The arrest of Julian Assange
Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, April 13, 2019
I met Assange two years ago at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, and thinking back to what he said to me during our encounter, I believe we can understand why he was arrested today. Assange told me he was investigating the use Google was planning to make of the immense amount of information at its disposal. According to Assange, it was a matter of providing for sale to insurance companies and secret services data on interests, desires, purchases, health status, reading tastes — in short, on all aspects of life of millions of people. According to Assange — and I believe we should share his view — this would mean an unprecedented increase of control effectiveness by the economic and police powers over human beings. Hence, what is at stake in Assange’s arrest is not merely the desire to punish WikiLeaks for its past investigations, but actually to impede the ongoing investigation, which is obviously viewed as a threat by all concerned parties. It is a reason more to voice our own unreserved solidarity with Assange.
Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, April 13, 2019
I met Assange two years ago at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, and thinking back to what he said to me during our encounter, I believe we can understand why he was arrested today. Assange told me he was investigating the use Google was planning to make of the immense amount of information at its disposal. According to Assange, it was a matter of providing for sale to insurance companies and secret services data on interests, desires, purchases, health status, reading tastes — in short, on all aspects of life of millions of people. According to Assange — and I believe we should share his view — this would mean an unprecedented increase of control effectiveness by the economic and police powers over human beings. Hence, what is at stake in Assange’s arrest is not merely the desire to punish WikiLeaks for its past investigations, but actually to impede the ongoing investigation, which is obviously viewed as a threat by all concerned parties. It is a reason more to voice our own unreserved solidarity with Assange.
(English translation by I, Robot)
Stella Moris (pictured above) and Julian Assange got married on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at Belmarsh high-security prison in south-east London. The wedding is “a declaration of love and resilience in spite of the prison walls”, said the bride. Photo: Peter Nicholls/Reuters. |
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