Julian Assange: Ecuador grants Wikileaks founder asylum

[AFG_Brit]

Julian Assange: Ecuador grants Wikileaks founder asylum


Julian Assange's Wikileaks website published leaked diplomatic cables
Ecuador has granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK.

It cited fears that Mr Assange's human rights might be violated.

Foreign minister Ricardo Patino accused the UK of making an "open threat" to enter its embassy to arrest Mr Assange.

Mr Assange took refuge at the embassy in June to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over assault and rape claims, which he denies.

The Australian national said being granted political asylum by Ecuador was a "significant victory" and thanked staff in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

However, as the Foreign Office insisted the decision would not affect the UK's legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden, Mr Assange warned: "Things will get more stressful now."

Announcing Ecuador's decision, Mr Patino launched a strong attack on the UK for what he said was an "explicit type of blackmail".

The UK Foreign Office had warned, in a note, that it could lift the embassy's diplomatic status to fulfil a "legal obligation" to extradite the 41-year-old by using the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987.

That allows the UK to revoke the diplomatic status of an embassy on UK soil, which would potentially allow police to enter the building to arrest Mr Assange for breaching the terms of his bail.

Ecuador's foreign minister said: "We can't allow spokespeople from the UK to gleefully say they have been honest when they have threatened us in such a way."

He referred to the UK's note as an "open threat" and accused the UK of "basically saying we will beat you savagely if you don't behave".

Mr Patino said Ecuador believed Mr Assange's fears of political persecution were "legitimate".

He said the country was being loyal to its tradition of protecting those who were vulnerable.

"We trust that our friendship with the United Kingdom will remain intact," he added.

The announcement was watched live by Mr Assange and embassy staff in a link to a press conference from Quito.

The Foreign Office said it was "disappointed" by the statement issued by Ecuador's foreign minister.

It said in its own statement: "Under our law, with Mr Assange having exhausted all options of appeal, the British authorities are under a binding obligation to extradite him to Sweden.

"We shall carry out that obligation. The Ecuadorean government's decision this afternoon does not change that."

The Foreign Office said it remained committed to reaching a "negotiated solution" that allows it to carry out its "obligations under the Extradition Act".

It means Mr Assange's arrest would still be sought if he left the embassy.

The Swedish government reacted to Mr Patino's suggestion that Mr Assange would not be treated fairly by its justice system by summoning Ecuador's ambassador to explain.

Full story :http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19281492

 

[Geordie Ahmed]

This is all part of a ploy to get him in the hands of the US and it is a disappointment, though not a surprise to see the UK fulfil it's role as the subservient lapdog

Good on Ecuador for granting him asylum and shame on this government for making the threats it did to Ecuador

 

[Markhor]

This is all part of a ploy to get him in the hands of the US and it is a disappointment, though not a surprise to see the UK fulfil it's role as the subservient lapdog

I love the hypocrisy from the UK.

Olympics comes round - Proud to be British ! Bring out the Union Jack etc etc.

And then when it comes to this matter - let's bow down to our masters on the other side of the Atlantic !

Good on Ecuador.

 

[Namak_Halaal]

Pointless.

The law which Britain is threatening to invoke in the Assange case is the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987.

It allows the UK to revoke the diplomatic status of an embassy on UK soil, which would potentially allow police to enter the building to arrest Mr Assange.

Even if Mr Assange is granted asylum, he will have to cross British territory and could be arrested, our correspondent said.

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/showthread.php?t=159237

 

[Robert]

Good on Ecuador for granting him asylum and shame on this government for making the threats it did to Ecuador

A European Arrest Warrant has been issued for Assange. There is no way out of the Embassy for him because even if somehow he gets to France he will be arrested there.

I say shame on Ecuador for lending succour to a man facing rape charges.

 

[NoToIpL]

A European Arrest Warrant has been issued for Assange. UK-Gov attempting to carry out its duty to the EU.

I say shame on Ecuador for lending succour to a man facing rape charges.

charges he has not been charged with anything.

He is wanted for questioning only so far.

Viv la Ecuador

Rob please do you even know to what kind of scums the British gave asylum ?

 

[Markhor]

These so-called "charges" were dropped by the Swedish authorities for lack of cause during their investigation to the girl's stories. Normally, for any one of us, that would be that. But another party pressured Sweden into re-opening the charges. That party is of course the USA.

If Assange goes to Sweden, then he will almost automatically find himself in US, possibly facing the death penalty. This is a political game. Sweden's rape case can be conducted via video link without Assange appearing there in person and that is exactly why he is in the Ecuadorian embassy.

