TADEAS, TADEAS:

President Trump Calls 5-Year Prison Sentence for NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner 'Unfair'
http://time.com/5377202/donald-trump-reality-winner-sentence-unfair/

ALERT - US: Whistleblower Reality Winner sentenced to 63 months in prison | RSF
https://rsf.org/en/news/alert-us-whistleblower-reality-winner-sentenced-63-months-prison

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the 63-month prison sentence given to National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Reality Winner on August 23, the longest jail term ever given for illegally disclosing government information.

From Quito: Ramiro Rivadeneira
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zREiVmRvI0

REALITY WINNER’S SENTENCING: CULMINATION OF AN EFFORT TO BREAK A WHISTLEBLOWER’S SPIRIT
https://shadowproof.com/...eality-winners-sentencing-culmination-effort-break-whistleblowers-spirit/

The People’s Right to Know and State Secrecy | Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence | Cambridge Core
https://www.cambridge.org/...eoples-right-to-know-and-state-secrecy/77746408F0C8B24EFE4E6E74324B246B

WikiLeaks and Beyond: Discerning an International Standard for the Admissibility of Illegally Obtained Evidence
https://academic.oup.com/icsidreview/article-abstract/33/1/235/4837089

The spatial bonds of WikiLeaks › Research Explorer
https://cris.vub.be/...the-spatial-bonds-of-wikileaks%285e8b83ad-a79e-425a-8969-ef07da0ed45e%29.html

WikiLeaks and the Censorship of News Media in the U.S. | Metamorphosis
http://metamorphosis.coplac.org/index.php/metamorphosis/article/view/108

#Unity4J 14 John Kiriakou Speaks In Support of Julian Assange FULL INTERVIEW 4Aug2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi_wjzmlEWs

#Unity4J 12 Felicity Ruby Speaks In Support of Julian Assange FULL INTERVIEW 4Aug2018
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMzeBkcRivQ

German MPs sign letter supporting Julian Assange’s freedom
https://couragefound.org/2018/06/liveblog-julian-assange-in-jeopardy/

Fifteen members of the German Bundestag and the European Parliament have signed a letter (in English and German, below) entitled, ‘Freedom for Julian Assange!’ The MPs call on the governments of England and Ecuador to end Julian’s “de facto imprisonment”:

The risk of extradition to an unpredictable administration in the U.S. is greater than ever. This is all the more serious as the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has condemned the various forms of deprivation of liberty to which Julian Assange was subjected to without British or other governments of EU Member States having drawn any political consequences from it.

Prime Minister Theresa May and President Lenín Moreno, we appeal to you: ensure the release and effective protection of Julian Assange!

https://twitter.com/couragefound/status/1026589516210032640

Liveblog: Julian Assange in jeopardy | Courage Foundation
https://couragefound.org/2018/06/liveblog-julian-assange-in-jeopardy/

Scott Ludlam: how WikiLeaks became a political Rorschach test
https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/07/25/wikileaks-political-rorschach-test/

You may genuinely believe that WikiLeaks is now just a cipher for the Russian FSB, or find the allegations of collusion with high-level creepy-crawlies within Team Trump impossible to forgive, or wish that Assange would pause and reconsider sometimes before opening up his Twitter client. But when I look at these stupid inkblots all I can see is an Australian citizen, a long way from home, deserted by his government and targeted by some of the most powerful people in the world for having taken up the Duke of Wellington’s 1824 exhortation to “publish and be damned”.

If you see something completely different I can hardly blame you, but it’s dangerous to start assessing whether or not we think human rights should apply based on our assessment of someone’s character.

Assange's Freedom, Democracy's Last Line of Defense - Antiwar.com Original
https://original.antiwar.com/..._Hayase/2018/07/26/assanges-freedom-democracys-last-line-of-defense/

From a traitor and a Kremlin puppet to a spoiler of American democracy, words are thrown around to create distortion. Bombarded by loud media sound bites, in this illusion of democracy, many seemed to have lost connection to a voice of conscience that knows what is right and now remain silent.

