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Why have you been downvoted? You are correct. This extradition hearing, and the alleged mistreatment of Mr. Assange, is taking place in London under British aut

by _iyig 7y ago

Why have you been downvoted? You are correct. This extradition hearing, and the alleged mistreatment of Mr. Assange, is taking place in London under British authorities.

cmroanirgo 7y ago
From the day 1 proceedings [0]: > Normal courts in this country are public buildings, deliberately placed by our ancestors right in the centre of towns, almost always just up a few steps from a main street. The major purpose of their positioning and of their architecture was to facilitate public access in the belief that it is vital that justice can be seen by the public... When enquiring about facilities for the public to attend the hearing, an Assange activist was told by a member of court staff that we should realise that Woolwich is a “counter-terrorism court”. That is true de facto, but in truth a “counter-terrorism court” is an institution unknown to the UK constitution. Indeed, if a single day at Woolwich Crown Court does not convince you the existence of liberal democracy is now a lie, then your mind must be very closed indeed. Something very fishy is going on here, it seems. So while the proceedings might appear to be above board, it seems that Mr Murray (the reporter here) is convinced of otherwise: > It’s the Lubyanka. [0] https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/02/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-1/ https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/02/your-man-in-...
- tomatocracy 7y ago
  Several famous courts are or were historically attached to prisons in the UK, eg Lancaster Assizes which were connected to a prison inside Lancaster Castle and were frequently used for high security trials. The Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court) is built in the former Newgate Prison. I don't think this is anything to be concerned about - and I believe building courts attached to prisons where people are held pending arraignment or trial is common practice in many countries for the same practical reasons, including some which are arguably in the interests of the defendants (it facilitates a speedy trial for example and can offer them and their defence team better physical security where they might be widely hated eg terrorist suspects or high profile murder trials).
reallydontask 7y ago
if we are splitting hairs, it's not England but the United Kingdom
- pinkfoot 7y ago
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. :)
- tomatocracy 7y ago
  There is a legal jurisdiction called England (or England and Wales), though. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own separate legal systems (Wales is pretty close to identical to English law and for most purposes England and Wales are the same jurisdiction, NI is quite similar to English law and Scotland is quite different). I'm not sure if it's quite as distinct here where it's an extradition hearing though.

by _iyig 7y ago

Why have you been downvoted? You are correct. This extradition hearing, and the alleged mistreatment of Mr. Assange, is taking place in London under British authorities.

cmroanirgo 7y ago

From the day 1 proceedings [0]: > Normal courts in this country are public buildings, deliberately placed by our ancestors right in the centre of towns, almost always just up a few steps from a main street. The major purpose of their positioning and of their architecture was to facilitate public access in the belief that it is vital that justice can be seen by the public... When enquiring about facilities for the public to attend the hearing, an Assange activist was told by a member of court staff that we should realise that Woolwich is a “counter-terrorism court”. That is true de facto, but in truth a “counter-terrorism court” is an institution unknown to the UK constitution. Indeed, if a single day at Woolwich Crown Court does not convince you the existence of liberal democracy is now a lie, then your mind must be very closed indeed. Something very fishy is going on here, it seems. So while the proceedings might appear to be above board, it seems that Mr Murray (the reporter here) is convinced of otherwise: > It’s the Lubyanka. [0] https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/02/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-1/ https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/02/your-man-in-...

tomatocracy 7y ago
Several famous courts are or were historically attached to prisons in the UK, eg Lancaster Assizes which were connected to a prison inside Lancaster Castle and were frequently used for high security trials. The Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court) is built in the former Newgate Prison. I don't think this is anything to be concerned about - and I believe building courts attached to prisons where people are held pending arraignment or trial is common practice in many countries for the same practical reasons, including some which are arguably in the interests of the defendants (it facilitates a speedy trial for example and can offer them and their defence team better physical security where they might be widely hated eg terrorist suspects or high profile murder trials).

reallydontask 7y ago

if we are splitting hairs, it's not England but the United Kingdom

pinkfoot 7y ago
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. :)
tomatocracy 7y ago
There is a legal jurisdiction called England (or England and Wales), though. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own separate legal systems (Wales is pretty close to identical to English law and for most purposes England and Wales are the same jurisdiction, NI is quite similar to English law and Scotland is quite different). I'm not sure if it's quite as distinct here where it's an extradition hearing though.