 

[Green Leopard]

Hehe, must be new for the authorities, an Australian applying for Asylum in a developing country.

On a serious note, Assange is now just hogging the limelight.

He has promised to release more stuff and hasn't done jack over the last 12 months or so.

 

[12cavalry]

Interesting piece by the former British ambassador, Craig Murray.

America’s Vassal Acts Decisively and Illegally

I returned to the UK today to be astonished by private confirmation from within the FCO that the UK government has indeed decided – after immense pressure from the Obama administration – to enter the Ecuadorean Embassy and seize Julian Assange.

This will be, beyond any argument, a blatant breach of the Vienna Convention of 1961, to which the UK is one of the original parties and which encodes the centuries – arguably millennia – of practice which have enabled diplomatic relations to function. The Vienna Convention is the most subscribed single international treaty in the world.

The provisions of the Vienna Convention on the status of diplomatic premises are expressed in deliberately absolute terms. There is no modification or qualification elsewhere in the treaty.

Article 22

1.The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter
them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.
2.The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises
of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the
mission or impairment of its dignity.
3.The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of
transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.

Not even the Chinese government tried to enter the US Embassy to arrest the Chinese dissident Chen Guangchen. Even during the decades of the Cold War, defectors or dissidents were never seized from each other’s embassies. Murder in Samarkand relates in detail my attempts in the British Embassy to help Uzbek dissidents. This terrible breach of international law will result in British Embassies being subject to raids and harassment worldwide.

The government’s calculation is that, unlike Ecuador, Britain is a strong enough power to deter such intrusions. This is yet another symptom of the “might is right” principle in international relations, in the era of the neo-conservative abandonment of the idea of the rule of international law.

The British Government bases its argument on domestic British legislation. But the domestic legislation of a country cannot counter its obligations in international law, unless it chooses to withdraw from them. If the government does not wish to follow the obligations imposed on it by the Vienna Convention, it has the right to resile from it – which would leave British diplomats with no protection worldwide.

I hope to have more information soon on the threats used by the US administration. William Hague had been supporting the move against the concerted advice of his own officials; Ken Clarke has been opposing the move against the advice of his. I gather the decision to act has been taken in Number 10.

There appears to have been no input of any kind from the Liberal Democrats. That opens a wider question – there appears to be no “liberal” impact now in any question of coalition policy. It is amazing how government salaries and privileges and ministerial limousines are worth far more than any belief to these people. I cannot now conceive how I was a member of that party for over thirty years, deluded into a genuine belief that they had principles.

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2012/08/americas-vassal-acts-decisively-and-illegally/

 

[Namak_Halaal]

Britain says Assange Ecuador asylum wouldn't change a thing

(Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday that any decision by Ecuador to give Julian Assange political asylum wouldn't change a thing and that it might still revoke the diplomatic status of Quito's embassy in London to allow the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder.

The high-profile Australian former hacker has been holed up inside the red-brick embassy in central London for eight weeks since he lost a legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over rape allegations.

Britain's tough talk on the issue takes what has become an international soap opera to new heights since Assange angered the United States by publishing secret U.S. diplomatic cables on his WikiLeaks website. It may also raise difficult questions for London about the sanctity of embassies' diplomatic status.

The Ecuadorean government, which said it would announce whether it had granted Assange's asylum request on Thursday at 7 a.m. (1200 GMT), has said any attempt by Britain to remove the diplomatic status of its embassy would be a "hostile and intolerable act".

"It is too early to say when or if Britain will revoke the Ecuadorean embassy's diplomatic status," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "Giving asylum doesn't fundamentally change anything."

"We have a legal duty to extradite Mr Assange. There is a law that says we have to extradite him to Sweden. We are going to have to fulfill that law."

Outside the embassy, British police tussled with protesters chanting slogans in support of Assange and at least three supporters were detained.

Quito bristled at Britain's warning.

"We want to be very clear, we're not a British colony. The colonial times are over," Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said in an angry statement after a meeting with President Rafael Correa.

Britain's threat to withdraw diplomatic status from the Ecuadorean embassy drew criticism from some former diplomats who said it could lead to similar moves against British embassies.

"I think the Foreign Office have slightly overreached themselves here," Britain's former ambassador to Moscow, Tony Brenton, told the BBC.

"If we live in a world where governments can arbitrarily revoke immunity and go into embassies then the life of our diplomats and their ability to conduct normal business in places like Moscow where I was and North Korea becomes close to impossible."

LONDON EMBASSY

Ecuador's embassy, near London's famed Harrods department store, has been under tight surveillance, with police officers manning the entrance and patrolling its perimeter.

