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Report/ Photos/ Vid - Solidarity with Ecuador & Julian Assange in London
 international |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report
 Monday June 17, 2013 19:19 by Ciaron O'Reilly London, England
Wed June 19th will mark a year since WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London seeking sanctuary. The Ecuadorian government was immediately threatened in private correspondence from British Foreign Minister Hague with the loss of diplomatic status and a consequent raid. The Ecuadorian government made the private threat public, held their ground and conducted an inquiry into the Assange case. This was the same government that had previously responded to a U.S. request for a U.S. military base in Ecuador with, "if you let us have an Ecuadoran base in Florida?"
Photos & Short vids (thanx to Bradleylibero)
http://tinyurl.com/mrclbpa
 Wed June 19th will mark a year since WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London seeking sanctuary. The Ecuadorian government was immediately threatened in private correspondence from British Foreign Minister Hague with the loss of diplomatic status and a consequent raid. The Ecuadorian government made the private threat public, held their ground and conducted an inquiry into the Assange case. This was the same government that had previously responded to a U.S. request for a U.S. military base in Ecuador with, "if you let us have an Ecuadoran base in Florida?"
During this period of inquiry, the London Met were deployed in large numbers around the embassy with 30 police stationed there 24/7. Anti-War, human rights, Latino, Veterans for Peace, Catholic Worker, Occupy & other activists maintained a solidarity vigil at the embassy. Following the completion of the Ecuadorian inquiry and the formal granting of asylum for Julian Assange in August 2012, the Met bobbies left to be replaced by 10 members of the Diplomatic Protection section of the Met and a police conference van permanently parked. This 24/7 police presence has been maintained for the past year at a cost of 4 million quid. On a significantly smaller budget, a daily vigil of solidarity activists has been sustained (presently 4-6pm).
Sunday June 16th. 2013 was chosen as a time to mobilise as Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino was to visit Julian Assange before his meeting with British Foreign Minister William Hague the following day.
The first sight that greeted activists on exiting the Knighstbridge tube station http://tinyurl.com/lydl5ap was Sue & Roland's motor home transformed into the "Free Tea, Free Assange" takeaway. The caboose was parked next to an exclusive Gran Cafe facing Harrods, serving folks throughout the afternoon. We started setting up banners and were soon joined by the Ecuadorian community. Support grew to about 130+ by about 4pm. Word came through that the foreign minister had been delayed with an ETA of 6.30pm. We were blessed with fine weather and settled in for the duration. Fortunately, John McClean had brought his guitar! Songs alternated between an Aussie Kiwi combo http://tinyurl.com/ktm9j7m and the Ecuadorian community http://tinyurl.com/mztg4v8 .
In breaks between songs, media interviews were conducted and the Ecuadorian folks led us in chanting. At 6.30 the Ecuadorian foreign minister arrived waving to the crowd and entered the embassy. Singing resumed and after a while curtains were drawn back and Ricardo Patino and Julian Assange appeared at the window of the embassy. Between us and them were the London Metropolitan Police, mainstream media and a sealed U.S. Grand Jury indictment for the WikiLeaks founder.
In other places, Jeremy Hammond & Bradley Manning are already in chains, Edward Snowden is hotly pursued by the same powers. The courage of these people, the WikiLeaks crew and the Ecuadorian people inspires us all. Hopefully such courageous and solidarity is contagious. The world literally depends on its transmission. If that sunny afternoon on a sidewalk in Knightsbride/ London with the the Ecuadorian community and friends is anything to go by, it's worth the effort.
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Comments (8 of 8)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8good stuff. Thanks for the update. Sounds like it was a fun day! :-)
Kudos to all involved in maintaining the vigil.
well done to all. We are indebted to Assange, Manning and Snowden for their courageous acts of whistleblowing.
'Snowden said the “draconian” campaigns against Manning, NSA whistleblowers Thomas Drake and William Binney, and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou would result in even more anti-corruption and government transparency advocates aspiring to greater acts of boldness.'
