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Paul Hackett / Reuters, file
Britain's Jemima Khan, supporter of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, arrives at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in London Feb. 24, 2011. A court is expected to rule on Thursday whether Assange should be extradited to Sweden where he is accused of sex crimes.
Published at 4:20 p.m. ET: LONDON - Jemima Khan, a celebrity backer of Julian Assange who put up bail money for him, has gone public with her frustrations about the WikiLeaks founder, saying he demands "blinkered, cultish devotion" and should face justice in Sweden.
An article by Khan published on Wednesday on the website of British magazine The New Statesman gives an insight into how Assange, whose whistleblowing website angered Washington by releasing thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables in 2010, has alienated some of his staunchest allies.
Assange was arrested in Britain in December 2010 on an extradition warrant from Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual abuse made by two women.
After losing a protracted legal battle to avoid extradition, which went all the way to Britain's Supreme Court, Assange jumped bail and sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London last June. He has been inside the building ever since.
Khan, who first rose to prominence as an heiress but is now a campaigner and an associate editor of The New Statesman, described in her article how she had gone from "admiration to demoralization" on the subject of WikiLeaks.
"The problem is that WikiLeaks - whose mission statement was 'to produce ... a more just society ... based upon truth' - has been guilty of the same obfuscation and misinformation as those it sought to expose, while its supporters are expected to follow, unquestioningly, in blinkered, cultish devotion," she wrote.
'We Steal Secrets'
Khan was executive producer of a documentary film about WikiLeaks entitled "We Steal Secrets" which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States.
Philip Toscano / AP
Julian Assange addresses the Oxford Union via video-link from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Wednesday Jan. 23, 2013. WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, currently living as a fugitive in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has been granted political asylum in reaction to an alleged 2010 sexual assault in Sweden, and will addresses the 189-year-old Oxford Union debating society, delivering his address via video-link.
Khan said the film, directed by Oscar-winning documentary maker Alex Gibney, sought to present a balanced view of the WikiLeaks story but Assange had denounced it before seeing it.
"When I told Assange I was part of the We Steal Secrets team, I suggested that he view it not in terms of being pro- or anti-him, but rather as a film that would be fair and would represent the truth," she wrote. "He replied: 'If it's a fair film, it will be pro-Julian Assange.'"
Khan's article praised WikiLeaks for exposing corruption, torture, war crimes and cover-ups but criticized it for a "with us or against us" mentality that was detrimental to its cause.
She wrote that she was among those who had found the timing of the sexual abuse allegations against Assange suspicious, as they came at the height of the furor over the revelations on WikiLeaks, but had come to the conclusion that the allegations had to be dealt with through Swedish due process.
"The women in question have human rights, too, and need resolution. Assange's noble cause and his wish to avoid a U.S. court does not trump their right to be heard in a Swedish court," she wrote, referring to Assange's fears that Sweden could be a first stop on the way to an espionage trial in the United States.
"I don't regret putting up bail money for Assange but I did it so that he would be released while awaiting trial, not so that he could avoid answering to the allegations," Khan wrote.
Khan has not disclosed how much money she put up and whether she has had to surrender it since Assange skipped bail.
Khan wrote that it was hardly surprising that a man who had spent his life "committed to this type of work, wedded to a laptop, undercover, always on the move", would have an unusual personality.
"I have seen flashes of Assange's charm, brilliance and insightfulness - but I have also seen how instantaneous rock-star status has the power to make even the most clear-headed idealist feel that they are above the law and exempt from criticism."
Related:
Supporters of WikiLeaks' Assange lose $320,000 in bail money
UK refuses WikiLeaks' Assange safe passage to Ecuador
US documents reportedly refer to Assange, WikiLeaks as 'enemy'
Leave a Comment:
Why would anyone not know that the theme underlying all of human interaction is "Us versus Them?"