As Ecuador now prepares to hand over Assange to British authorities for a financial reward, by breaking its own Constitution of the Republic, our democracy’s last line of defense is about to be severed. Cruel treatment of Assange is no longer a character assassination and imprisonment of one innocent man. What is at stake is the death of the sacred heart of democracy that remembers our inherent obligation to one another. In his earlier blog, Assange once wrote about the moral courage required in our age:

"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love."

He reminded us that what drives our will to crush bastards is a gentle love that inspires us to nurture the vulnerable. In a world where there is WikiLeaks, the veil of secrecy can no longer be maintained. The released information revealed the wars of the American empire and its casualties, the most vulnerable amongst us – those that are voiceless, ailing and impoverished. Calamity happening in Knightsbridge under the heightened security at the heart of London represents the injustice of the world that this fearless journalist and his courageous sources brought to us all to bear witness

Judges Hear Warning on Prosecution of WikiLeaks
https://www.courthousenews.com/judges-hear-warning-on-prosecution-of-wikileaks/

Thread by @FlickRubicon: "What have we learned from @WikiLeaks?
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1021009604333875200.html

Ecuador Will Imminently Withdraw Asylum for Julian Assange and Hand Him Over to the UK. What Comes Next?
https://theintercept.com/...w-asylum-for-julian-assange-and-hand-him-over-to-the-uk-what-comes-next/

British and Ecuadorian authorities in talks to evict Julian Assange from London embassy - World Socialist Web Site
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/07/16/assa-j16.html

Petition update · High-level talks to evict Assange · Change.org
https://www.change.org/p/end-julian-assange-s-isolation/u/23019980

Geoffrey Robertson, a prominent legal authority and advisor to WikiLeaks, warned last week that the preparations by the Trump administration to prosecute Assange on espionage charges involved the creation of a “new legal theory” that would curtail the free speech protections of the US Constitution’s First Amendment, by arguing that they did not extend to foreign journalists. He said that the defence of Assange was “moving up to be a major free press issue.”

...

In Britain, the demand must be raised that the May government drop its politically motivated bail charges. In Australia, the call must go out to force the federal Liberal-National government to uphold Assange’s rights as a citizen, including by intervening to secure his return to Australia with a guarantee against extradition to the US.

Hong Kong's Snowden refugees, facing deportation, hope of new life in Canada | US news | The Guardian
https://amp.theguardian.com/...-kongs-snowden-refugees-facing-deportation-hope-of-new-life-in-canada

Edward Snowden's lawyers accuse Europe of cowardice
Edward Snowden: Anwälte werfen Europa "Feigheit" vor - SPIEGEL ONLINE
http://www.spiegel.de/...litik/edward-snowden-anwaelte-werfen-europa-feigheit-vor-a-1211954-amp.html

The European team of lawyers is now appealing - not for the first time - to "the political leaders of the EU states to welcome Edward Snowden immediately".

For five years, Europe has kept its doors locked and ungrateful for Snowden's "immense contribution to the protection of our freedoms," according to the new appeal to SPIEGEL. And further: "Edward Snowden must find in Europe a country that welcomes him, a true refuge, a land of freedom where he and his family can live safely and peacefully."

If Russia does not extend Snowden's asylum, he faces extradition to the US, where he fears an unfair trial and faces life imprisonment for espionage and theft of government property.

...

Europe betrays "its values, its history and its future" if it refuses Snowden's admission "out of cowardice" and thereby puts his freedom and life at risk - "a risk that exists at all times". The lawyers assume that European governments do not want to burden their relations with the US government and do not want to jeopardize the cooperation of their intelligence services with those of the USA.

So far, no EU government has agreed to offer Snowden a new home. His lawyers believe that legal reasons, such as complicated asylum law, are not crucial - only political ones: if a government just wanted, there would be a way.

"The Russian government is corrupt in many ways”
https://projekte.sueddeutsche.de/.../politik/the-russian-government-is-corrupt-in-many-ways-e757187/

Five years ago Edward Snowden landed in Russia. A rare and open conversation about his new home, Putins regime, how the Russian intelligence service tried to recruit him and why he is still putting hope in Angela Merkel.