Julian Assange Verdict: What to Watch Out for
THE popular news sites have been eerily quiet so far this week about Mr. Assange, whom I deemed an online friend (before he was forced offline). Perhaps there is not much to say at the moment, but the issue remains urgent and very much relevant to the death of Mr. Navalny [1, 2]. Associates of Navalny are being physically assaulted even outside Russia (no place to hide) and free press in the West is dying so rapidly.
Will the Assange verdict be given on a Friday, i.e. today? A holiday like St. Patrick's Day (this coming Sunday)? Yes, it's an Irish holiday, but many in the UK mark it and some take time off work. I don't want to guess too much, but prior experience (track record) shows they tend too dish out controversial decisions at strategic times, just like Microsoft does, or did a week ago, also a year ago.
A friend of mine said that it does seem like the court aims to keep the Assange verdict as low key as they can. If an airport van shows up at the prison on Friday with armed guards, then it is likely an announcement will come soon after to be made while they simultaneously pack him off to the airport. That'd be to prevent EU- or UN-level appeals. Remember how they dragged him out (by surprise) several years ago. The story about how they caught him at the corridor, unprepared, was covered by the media weeks later.
The long delay between the hearings and the decision does reduce people's ability to remember and to care. Why does it take weeks to decide on a couple of days' hearings? █