Those who claim, without irony or doubt, that "Us" is the just, righteous, intelligent people who can do no wrong, and "Them" are the corrupt, destructive, stupid primitives whose goals are only self-enrichment or destruction, don't like to define their point of view like that. It makes them sound simple-minded and reactionary, and is a tacit admission that choosing sides is more important than critical thinking, tolerance, and debate.
And of course, that's a silly idea. After all, they're "Us". That means they're right!
Right?
With Michael Isikoff's expose of our governments secret documents condoning the legitimacy of killing American citizens with drone strikes without the benifit of any legal proceedings of proof that they committed any wrongdoing, I understand our governments fear of exposure by Julian Assange!
If nothing more it shows that Mr Assange was a threat ... to some in government ..and quite well have been on a "hit list" because he might expose the truth!
Amazingly, I see no attacks on Mr Isikoffs integrity or the screams that he is a traitor for his exposure of these facts as a danger to national security ... for like Julian Assange he exposed the truth ..nothing more!
Thank you Mr Isikoff for a job well done .... I'm sure that Jullian Assange would be the first to congratulate you for your contribution ... in the same vein as Wikileaks ...
Julian Assange should be a American Hero ... not a "scapegoat" ...
FREE JULIAN ASSANGE!
Whether you agree or disagree with what Julian did in regard to releasing secret documents, he needs to be held accountable for sexual assault.
I don't care about Wikileaks exposure of the cables. I believe in transparency and accountability in government; if it isn't literally top-secret espionage or military information, then the public should know.
But that does not make Assange a hero for running Wikileaks, nor does that excuse him from unrelated crimes in Sweden.
The fact that the Ecuadorian government refuses to hand loser Assange over for proper justice says very little good about Ecuador!
Of course, everyone who was adversely affected by all the classified information that Assange leaked want him executed as soon as practically possible, at best. They will also settle for him to be convicted as a spy and put in Super Max near Florence, CO for about 40 years. "Cultish devotion" is completely out of the question.
I also find it amusing that Universal Studios could possibly support an unbiased perspective considering their position with the MPAA and all the internet wrangling bills that it tries to push through. This is Assange's legal advisor responding to it on Democracy Now.
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/23/wikileaks_legal_advisor_we_steal_secrets
Khan! Khaaaaaaan!
Assange doing a Captain Kirk impression.
Yes, and let's hope the wikipunk ends up just like the Khan character in the end, or at least in prison for a VERY long time.
Assange presents himself as being on the side of good, freedom, justice. He is described as having charisma, charm, and brilliance. But, realistically, he is ignorant, arrogant, a self-worshipper, an egomaniac.
His social and political views are essentially those of a few ignorant family members who see the world as a giant right-wing conspiracy and believe a Nazi is hiding behind every tree. Who are his supporters? Rich, naive, ignorant people who believe that anyone who is sexy is a genius (and they think he is sexy), and that publishing secret documents is somehow a triumph for the little people.
A clueless leader (Assange) clueless worker-bee hackers, and clueless financial supporters. What do they accomplish? They place the lives of freedom fighters in danger by publishing hings which they should not publish. Who wins? Murderous dictators.
The Libyan and Egyptian uprisings have been directly attributed to cables released by Wikileaks. Or do you not consider them dictators when they're supported by our government?
Assange and his simpering acolytes have a collective IQ below room temperature, and anyone who regards him as any kind of "hero" is a delusional fool, and a member of one of the largest herds of blind lemmings in recorded history. If he were to drop dead tomorrow not even the lowest dung beetle would be perturbed.
The smear campaigns at the major media groups in the U.S. continue. Funny how after cablegate was released, NBC, ABC, and FOX all sh!t their collective britches over him.
You seem to be inherently pro-Assange, to the point of dismissing any criticism of him - even a measured one such as a claim of egotism - as a "smear campaign". How "fair" of you.
The man is hiding out in an embassy for a reason. If he did nothing wrong in Sweden, then he should have the integrity to prove it in a Swedish court. Why shouldn't the principles of justice, transparency, and responsibility only apply to his targets, and not him?
