Years of “vicious persecution” of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange show that Washington will go to any lengths to escape justice for its crimes, Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters said in an exclusive interview aired with RT (Russia Today) on Monday.
His words came as Assange struck a deal with Washington and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defense information at a US court in Saipan. He was then sentenced to five years – time he has already served in London’s Belmarsh maximum security prison – and then set free and allowed to return to his native Australia.
The US also agreed to drop its request for extradition but demanded that Assange instruct WikiLeaks to destroy classified information stored on its servers or devices.
Washington just uses the national security facade to silence journalists, Waters told RT, commenting on the developments. “That’s exactly what it is,” he said. The persecution of Assange had the aim of dissuading other journalists from following in his footsteps and publishing information that Washington would very much like to keep secret, he believes.
“The way that he was treated by both the US and the UK government is absolutely appalling,” the musician said. “What they have done in their treatment of Assange is they have freely and openly admitted to the rest of the world that they don't give a fig for the rule of law,” Waters stated, adding that the “rules-based order” Washington likes to talk about is nothing but the ability of the US to impose its will on others without any resistance.
The Pink Floyd frontman also talked about the Ukraine conflict and said the West’s “saber-rattling” is “insane” as it risks another “world war.” The conflict between Moscow and Kiev could have been avoided entirely if the West had been “prepared to negotiate and listen to both sides of the conversation,” he told RT.
Watch the full interview here:
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