Season 5, Episode 20: John Pilger on the Occasion of Assange's 50th Birthday

John Pilger, the award winning filmmaker/author/journalist , looks back at the last 10 years of captivity of political prisoner Julian Assange on the wikleakeaks founder's 50th birthday—spent for the 3 straight year in isolation inside a small, dank cell in the notorious and squalid Belmarsh "dungeon."

Pilger, a longtime close friend and fervent, tireless defender of Mr Assange, looks back at the persecuted journalist's moral commitment to truth transparency.

Pilger, whose 61 documentaries are archived in the British Library, bemoans the toll the past 2 years of confinement have had Mr. Assange and his family.

Pilger also excoriates the Biden administration for appealing the UK court's decision to deny the Trump DOJ extradition request and describes the "Assange Effect,” which has prompted other so-called democratic governments, notably the UK and Australian suppress free speech and press.

"If Assange is extradited to the US, it will be the end of democracy..this is the most important case of the 21st century...we must do everything we can to prevent this from happening,” Pilger concludes ominously.