A group of pro-Assange protesters gathered outside the building overnight in response to a rallying call by his supporters on social media websites.

Wearing trademark Guy Fawkes masks - to evoke the spirit of the 17th century English plotter - they held banners and blasted out songs by punk group The Jam from a portable speaker.

A Reuters reporter saw at least three protesters being dragged away by police. About 20 officers were outside the embassy trying to push away the crowd of about 15 supporters.

"I am upset that the British government is willing to go in there and take him by force," said Liliana Calle, 24, an Ecuadorean student waving her country's flag outside the embassy. "It makes me think they don't believe in human rights."

In what appeared to be prank, taxis lined up outside the embassy asking for Julian Assange.

"I've lived, worked and traveled in places with proper dictatorships and nowhere have I seen violations of the Vienna convention to this extent," said Farhan Rasheed, 42, a historian wearing an "I love Occupy" badge, outside the embassy.

"Here we have a government which claims to be a government of law and justice, stretching and possibly about to break a serious binding international agreement."

Swedish prosecutors have not yet charged Assange, but they believe they have a case to take to trial.

Assange fears Sweden could send him on to the United States, where he believes authorities want to punish him for publishing thousands of diplomatic cables in a major embarrassment for Washington.

Even if he were granted asylum, Assange has little chance of leaving the Ecuadorean embassy in London without being arrested.

There has been speculation he could travel to an airport in a diplomatic car, be smuggled out in a diplomatic bag, or even be appointed an Ecuadorean diplomat to give him immunity.

But lawyers and diplomats see those scenarios as practically unworkable.

Ecuador's leader Correa is a self-declared enemy of "corrupt" media and U.S. "imperialism", and apparently hit it off with Assange during a TV interview the Australian did with him in May. Correa joked then with Assange that he had joined "the club of the persecuted".

The Ecuadorean government has said it wants to avoid Assange's extradition to Sweden, but if it did decide to grant him asylum it would offer no legal protection in Britain where police will arrest him as soon as they get a chance.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/16/us-wikileaks-assange-britain-idUSBRE87F0B920120816

 

[nish_mate]

So much for being a power- a servile dog jumping at it's masters orders.

How far the once mighty have fallen.

 

[Poison]

A European Arrest Warrant has been issued for Assange. There is no way out of the Embassy for him because even if somehow he gets to France he will be arrested there.

I say shame on Ecuador for lending succour to a man facing rape charges.

Lol at thinking those charges actually hold any water

 

[chacha kashmiri]

people like assange, manning and vanunu are the epitome of freedom of speech in the modern age and have been denied their basic human rights because they are anti imperialism

 

[withlovefrom vizag]

"America says Jump and we say,how high?"

)

I saw this comment on DM ,i think it sums up the situation

 

[MattyB]

These so-called "charges" were dropped by the Swedish authorities for lack of cause during their investigation to the girl's stories. Normally, for any one of us, that would be that. But another party pressured Sweden into re-opening the charges. That party is of course the USA.

If Assange goes to Sweden, then he will almost automatically find himself in US, possibly facing the death penalty. This is a political game. Sweden's rape case can be conducted via video link without Assange appearing there in person and that is exactly why he is in the Ecuadorian embassy.

I would usually stand up for the UK at this point but I can't in this case, the UK and Sweeden are just pawns in America's scheme to remove someone who caused them great embarrassment.

What the USA does not understand is that silencing Assange will not stop wikileaks, it will inspire more people on to leak documents. The fact is, the Americans need to learn to respect foreign countries and not act in a way that will cause great embarrassment when such acts are exposed..

 

[Golden arm]

A European Arrest Warrant has been issued for Assange. There is no way out of the Embassy for him because even if somehow he gets to France he will be arrested there.

I say shame on Ecuador for lending succour to a man facing rape charges.

Either you are very naive or under high dose of the sun, daily mirror, and FOX news.

I guess you still support actions of blair and bush in iraq and the people like you consider them saints!!!

utter disappointment when i see biased people from educated west.