'“Binney, Drake, Kiriakou, and Manning are all examples of how overly-harsh responses to public-interest whistle-blowing only escalate the scale, scope, and skill involved in future disclosures. Citizens with a conscience are not going to ignore wrong-doing simply because they'll be destroyed for it: the conscience forbids it. Instead, these draconian responses simply build better whistleblowers. If the Obama administration responds with an even harsher hand against me, they can be assured that they'll soon find themselves facing an equally harsh public response.”'
“If I target for example an email address, for example under FAA (FISA Amendments Avy) 702, and that email address sent something to you, Joe America, the analyst gets it. All of it. IPs, raw data, content, headers, attachments, everything. And it gets saved for a very long time - and can be extended further with waivers rather than warrants.”
The above excerpts are from:
http://rt.com/news/snowden-edward-nsa-guardian-817/
(Published time: June 17, 2013 15:30)
Included in the above RT article is an embedded video interview with William Binney (referred to above), the whistleblower and former NSA crypto-mathematician who served in the agency for decades. The same video interview can also be viewed at the youtube address provided just below, and is well worth a look at (in my opinion): if for no other reason than to get a very direct "feel" for the ability, talent, and competence of this man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuET0kpHoyM&feature=play...edded
Related Link:
"Edward Snowden, turnkey tyranny, human rights Ireland, Indymedia, Inquiring Minds ..."
http://tinyurl.com/kb4tw3t
"This is all heading towards a totalitarian fascist state ..."
The above statement from William Binney can be heard at approximately 3 minutes into the interview at the youtube address provided below.
'Rampant warrantless wiretapping and the acceleration towards a full-fledged surveillance state are just a few trademarks of the administration of President Barack Obama—don't expect to hear about it on the news, though. William Binney blew the whistle on the National Security Agency's spying of Americans, and says it's a real danger to the constitutional form of our government. Even before 2008, citizens were in danger of losing their civil liberties. Today, however, he says the US is "heading towards a fascist, totalitarian state." Unfortunately, the Obama administration doesn't want the truth to reach the media and are trying to cut down on leaks, whether out of the White House or NSA."
The above pieces of speech and text are from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBSV9BQXw6I
(Published on Nov 6, 2012)
Related Link:
"Totalitarianism or Constitutionalism, Human Rights Ireland, William Finnerty ..."
http://tinyurl.com/l83gzka
Editor: You might want to post any NSA whistle-blower comments on this thread instead: Guardian NSA Story Brings Vast Scale of Spying on Public Into The Open
VID (3 mins) Melbourne "Safe Passage for Assange"
http://tinyurl.com/nyx7hks
Julian Assange to Make Speech – Sat 22 June 1400hrs/ 2pm
from Balcony of Ecuadorian Embassy, Knightsbridge, London
- Updates at: http://veteransforpeace.org.uk/2013/2335/
SATURDAY 22 JUNE 1400hrs (2pm)
Marking one year since Ecuador gave refuge to Julian Assange
Come to the Ecuadorian Embassy
Julian Assange to make a speech in public
Celebrate the Work of WikiLeaks
Stand with the Ecuadorian people
Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning & Julian Assange are all facing persecution for exposing the true nature of war and the state.
End the Wars! Defend the Whistleblowers!
More info Ph. 079 272 593 63
Ecuadorian Embassy,
3 Hans Cres.
SW1
Tube – Knighstsbridge
VID (1 min) - Stand in solidarity with Ecuadorians offering sanctuary in London
http://tinyurl.com/onwvf8r
VID (3 mins) - With your solidarity "He Shall be Released"
http://tinyurl.com/qdpv9ny
VID (8 mins, great footage!) Truth has no borders, Neither has our struggle!
http://tinyurl.com/or3wkrr
VID ESPANOL - Colombian TV interviews Ciaron O'Reilly outside Ecuadorian embassy, London
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpmwBHBtMrY
VI D (1 min 40 secs) - Solidarity as Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino & WikiLeaks Julian Assange appear at embassy window
http://tinyurl.com/o8reqqj