Jemima Khan has spoken out against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, warning the controversial whistleblower he risks losing his "hero" status as he continues to hide out in London's Ecuadorean embassy.
Khan was one of the well-known figures who threw their support behind the Australian after he was arrested while on the run in London in 2010, and she helped to pay his $384,000 (£240,000) bond money.
Bail was granted on the grounds Assange remained at a London address while he battled extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted over allegations he sexually assaulted two women.
The bail money was forfeited when he sought sanctuary in Ecuador's embassy in the U.K. capital last June (12).
He remains there eight months later.
Khan has now accused Assange of demanding "cultish devotion" from his fans, and insists she helped pay his bond so he could be free while awaiting trial, and not so he could avoid facing the allegations altogether.
In a blog for the New Statesmen, she writes, "The problem is that WikiLeaks - whose mission statement was "to produce... a more just society... based upon truth" - has been guilty of the same obfuscation and misinformation as those it sought to expose, while its supporters are expected to follow, unquestioningly, in blinkered, cultish devotion.
"I have seen flashes of Assange's charm, brilliance and insightfulness - but I have also seen how instantaneous rock-star status has the power to make even the most clear-headed idealist feel that they are above the law and exempt from criticism...
"We all want a hero... It would be a tragedy if a man who has done so much good were to end up tolerating only disciples and unwavering devotion, more like an Australian (Scientology founder) L Ron Hubbard".
Assange argues that if he returns to face the sexual assault charges in Sweden, it will pave the way for his extradition to the U.S., where he is wanted for questioning over the release of top secret documents via his website.
by Emma Goldstein 09th Feb 2013 04:31
Dear Ms. Khan:
Thank you for your thought-provoking article. I sympathize with your suffering. It is easy to lose onechr(226)chr(128)chr(153)s gruntle upon discovering that onechr(226)chr(128)chr(153)s hero exhibits the behaviour patterns of a human being.
How perspicacious the parallels between Mr. Assange and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard! Mr. Hubbard claimed to be a nuclear physicist; Mr. Assange claims to be a mathematician. Mr. Hubbard wrote a book, chr(226)chr(128)chr(156)Excalibur,chr(226)chr(128)chr(157) that he believed would "revolutionize everything" and chr(226)chr(128)chr(156)would have a greater impact upon people than the Bible." Mr. Assange has also written a book.
Scientology operatives plotted to plant false records about "a cat with a pedigree name" into United States government computers in order to ridicule their security systems. Assange, a notorious cat-torturer, has challenged the security of U.S. Government agencies since 1989. Scientologists stole thousands of government documents; the new WikiLeaks mockumentary is entitled chr(226)chr(128)chr(156)We Steal Secrets.chr(226)chr(128)chr(157) Mr. Hubbard extracted hundreds of thousands of dollars from his followers and cruised the world in his fleet of yachts, as Mr. Assange does today.
chr(9)chr(9)In solidarity,
chr(9)chr(9)Sophie Goldstein, DSFA
(My great-aunt. She threatened to disinherit me if I did not let her use my computer to send this.)