London’s High Court has ruled Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief, should be extradited from the United Kingdom to Sweden to face questioning over alleged sex crimes from 2010. In the video above, Amy Goodman speaks to Helena Kennedy, an attorney on Assange’s legal team. The clip also includes a statement made by Assange earlier today in London. Assange and his lawyers are now considering an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the European Court of Human Rights. The concern is that once Sweden has Assange in custody, they will extradite him to the U.S. for questioning about the source(s) who leaked classified U.S. diplomatic cables and Department of Defense files to WikiLeaks.
And in #Occupy news, courtesy of Democracy Now!:
Protesters in Oakland, California, are launching a citywide general strike today that will include an attempt to shut down the nation’s fifth-busiest shipping port. The strike is expected to draw thousands of people to downtown Oakland, many responding to police attacks last week on nonviolent protesters with Occupy Oakland, including two-time Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen. During the strike, protesters intend to picket banks, businesses, schools, libraries, and any employers who try to reprimand striking workers. “What this general strike is all about is this: this is a call to working people, not only throughout the United States, but throughout the world, to retract their labor.” says Clarence Thomas of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10.