Stefanie Maurizi – Secret Power – Comments.
Ken Loach's (British writer, director, and filmmaker) introduction to Secret Power prepares you for Stefanie Maurizi's exceptional text on Julian Assange; he writes:
This is a book that should make you very angry. It is the story of a journalist imprisoned and treated with unbearable cruelty for exposing war crimes, of the determination by British and American politicians to destroy him, and the quiet connivance of the media in this monstrous injustice.
Once finishing this fine text, my blood began to boil, and I decided to wait a few days before writing about it. So it's been a few days, and my emotions, for the most part, have been put in check. This is not to say that this anger doesn't bubble to the surface weekly, though today, at least, my extreme anger has been successfully suppressed.
Stefanie Maurizi has worked with Julian Assange and the Wikileaks organization since 2009. She has traveled the world to meet with the publisher, working and writing on many of their revelations. She has been under surveillance, followed, and once “mugged” in Italy, her laptop and documents stolen. When visiting Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, she was harassed, and all her electronics were confiscated. Stefanie has witnessed Assange's physical and mental health deteriorate over the 13 years of his captivity. She is one of the central leaders in the actions to free Assange from prison and prevent his illegal extradition to the US to stand trial under America's highly antiquated Espionage Act.
This book details her experiences with Assange and Wikileaks, her fight with those “secret powers,” her specific FOIA requests, and the subsequent lawsuits.
Chelsea Manning and the Collateral Murder video and other releases.
Chelsea Manning downloaded classified information concerning Iraqi war crimes and handed them over to WikiLeaks. As a result, major news organizations, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and others, revealed to the world the many crimes being committed by the US in Iraq and later Afghanistan. This put WikiLeaks and Assange in the international spotlight. Manning was later jailed for this action, though later given a presidential pardon from Barrack Obama.
WikiLeaks publications have exposed many countries' war crimes, government corruption, and political fraud. All are significant for public awareness about our various governments. The fourth Estate's job is to challenge power and create transparency. The United States Constitution guarantees freedom of the press for this very reason. Though what Maurizi's book emphasizes is the so-called “secret powers,” who are primarily unelected individuals, are blatantly eroding the freedom of the press by way of legal nonsense, hiding their crimes against humanity.
Rigged from the Start.
When you read the legal machinations of the Swedish government and the UK establishment regarding Julian Assange's alleged rape charges, you'll come to the conclusion of the utter corruption regarding this case. In collaboration with the UK, the Swedish government played “legal games,” ensuring the alleged rape case remained in the headlines, tarnishing Assange's reputation. This back and forth went on for years, to finally being dropped in 2019. Maurizi has made several FOIA requests to the Crown Prosecution Service for specific documents on this case. One reply from the Crown was that they were destroyed! They're lying, and Maurizi has continued FOIA suits against the CPS.
Maurizi compares the Assange hearings in London to Franz Kafka's The Trial. In the first hearing, Judge Emma Arbuthnot directed her ire at Assange, calling him a narcissist and another unfounded name-calling. In the least, this is highly unprofessional. One main problem is that Judge Arbuthnot's husband, (Baron) James Arbuthnot, is highly invested in the arms industry. A conflict of interest? I believe so. Ultimately, the Judge refused Assange's extradition based on his dwindling physical and mental problems. She dismissed all other arguments regarding Free Press and the FBI's dubious witnesses.
VAULT 7
What brought the full force of the American Empire upon Assange and WikiLeaks was the publication of the VAULT 7 documents. The rogue agency, the CIA, has been raising havoc across the planet for 70 years. They have zero accountability for their criminal actions. A portion of VAULT 7 revealed the illegal surveillance of foreign governments and ordinary citizens. Because these “Secret Powers” since the '50s have been “running the show,” so to speak, revealing their crimes, as has been shown, can be a death sentence. So much so, as Yahoo News told, assassinating or kidnapping Assange was on the table, pushed by then CIA director Mike Pompeo.
When an Australian publisher, a man who could have made millions for his prowess in IT, chooses the higher road, revealing our government's crimes and perpetual lies, risking his life, and the cruelty and brutality he's endured from our government, is a crime against Assange, journalism, and humanity.
Stefania Maurizi has done all of us an excellent service writing this book.
Emotional though worthwhile.