I'm not pro-Assange by any means, but I am pro-Wikileaks in the sense that I support the transparency they're wanting to establish with world governments, who are attempting to become more secretive every day.
If you view any story on ABC, NBC, Fox, etc, they never show Wikileaks in a positive light nor Assange. Besides that, Assange hasn't been charged with a crime. He's been asked to return to Sweden for questioning, but when offered to have their questions answered in the Ecuadorian embassy, they refused.
The question that I want answered is that why people who are supposedly so for governmental transparency and honesty, are the same people who are so against Wikileaks when they break the governmental barriers that make transparency possible?
Excellent points. The crush of false patriotism is nauseating. The World needs to know what sneaky little b @ st @ rds are doing when what they're doing is illegal or immoral international criminal acts. A nation may not hide behind its own flag when they are part of a group of nations (International Law) and are expected to act in accordance with human decency and rights - not even the good ol' USA. George H W Bush was right when he said of the American people: 'If they knew what we were really doing, they'd lynch us!' - - The sex charge is pure and complete bull sh!t, and it hardly matters whether or not Assange is Napoleonic or not...I suspect merely just more smear... YAWN... More and more people are awake and pre-warned when it comes to the manipulation of the masses. Lol!
SF Accountant
The people who watch this documentary aren't going to be informed that there was grand jury set up to prosecute Assange and Wikileaks because the film doen't mention it once; just saying he's avoiding Sweden isn't being honest. Not to mention the fact that the guy has already been put in the same boat as Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
http://stopwar.org.uk/index.php/usa-war-on-terror/1911-julian-assange-and-wikileaks-join-al-qaeda-and-taliban-as-us-qenemies-of-the-stateq
I'm well aware that there is a movement to indict Assange for his "crimes" in the United States. I'm not sure why that is necessary to include in the documentary, but it is an important note in all this. I'm also not sure why it matters that the media has not reported Wikileaks in a favorable light.
In addition, I too am pro-Wikileaks, at least to the extent that I approve of their mission; I am not so convinced that the diplomatic cables needed to be published for the sake of government transparency, as making diplomats' jobs harder contributes to international instability and disrupts peacemaking. But that's neither here nor there.
This is about Julian Assange. And Assange has been judged by an independent British court that he should be extradited in accordance with EU law to face questioning in Sweden, which has a stellar civil rights record and has legitimate questions they wish to ask him about his actions. The timing may be suspicious, but for Assange to claim it's all lies to trap him and skip bail is to put himself above the law, and I can't support that. Blind advocacy of an anti-establishment resistor is no better than blind advocacy of the establishment.
I'm not calling on Assange to be prosecuted for the cables or even imprisoned for his alleged sexual misconduct, but I find it completely hypocritical for his defenders to assume he is above suspicion and/or due process.
I wonder how the accomodations at the Ecuadorian embassy are. Hopefully they have a nice room laid out for him, because the statute of limitations on sexual misconduct is pretty long.
Being locked up in an embassy for several years is hardly jail time, but it'll do.
Assange is a freak.
If she was my mother's sister would that make her my Aunt Jemima? Sounds like a jilted rich lovers spat over their own sense of self importance in the great scheme of things.
Completely irrelevant. This is a distraction from what matters. Ever notice that no one, no government even, has ever disputed that the material WikiLeaks puts out as being false? So how do you stop something that everyone knows is true and could help bring down many corrupt governments, ours included? Bad mouth the biggest personality associated with it. Redirect public perception. Wake up ya bunch of SHEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Character assassination work, just look at all the fools who equate the information wikileak put out there with Assange himself.
First of all, Assange has to have a character to assassinate. Since he obviously does not have such, there is nothing to assassinate!
Julian Assange is a nut job. Are people just starting to figure that out?
And how exactly is he a nutjob? I mean, I see the insults all the time, but if you're going to throw them out there, at least give a small explanation as to why.
