MAY 25, 2019
- Julian Assange and
whistleblower Chelsea Manning, together revealed to the world, the reality
of the Iraq and Afghan wars.
Submitted by Eresh Omar Jamal, via The
Daily Star…
Stefania Maurizi is an investigative journalist working for the Italian
daily La Repubblica. She has worked on all WikiLeaks releases of secret
documents and partnered with Glenn Greenwald to expose the Snowden Files about
Italy. She has authored two books—Dossier WikiLeaks: Segreti Italiani and Una
Bomba, Dieci Storie. In an exclusive (electronic) interview with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star, Maurizi talks about the arrests of
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who
together revealed to the world, the reality of the Iraq and Afghan wars.
On April 11, the UK police arrested Julian Assange from
the Ecuadorian embassy. How significant was his arrest and the manner in which
it happened for global press freedom and the right of people to seek political
asylum?
His arrest is a real tragedy, for him, in the first
place, because lets not forget that behind Mr WikiLeaks there is a human being:
Julian Assange. I think this needs to be clarified, and I’m not saying this
lightly, I am serious: if you’ve read the press reports over the last six years
and ten months, while Assange has been confined in the tiny building of the
Ecuadorian Embassy in London without even one hour a day outdoors, you will
have observed a complete lack of empathy or interest on the media’s part in his
condition and the widespread reports that his health was seriously declining
due to his confinement.
But in addition to being a tragedy for him personally, it
is also a tragedy for press freedom and human rights, because he is now at
extremely serious risk of being extradited to the US for his journalistic work
and this is not my opinion, this is what the US extradition request is about.
The US extradition request concerns the 2010 WikiLeaks publications made
possible by Chelsea Manning. They are among the most significant revelations in
the history of journalism.
These publications are so important that almost 10 years
after their release they are still being used by journalists, activists and
scholars. Look at the legal case of the Chagos islanders: they used the
WikiLeaks cables. So, it’s a tragedy that a journalist, an editor, a
publisher—call Assange what you will—is at extremely serious risk of ending up
in jail in the US for the rest of his life for having had the guts to publish
this information.
While he was being dragged out of the embassy, Assange
was holding onto a book you gave him. What can you tell us about that book?
I gave Julian Assange that book of interviews with Gore
Vidal by the editor of the Real News Network, Paul Jay, “History of the
National Security State” back in 2016, a few weeks after the 2016 US elections.
It’s an important book, because Gore Vidal’s analysis of how the US ended up
having the most powerful military-intelligence-complex in the world is so
brilliant. I was sure that Julian would have appreciated that analysis, because
it provides perspective on many years of WikiLeaks’ work on millions of
documents regarding the US military-intelligence complex. What has always
intrigued me about the WikiLeaks founder is the fact that he does understand
technology, but he also understands power, while not all geeks understand it.
Most of the narrative about Assange conveys him as an
“international mystery man”, many focus on his tech skills, but what has always
intrigued me is his understanding of how technology is reshaping power,
especially at the level of information being released to empower communities,
which is what WikiLeaks has done. He and WikiLeaks are far from perfect, and
they have certainly made mistakes and questionable choices, but look at how
their publications have empowered journalists, activists and scholars. Even
publications which appeared to be minor in comparison with the US diplomatic
cables, like the Hacking Team emails, continue to inform the public and to empower
people. Recently, the Washington Post used them to investigate
the Khashoggi murder.
Why do you think he was holding that particular book? Do
you think it was his way of sending people a message?
I really would like to know why he was carrying that book
I gave him as a present. I was told that in the days before his arrest he was
discussing that book with other WikiLeaks associates, but I am not sure why he
had that book with him the day he was arrested. I hope that many will read that
important book.
Prior to Assange’s arrest, former WikiLeaks source
Chelsea (then Bradley) Manning was once again put into prison. What was the
reason for that?
The US authorities want to force her to testify against
Assange and WikiLeaks and it is likely that they are trying to coerce her to
testify to build their case against them. Let’s not forget that it has always
been tricky for the US authorities to build an effective case, because the
WikiLeaks publications are protected by the First Amendment, which is why the Obama
Administration ultimately didn’t go ahead with the prosecution of Assange and
WikiLeaks, as the Trump Administration is now doing.
It is likely that by coercing Chelsea Manning to testify,
the US authorities are trying to find ways around the First Amendment
protection. But due to the extraordinary secrecy of the Grand Jury proceedings,
we don’t know what the US authorities actually want from her. What we can say
however is that Chelsea Manning has extraordinary courage and integrity.
SEE ALSO
She had the courage to leak secret documents to WikiLeaks
providing evidence of war crimes and serious human rights violations, even
though she was fully aware of the extremely serious consequences she would
face. She spent seven years in prison for her ethical choice, 11 months of
which were characterised as “cruel and inhuman” by the UN Rapporteur on
Torture, Juan Mendez.
Now Chelsea is back in jail for refusing to cooperate
with the Grand Jury, and the US authorities have even ordered her to be fined
500 dollars for each day she remains in prison after 30 days, and 1,000 dollars
after 60 days. History won’t be kind to the US authorities for their treatment
of Chelsea Manning and of all conscientious objectors who have exposed war
crimes. Ethically, she is a giant, a true hero in the finest tradition of
conscientious objectors.
In your view, what are the unfolding and future
implications of these two events?
The implications are huge and you don’t have to be a
journalist or an intellectual to understand them. You don’t even need to
understand complex legal matters. It is all about a very basic principle: do we
want to live in a society where war crimes and serious human right violations
are exposed and those who commit those crimes are held accountable?
If we do, then we have to protect journalistic sources
and whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, media organisations
like WikiLeaks and publishers like Julian Assange. Whereas what we have
witnessed in the last 9 years has been a relentless and harsh prosecution and
persecution of them: Chelsea has been in jail since 2010, Julian Assange has
never known freedom again since publishing Chelsea’s documents and he may end
up in jail for life. Edward Snowden was put in the condition of having to escape
to Russia and look for protection there.
All this has happened in a democracy like the US, where
apparently president Trump is considering a pardon for troops who committed war
crimes, according to press reports, and in a democracy where those who have
tortured, killed, unleashed devastating wars like the Iraq war haven’t spent a
single day in prison. Isn’t this world of ours truly upside-down?
Things won’t change unless public opinion rebels against
this upside-down world. Public opinion has power in a democracy, so there is
room for change and action, and change and action are extremely urgent before
it is too late for Chelsea and for Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks staff, all
of whom, are at extremely serious risk.
Eresh Omar Jamal is a member of the editorial team at The
Daily Star, Bangladesh. His Twitter handle is: @EreshOmarJamal ; Stefania
Maurizi’s Twitter handle is: @SMaurizi
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