Reading of Witness Statement by Noam Chomsky - Julian Assange Extradition Hearing

On the 30th of Sept 2020 a witness statement from Noam Chomsky (dated 12 Feb 2020) was read into the record of the UK hearing of a US extradition request for Julian Assange. The judge would not permit the witness to take the stand and speak for himself, ostensibly to "save time".

This is a reading of Noam Chomsky's written statement.
It begins by stating his long working history in academia, and his even longer list of honorary degrees, memberships and prizes. Then follows an extensive list of Professor Chomsky's published works.

By way of preamble, Professor Chomsky says:

"I have been asked whether Julian Assange's work and actions can be considered as "political", a question I am informed is of significance to the extradition request by the United States for Mr Assange to be tried for espionage for having played a part on the publication of information that the United States government did not wish to be publically known.

"I have previously spoken of the subject matter on which I am asked now to comment in relation to Mr Assange. The following paragraphs constitute my views. I confirm my assessment that Mr Assange's opinions and actions should be understood in their relationship to the priorities of government."

He then continues ...

Read the rest from Craig Murray's blog about the day this statement was read into the court record:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/10/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-21/

MUSIC LICENCES: By kind permission:
Intro & Outro: "The Last Days" © S Stevenson (score, lyrics & performance)
Short riff from "Roll The Dice" © S Stevenson (score & performance)