Julian Assange Might Continue Wikileaks, But Certainly Not Yet (Recovery Time Needed)
And probably at a symbolic capacity only
HAVING spent the past week reading a lot and watching a lot of stuff about Julian Assange, and moreover having reached the point where there's no new material other than people expressing their opinions (no TV interviews from the Assange team, family, lawyers etc.), perhaps it's a good time for reflections. We don't suppose Assange will speak to any news channel any time soon (weeks if not months) and no new development is expected, either on the legal front or the "personal" front.
Health First!
First of all, it seems clear that Assange prioritises his physical and mental health at the moment. He barely survived, but he did. His gait is imperfect, one might assume due to his longstanding knee issue (dating back to his embassy days) if not something newer on top of that. His skin and his body weight distribution suggest deeper problems, but nothing irredeemable. Remember that he had a mild stroke in prison a few years ago, according to his family. A lot of the damage is now mental, hence not easily visible. Then there are dental issues, which may have been partly dealt with in prison. In 2015 Julian released a "medical" set of reports, including dental:
Dentistry is hard to do remotely (e.g. inside the embassy) due to access to advanced equipment and aspects like insurance.
The Family Needs Time
Jen Robinson said that Julian Assange hadn't seen the horizon in over a decade and his wife Stella says they want to swim every day. She insists he is principled and still devoted to human rights. Considering his age and considering his father's good mental state (he is still sharp), it's not unthinkable that Julian has another 20-30 years "left in the tank".
Wikileaks
I hope he will (sooner or later) come back to journalism and maybe take charge of Wikileaks, which lost some pages and needs to gain enough credibility/confidence to attract new leaks and thus publications. If Wikileaks does resume publication (nothing new for over 3 years already; the latest is from summer of 2021), it'll send the right signal; not even spending hundreds of millions (of dollars/pounds) in legal and police bills can silence eager journalists.
The Bigger Picture
In some sense, Assange was a lucky survivor. Some people don't make it that far.
People have to go to great lengths at great personal risk (or sacrifice) to expose the abuses of the powerful.
It's Not Over
One thing that Stella Assange repeatedly blasted was the cowardice of "professional" (working for the rich) journalists, who failed to stand up for or speak out for her husband. There's a new video this weekend from a friend of Assange, Jimmy Dore. It is entitled "Never Forget They Smeared Assange & Laughed At Him!"
Also see: "Government Forces Assange To Pay $520k For His Flight Home!"
Things are not as rosy as some are led to believe. It sounds like they try to bankrupt him and his family right now. They're not going to just leave him in peace do what he wishes to do; they will give him the stress of debt, after they manipulated him into admitting that he broke the law by reporting on war crimes. They still want to "make an example" of him.
Stella Assange wants to swim in the ocean with her husband, but sooner or later people who do not honour her wish for common dignity (or privacy) will probably turn him into tabloid material after becoming a "free man" (still persecuted every day in corporate media, still trying to paint him as a sex fiend one way or another). β