 

[AdidasBeard]

A friend of mine works quite high up in an international charity in East Africa. Some of the wikileaks releases damaged their work there costing millions of pounds and years of hard work. That's just one of the side effects of unlimited freedom of information.
Although I have respect for some of wikileaks work, I find Mr Assange to be an egotistical attention seaker. If he so strongly believes in his work then he should be prepared to go to Sweden and if he is being framed then it should be obvious. If he is then extradited to the USA and placed on trial he will gain far more publicity for his cause and at the very worst die for his beliefs (which seem to boil down to little more than complete an utter freedom of information)

 

[Kwremb]

A friend of mine works quite high up in an international charity in East Africa. Some of the wikileaks releases damaged their work there costing millions of pounds and years of hard work. That's just one of the side effects of unlimited freedom of information.
Although I have respect for some of wikileaks work, I find Mr Assange to be an egotistical attention seaker. If he so strongly believes in his work then he should be prepared to go to Sweden and if he is being framed then it should be obvious. If he is then extradited to the USA and placed on trial he will gain far more publicity for his cause and at the very worst die for his beliefs (which seem to boil down to little more than complete an utter freedom of information)

So you want him to accept the death sentence? Again proves the point that Freedom of Information is not a two way street in the west. The kind of crucial information he leaked about the Asian countries is invaluable especially in South Asia & Middle East. Exposed a lot of people and Western imperialist policies in this part of the world which people in the West would never understand.

 

[pakistanalltheway]

Ecuador just trolled UK and the US

 

[AdidasBeard]

So you want him to accept the death sentence? Again proves the point that Freedom of Information is not a two way street in the west. The kind of crucial information he leaked about the Asian countries is invaluable especially in South Asia & Middle East. Exposed a lot of people and Western imperialist policies in this part of the world which people in the West would never understand.

I never said I was against the wikileaks project. It has exposed the terrible behaviour and hypocrisy of many governments (not just the western imperialist policies which you choose to focus on).

However you cannot deny that many of their releases have been dangerous for parts of the world. Do you truly think the world would be a better place if we have access to every politician or diplomats or military leaders classified correspondence. Or if all emails/letters/conversations became public property? We might aswell tap everyone's phones!

With regards Mr Assange, I have 2 points. 1 if I was accused of rape I would want the chance to clear my name. 2 when I released classified and illegally obtained documents that I openly admitted would put other peoples lives in danger then why would I not be prepared to go to trial defending my beliefs?

 

[Down2Earth]

those rape charges are completely baseless, they just wanted to shut him up...

the brits have given international terrorists and murderers political asylum, funny that this is so important for them

 

[AdidasBeard]

For all those who want to hold Assange up as some sort of hero please read this take from a journalist and former wikileaks worker in the lefty guardian
http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfr...aks-nick-cohen?cat=commentisfree&type=article

 

[Geordie Ahmed]

those rape charges are completely baseless, they just wanted to shut him up...

the brits have given international terrorists and murderers political asylum, funny that this is so important for them

It is important to them because their masters have said it is

 

[humzy]

A European Arrest Warrant has been issued for Assange. There is no way out of the Embassy for him because even if somehow he gets to France he will be arrested there.

I say shame on Ecuador for lending succour to a man facing rape charges.

What are you kidding me?

Have you looked into what the actual charge consists of?

I'm sick of so many intelligent people becoming idiots and simply trusting their governments because they have been taught to.

This is simply the easiest means to extradite and punish great human being who spoke truth.

I am with Ecuador all the way, they arn't a bunch of puppets like the UK.

 

[Saqs]

Lol at thinking those charges actually hold any water

This.

 

[Canistani Hero]

This is all part of a ploy to get him in the hands of the US and it is a disappointment, though not a surprise to see the UK fulfil it's role as the subservient lapdog

Good on Ecuador for granting him asylum and shame on this government for making the threats it did to Ecuador

 

[OZGOD]

End of day it doesn't really matter. Unless Assange can somehow teleport from the embassy to Ecuador he will be arrested for jumping bail as soon as he steps outside the embassy door.

It's all theatrics from both sides. Correa, like most Latin American presidents, usually does all he can to tweak the nose of the US. But since the US is Ecuador's biggest trading partner by far he won't tweak too much. As for the UK they won't be storming any embassy, so Assange may as well get ready to live in the embassy for an indefinite period in one of the rooms there.

I reckon Assange should just do the right thing and turn himself in to authorities in Sweden and prove himself innocent of those rape charges in a court of law. Being a hero by releasing info that makes the Seppos and other governments around the world look bad doesn't mean you get treated differently to anyone else when it comes to being charged with a crime. If you didn't do anything wrong then you don't have anything to worry about. Sweden and the US have a very complicated extradition treaty anyway and I'm pretty sure the UK or Sweden have a policy to not extradite any individual who might face the death penalty in the other country.

Clear your name first then you can seek asylum.

 

[Geordie Ahmed]

End of day it doesn't really matter. Unless Assange can somehow teleport from the embassy to Ecuador he will be arrested for jumping bail as soon as he steps outside the embassy door.