The fact that you need it explained to you is all anyone needs to know.
Well, a former backer is claiming that he requires cultish devotion and unquestioning loyalty during his quest for transparency and justice.
I think "nutjob" isn't the best descriptor, but it seems valid to me.
If there is ever to be anything other than everlasting war between "us and them", it's because people like Jemima Khan can explore something or someone with an open mind and come out of it better informed and communicate it to the rest of us. We are all much clearer for it. That's more credable than the usual dreary, predictable views of "us" and "them".
But "us" and "them" is so pretty and clean, you know?
Can't we just arbitrarily categorize ourselves according to a certain belief and declare those that take the opposite view are the "bad guys"?
this man is a traitor to america, put him in jail an throw away the key
Traitor to America, tony ?
He is not a U.S. citizen, he is an Australian.
Never let the facts get in the way of misinformed, ridiculous hate.
Never let the facts get in the way of misinformed, ridiculous adoration.
You can't be a traitor to a nation you have no allegiance to.
Assange is just a self-righteous jerk with a chip on his shoulder. He isn't worth the money it would take to try him for his "crimes", even if we could successfuly detain and indict him.
Drone strike this wannabe James Bond villain.
Drone strike the Ecuadorian embassy in Britain?
Oh, sure, that'll go over real well, I'm sure.
A media event maybe.. I had the chance to sit down in the floor and hold my long time pet dog in my hands, look into his eyes and try to express how sorry I felt. With tears and heart felt words came and petting came it became clear to me that I had been slack in what was expected of me as a OWNER.. disgusting statement.
I don't blame him one bit for hiding out. Its obvious they plan to roast him. He needs to find a way out of Britain.
Wikileaks did the world a service. And too damn bad who it hurt. Lies and corruption are not what I stand for. And I don't want any POS politicians doing it in my name either. He exposed a lot of corruption and wrong doing, and they are trying to turn it around on Assange for exposing it, by calling it "secrets". I call it evidence.
So corruption and lying is bad, but lots and lots of hacking and theft is good? You have a very poor sense of justice and morals.
There are no rules when it comes to exposing corruption. You cant steal information, you can only spread it. When I read the info or give it to someone else, it doesn't take the info away from the person holding it. Now all have the same info.
Of course there are rules when exposing corruption. I don't care about Assange one way or the others and I approve of Wikileaks, but any time ANY group is able to operate without rules or accountability, chances are that power will be abused. Wikileaks should continue to harass and embarrass governments it accuses of concealing wrongdoing and corruption, but they are no infallible superheroes. The law applies to EVERYONE: the citizens, the governments, and the whistleblowers too.
Additionally (but tangentially), I disagree with your assessment of information. Of course information can be stolen, since information has value. Stealing merely means that the information in question was accessed and processed illegally. For example, you would probably agree that someone taking your private passwords or social security number without your permission and using it for their own purposes is "stealing" your information, not just "spreading" it.
This is a Porker. If he wants to go to Sow America then let him go.
Let's see, his entire thing was stealing documents that did not belong to him and he had no right to read and distributing them to others who had no right to read. What did you expect, he is a criminal through and through. He is nothing but a disgusting pig.
The US needs to make sure NO AID AT ALL goes to Ecuador until he is removed from their embassy and handed over to law enforcement. We should NOT be giving aid to those assisting criminals.
You cant steal information, you can only learn it and spread it.
And the Internet is open territory.
Khaaaan!!!!!!!!!! (Couldn't resist) At a minimum, Assorange should stand trial for rape and bail jumping. If this creep manages to avoid prison time on those charges, then he should also be charged with international espionage. This guy is a coward, always running from the law. If he was innocent, then the smart thing would have been to go on the offensive against the charges. Instead he tucked tail and ran.
Yes, he ran, and the reason he did so was because he knew he would get his butt in the slammer, where pretty boy wannabes like him get "special" treatment, which he would probably learn to enjoy.