Rafael Correa on Julian Assange's case: the one who denounces war crimes is persecuted precisely by the criminals whom he denounced
Max Blumenthal interviews former Ecuador President Rafael Correa, who was in Venezuela to observe its legislative elections and show support to a government under sustained economic and political attack by the US.
Correa addresses issues ranging from the repression in his country under the watch of its outgoing neoliberal president, Lenin Moreno, to the persecution of Julian Assange and the role of a CIA contractor in targeting him and the Wikileaks founder. Blumenthal and Correa also discuss the prospect of a left-wing victory in Ecuador's upcoming national elections, and what the US-backed government is doing to stop it.
Concerning Julian Assange's case, Correa points out:
The institution of asylum was disrespected. Ecuador disrespected its own constitution. Article 41 of the constitution explicitly prohibits turning over a refugee. Moreno did it. For the first time in history, a country, a sovereign government allowed an armed force to enter its embassy.
It’s horrible what happened. But since it was Moreno, servile to the United States, the press hides the incident and it’s like absolutely nothing happened.
But in regard to Julian Assange’s case, it is very crazy, it is a civilizational setback. The person who denounces the crimes goes to prison, and the criminals are the ones who persecute him. That is very crazy. And again, hypocrisy and double standards.
[They say,] “It’s because the crime was the spreading of confidential information.” I have been a head of state, I believe that there should be confidential information, but not to hide war crimes.
And finally, who published the information? Julian Assange supplied the information, but who published it? It was published by The New York Times, El País, and also the German media. Why are these media outlets not prosecuted?
You see that everything is about power. They go against the weakest, in this case the journalist. It really is a mad case, that is, the one that tells the truth, the one who denounces war crimes, is the one who faces 175 years in prison, persecuted precisely by the criminals whom he denounced.
Full transcript:
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