Julian Assange Granted Bail by Dr Helen Bright

Julian Assange, Mega Whistle-blower star, has been granted bail following successful campaign by his international supporters (including D4J) and the legal representation including Mr Mark Stephens and Mr Geoffrey Robertson QC, barrister well known for his work in the area of freedom of speech.

We are grateful to feminist groups and individual women who came forward and this strategy has been most useful considering allegations against him and the absence of formal charges from Sweden.

D4J helped in another case of a male whistle blower accused of sexual assault and wrote to CPS who responded promptly.

However, I expect, defending male whistle-blowers is an easier task than defending female whistle-blowers as sexual politics is somewhat different. Women are expected to be even more subordinate than men when it comes to freedom of speech.

Secondly, whistle blowers are tortured mentally for years and attempts to completely destroy their reputations and life are relentless. For Mr Assange this is not news and he, as well as his lawyers, know only too well, the whole process will take years. While he may be struggling for his survival others will be making their way into comfortable retirements.

The humiliation of having to wear the electronic tag is only too familiar. Doctors who are whistle-blowers are forced by their medical regulators to accept unbearable conditions on their practice and are monitored beyond endurance across the world.

Whistle-blowers are also the victims of envy as those who speak up are brave and good people. Many powerful and not so powerful people do not feel good about themselves and once a whistle-blower is known not to be favored by authorities, a lot more new allegations could be made.

For me as a psychiatrist, it is fascinating to analyze the allegations as these tend to be of the projective nature. In other words false allegations really disclose what the accuser really thinks about themselves.

The more whistle-blowers are oppressed the more they speak up and this is their typical personality trait. Thus draconian authorities always lose this battle.