Photo Source: Ruptly on YouTube
The term ‘legal fiction’ calls into question the relationship between law, objectivity, and truth. On the one hand, law is the essential pillar of a functioning society. On the other, it is replete with anomalies both in conception and execution. Conflicts of interest, the role of unconscious dynamics, and political interference are only three of many factors to exert influence on both judicial processes and outcomes.
In the case of Julian Assange, the claim that the law and its processes are ‘objective’ ensures that widespread criticism of both the fact of his prosecution and the way in which the proceedings are conducted is not engaged with. It also deflects attention from the fact that there is no precedent — in a profession which claims to respect it — for prosecution of Assange in the first place.
What kind of law allows pursuit of charges under the 1917 United States Espionage Act — for which there is no public interest defence — against a journalist who is a foreign national? The right of the public to know of travesties committed by governments in our name while the perpetrators of such travesties go unpunished counts for naught in this spurious and seismic prosecution.
Read full article: https://diem25.org/law-and-disorder-the-case-julian-assange/