Julian Assange should be released immediately and properly compensated for wrongful imprisonment

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Julian Assange should be released immediately and properly compensated for his wrongful imprisonment (PA)

Julian Assange has done nothing wrong. We should all be very grateful for his exposure of the murderous actions of American troops.

America, in my opinion, does not have a justice system, it has a legal system designed purely for the enrichment of the legal profession. I have more respect for the “oldest profession” than I do for the legal profession. It should never be a question of whether it is legal or illegal, it should be a question of whether it is right or is it wrong.

Assange should be released immediately and properly compensated for his wrongful imprisonment. The people of Britain should contact their MP immediately to force the release of this decent man whom we should all respect. He is a decent honest journalist, like all of his colleagues. So wake up, Britain. Before we lose our democracy.

John Fair

Address Supplied

The West needs to show some backbone

When the US first started sending arms to Ukraine, it was bizarrely made clear these were for defence only and not to be used to attack Russia. Now it seems Donald Trump’s supporters on the far right are attempting to block further aid.

In the meantime, weapons continue to be supplied to Israel. These are not used for “defence”, but to directly and indirectly destroy infrastructure, stop aid deliveries, and kill innocent civilians – all while Western countries hypocritically call for a ceasefire.

It’s time politicians in both the US and the UK start showing some backbone in the face of autocratic governments and lobby groups. Their actions could stop the slaughter of hundreds in both Ukraine and Palestine, even if it means losing some votes back home.

Geoff Forward

Stirling

Who really won?

Mike Webster in The Independent’s letters section notes that Boris Johnson won a large majority in 2019. It should be remembered that 56 per cent of people voted against the Conservatives, but our first-past-the-post voting system rewarded them with 56 per cent of the seats. Britain does not have a representative democracy.

Even Jacob Rees-Mogg recognises this as he pointed out that Labour didn’t really win the Kingswood by-election, as more people voted Conservative and Reform than for Labour.

Britain needs electoral reform to ensure that parliament represents how people vote. When that reform comes, electoral registration and voting should be made compulsory, as it is in Australia.

Jim Backus

Essex

A chance of justice

Whether Henry Staunton, ex-CEO of the Post Office, is lying or not regarding stalling payments to ex-postmasters, or was uncooperative with an internal enquiry into his alleged style of management, is yet another red herring from the government to cover up their inept handling of such a gross episode, which has lasted over 20 years.

Rather than waste time, money and effort in perpetuating the lack of justice and compensation for the subpostmasters, an urgent end to this unsavoury spectre is required. Kemi Badenoch says that the government has completed the compensation scheme overseen by Mr Staunton and subpostmasters have been paid. I wonder if this is to the satisfaction of the subpostmasters.

The real problem for me to understand is why this awful mess was not concluded years ago. I believe that, like other government-led compensation schemes, there have been unnecessary delays in payments, bureaucratic stalling, obfuscation of salient facts and an unwillingness, on behalf of the government, to accept responsibility for their failure.

Badenoch cannot be believed when she says that there is no benefit to the government in delaying compensation to the ex-subpostmasters. Why has it taken so long and still not been completed then?

There are still many questions to be answered, and those responsible for the carnage of innocent people’s lives need to be brought to justice. It is inconceivable that the government and Fujitsu did not collude to bury adverse criticism of the Horizon package that the subpostmasters used. However, is there an appetite in either government or Fujitsu to seek to identify those responsible for the grossly negligent, criminal handling of the last 20 years?

Keith Poole

Basingstoke

Set in stone

The concerns about a proposed road tunnel near Stonehenge may be unnecessary, given that it is about 5,000 years old and is likely to still be around in another 5,000, despite traffic changes.

Cars won’t be around then, or at least petrol-based ones, and humans might not last the difference either unless they fix up the climate damage they are doing.

Dennis Fitzgerald

Victoria