Julian Assange is free. Sort of. He moved into a larger prison cell called Australia with far too many bars to call it free. Did he win?
The first reaction to the news was jubilation, then cautious optimism. Then the concerns came out. He won his freedom at the cost of a compromise that gave the state a victory. Everybody was quick to point out that for Julian Assange, taking the plea-deal was the right thing to do. I completely agree. This whole post is an illustration of this agreement through a few personal stories.
In the end, the state won. They broke him, they made him say that he is guilty and that he feels sorry. He had to acknowledge that what he did was a crime. Forcing him to lie was the condition of his freedom. They made him dirty to look like them. They created a precedent.
They proved that they can do it and get away with it.
They proved that if any person of any nationality dares to say anything that can be construed as contrary to US interest, that person can be punished, he can be locked up for years without charges, subjected to torture and cruel punishment. It makes no difference for the Americans if they have no jurisdiction over the person or the place where the alleged offence took place; it makes no difference if their accusation is unconstitutional in the US or in the country where the alleged offence took place. The guilty plea made this all – in a way – legal or at least a powerful deterrent.
Do not misunderstand me: 12 years of suffering is unimaginable for most of us and this was the last chance for him to regain any degree of freedom. He did the right thing, but we should understand that this was not a victory. There is nothing to celebrate.
The only things that could make Julian Assange whole again are:
- An unconditional pardon
- A massive compensation for his suffering
- The investigation, indictment, trial and punishment for every single person responsible for causing his suffering.
Is there any chance of any of this happening? The first, maybe. The last, most definitely not.
As I already said it many times:
Nobody is ever punished for their crimes committed under the protective mantle of the state.
My experience is NOTHING compared to his, but it was enough to properly understand the dilemmas. Let me illustrate.
Stories #1 & 2
The tag-line of this Substack is ‘Politics is Personal’
The most painfully personal of my posts is this one:
The two stories pertaining to this post are the first and the second moment in the post above. Go and read them before you continue.
The questions are about the nature of bravery, compromise, submission and cooperation. Not easy questions.
Story #3
I am not a practicing Christian, but I was baptized by the Hungarian Bishop Zoltán Káldy. I only know this because my mother kept telling me as I was growing up.
A few years ago, visiting Hungary, my cousin took me to see his old school buddy, who is an evangelist pastor, ministering five villages in a pretty part of the country. I mentioned to him my personal connection to Káldy.
He was a very controversial figure in the history of the church, he said.
He was an informant of the state and many people held that against him. But we are talking about the clergy in a communist state, I said, where that state had a veto power over who can be a priest or a pastor! He had two options: cooperating or going to jail. Yes, he said, but still…
Picture yourself in that situation! What would be more important to you: your faith or your pride? The need of your flock, or the vain clinging to your ‘integrity’? Understanding fully, that if YOU do not cooperate, somebody else will. There are no good options in a totalitarian state.
