Kangaroo court: UK judge brands Julian Assange 'narcissist' in 15 min 'trial'

RT
Fri, 12 Apr 2019 13:30 UTC

© Reuters / Hannah McKay

The UK judge who found Julian Assange guilty of breaking his bail conditions in 2012 has called the whistleblower a "narcissist" and his behavior "shameful."

Inside the courtroom, District Judge Michael Snow branded the WikiLeaks founder a "narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest."

Just hours after his arrest by British police on Thursday morning, Assange was found guilty of failing to surrender to bail in 2012. Assange pleaded not guilty to the charge, with his lawyers arguing that he would never have received a fair trial if he had been extradited to Sweden on sexual assault charges and that he was therefore forced to seek asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy.

Comment: According to Craig Murray the hearing was the definition of a kangaroo court:

District Judge Michael Snow is a disgrace to the bench who deserves to be infamous well beyond his death. He displayed the most plain and open prejudice against Assange in the 15 minutes it took for him to hear the case and declare Assange guilty, in a fashion which makes the dictators' courts I had witnessed, in Babangida's Nigeria or Karimov's Uzbekistan, look fair and reasonable, in comparison to the gross charade of justice conducted by Michael Snow.

One key fact gave away Snow's enormous prejudice. Julian Assange said nothing during the whole brief proceedings, other than to say "Not guilty" twice, and to ask a one sentence question about why the charges were changed midway through this sham "trial". Yet Judge Michael Snow condemned Assange as "narcissistic". There was nothing that happened in Snow's brief court hearing that could conceivably have given rise to that opinion. It was plainly something he brought with him into the courtroom, and had read or heard in the mainstream media or picked up in his club. It was in short the very definition of prejudice, and "Judge" Michael Snow and his summary judgement is a total disgrace.

The sexual assault charges were later dropped, but UK authorities still sought to arrest Assange for breaching the bail conditions.

Responding to the surprising comments, US political commentator Daniel McAdams wrote sarcastically on Twitter that he "sounds like an impartial judge."

Assange is set to be sentenced in regard to the bail-breaking on May 2.

The controversial publisher was also indicted by the US on charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday. He is accused of helping fellow whistleblower former US Army soldier Chelsea Manning attempt to crack the password of a Department of Defense computer in 2010.

Experts and analysts, however, have slammed the US indictment as "weak" and a possible "tactic" to get Assange onto US soil where heavier charges likely await and where a fair trial will be almost "impossible."

Comment: Of all the parties forming the UK government, only Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party has shown some spine in opposing Assange's potential kidnapping extradition. He continues to be a man of principle:

Leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has publicly opposed UK's possible extradition of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange to the US, saying he exposed evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hours following Assange's arrest in London on Thursday, Corbyn tweeted a video statement of Labour MP Diane Abbott, who argued in Parliament that WikiLeaks had "lifted the veil on US military operations in a variety of theaters, none of which have produced a favourable outcome for the people of those countries."

"Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect US national security, he is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by US administrations and their military forces," said Abbott.