The Politics of Julian Assange

“Transparency is for governments and privacy is for individuals.” – Julian Assange

Today Coup Save America welcomes Kim Stanton, the founder and director of Films for Change, a project that brings documentaries to the public through both in-person and online screenings. Coming to us all the way from Australia, Kim is here to promote his own award-winning feature-length documentary, The Trust Fall: Julian Assange. 

After giving us a brief background of Julian Assange and the arbitrary detainment for his whistle blower actions, Kym talks about the lack of support that Assange has received from the Australian government in fighting his extradition to the United States for prosecution. Kym describes for us the harrowing truth behind the “Collateral Murder” videos that raised the ire of the US government when it appeared on the WikiLeaks website. 

If you are wondering how a non-US citizen can be prosecuted for crimes against national security, Kym explains the antiquated Espionage Act which has been used to charge not only Assange, but other courageous whistleblowers such as Daniel Ellsburg and Chelsea Manning. 

Sean and Kym discuss the physical and psychological stress that Assange has been through, and the signs that he might possibly have suffered a stroke. They lament how the media is ignoring Assange’s situation and why journalists are dropping the ball of support.

They explain how Julian Assange’s situation is “a canary in the coal mine for the state of press freedom,” and talk about how the citizens of the world are granted less and less privacy with CTV cameras everywhere, being spied on through our laptops and cell phones, and companies selling our information. In what new ways are our governments plotting to surveil and control the population?

Kym tells us about the success and valuable contributions of WikiLeaks, the brilliance of the anonymous Dropbox, and the elaborate systems established to keep WikiLeaks from ever being taken down or erased. Listen to find out why, when 99.9% of the population are crying out for transparency, we are being undermined by the few who are benefiting financially and politically from keeping the secrets of military motivations and war crimes.