Julian Assange is a champion of peace and transparency in government. Julian Assange has shed light on the darkness of torture chambers, on the dictatorial tendencies of self-described democrats and on the friendships between these fake democrats and tyrants. Julian Assange has used the power of modern online publishing to reveal who funds the terrorists who threaten us all and who is behind the dishonest political campaigns which make a mockery of us all.
Julian Assange is a hero whose only crime was being too honest - too often. Already, the torturous conditions of what amounts to solitary confinement in the prison that is Ecuador’s Embassy in London has led to what medical professionals documented as a severe deterioration in Assange’s physical and mental health.
While the current Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has described Assange as an “inherited problem”, the reality is that Moreno stood to inherent from his conscience driven predecessor Rafael Correa, a sense of purpose and a commitment to peace and human dignity. It was Correa who stepped up at a moment when Assange needed assistance and offered the Wikileaks founder asylum.
In doing so, Correa helped put Ecuador on the map as a nation that puts the rights of publishers and peace activists above the privileges of war mongers and the financiers of war. Now though, Moreno has not only turned against Assange, but has turned against Correa himself.
Shortly after taking office, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stated “I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony. I do not have any master except the Filipino people. Nobody, but nobody!”
Lenin Moreno however has not only adopted a colonial mentality but has thrived on it. For Moreno who never seemed to understand Assange’s important role in the world the way that his predecessor did, frequent statements designed to undermine Assange’s morale have now been replaced by reports that he is ready to expel Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy.
If Moreno does this, he will be violating a recent court ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of which Ecuador is a member. He will also be violating a United Nations ruling stating that Assange has been arbitrarily detained and must be allowed to walk out of the Embassy as a free man.
Beyond this, Moreno is violating Assange’s rights as an Ecuadorian citizen and as an asylum seeker. This is to say nothing of going up against millions of Assange supporters who will never look upon Ecuador in the same way again if Moreno goes through with abandoning Assange to the wolves.
If Lenin Moreno abandons Assange, it means that he is nothing short but a traitor to peace and to a fellow Ecuadorian citizen. If Moreno can so easily sell out a fellow citizen like Assange, what good is he to the rest of the people? The answer is that Moreno has little left to offer anyone.
