidhi is for Periya Nambigal & Ramanujar & this is the only temple where Ramanujar is seen as a Grahastha (married person) and not in Sanyasa kolam.


Story says about an incident which occurred during British rule. The Madurantakam lake bund was about to breach, due to heavy rain & village will be flooded if it happened. Dt collector was Cl. Lionel Blaze who took efforts to protect the bund & asked for the piles of stones


in the temple to protect it. But it was meant for Janakavalli ( sita) Thayar sannidhi which faced shortage of fund. Lionel Blaze prayed Sri Ramar to save the bund and if so he will provide fund to construct.
That night he saw in the lightning, Sri Rama & Lakshmana walked along
ALL