It's all theatrics from both sides. Correa, like most Latin American presidents, usually does all he can to tweak the nose of the US. But since the US is Ecuador's biggest trading partner by far he won't tweak too much. As for the UK they won't be storming any embassy, so Assange may as well get ready to live in the embassy for an indefinite period in one of the rooms there.

I reckon Assange should just do the right thing and turn himself in to authorities in Sweden and prove himself innocent of those rape charges in a court of law. Being a hero by releasing info that makes the Seppos and other governments around the world look bad doesn't mean you get treated differently to anyone else when it comes to being charged with a crime. If you didn't do anything wrong then you don't have anything to worry about. Sweden and the US have a very complicated extradition treaty anyway and I'm pretty sure the UK or Sweden have a policy to not extradite any individual who might face the death penalty in the other country.

Clear your name first then you can seek asylum.

I might be mistaken BUT I read elsewhere that travelling to the airport can be regarded as embassy land and they won't be able to just nab him as he steps out. If that is correct them obviously it is reliant on the Ecuadorians providing him with transport to the plane and to Ecuador

As for clearing his name, if he genuinely believes it is all a setup (a very legitimate concern) then why hand yourself into the authorities

 

[withlovefrom vizag]

but how long can he hide or evade the arrest??

He must show some courage and face the trial in Sweden,he should not be afraid of some US or swedish govts over action coz he got massive support and Human rights groups will help him if needed......

 

[chacha kashmiri]

i don't understand why polanski hasn't been hunted in the same way

 

[PakFan2010]

Why doesn't he climb out of the window onto the top of the embassy building.

Chopper comes and picks him up.

 

[OZGOD]

I might be mistaken BUT I read elsewhere that travelling to the airport can be regarded as embassy land and they won't be able to just nab him as he steps out. If that is correct them obviously it is reliant on the Ecuadorians providing him with transport to the plane and to Ecuador

According to the Independent that's not the case mate (I'm guessing they did their homework).

The founder of the world’s most famous online whistleblowing platform fled to Ecuador’s embassy 59 days ago after the last of his legal appeals to stop his extradition to Sweden on rape allegations was exhausted.

Mr Assange has insisted that such drastic action was necessary not to avoid a potential prosecution in Sweden, but because he feared a further extradition to the US. Sweden remains convinced that Mr Assange is simply trying to avoid questioning over charges that he raped two women during the summer of 2010, an allegation he denies.

There were suggestions that Mr Assange could try and engineer an escape either in a diplomatic bag or a vehicle but in practice it would be difficult to engineer, given the permanent police presence outside the embassy. Although diplomatic cars and bags cannot be searched Mr Assange would still need to exit when he got to an airport and could then be arrested. An attempt by the Nigerians to smuggle a national out of the country in the late 1980s was uncovered by UK police, causing the Nigerians significant embarrassment.

Ecuador could try to give Mr Assange immunity status by appointing him a member of the embassy staff but the British government must approve all diplomatic appointments and would not do so in Mr Assange’s case.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...ge-could-only-get-to-the-airport-8052991.html

As I mentioned before, I reckon this is all theatrics. Ecuador gets to be the mouse that roared, the Poms get to still make sure Assange doesn't leave the country. It's likely though that he may spend years in that Ecuador embassy unless a deal is done, which is also possible.

Or they could put him in a REALLY big diplomatic pouch and use 2-3 people to carry him through customs and immigration in Heathrow that way, and ship him in the plane's cargo hold. It would be a bit uncomfortable on that long flight to Ecuador however. But stranger things have happened:

Unusual shipments

Some countries with corrupt governments have allegedly used diplomatic immunity to smuggle drugs, which was mentioned by English journalist Tony Thompson in his book Gangs: A Journey into the Heart of the British Underworld.
During World War II, Winston Churchill reportedly received shipments of Cuban cigars by this means.[2]
In 1964, a Moroccan-born Israeli double agent named Mordechai Ben Masoud Louk (also known as Josef Dahan) was drugged, bound, and placed in a diplomatic bag at the Egyptian Embassy in Rome, but was rescued by the Italians.[4] The crate that he had been placed in appeared to have been used for a similar purpose before, possibly for an Egyptian military official who had defected to Italy several years before but then disappeared without a trace before reappearing under Egyptian custody and facing trial.
During the 1982 Falklands War, the Argentine government used a diplomatic bag to smuggle several Limpet mines to their embassy in Spain, to be used in the covert Operation Algeciras, in which Argentine agents were to blow up a British warship in the Royal Navy Dockyard at Gibraltar. The plot was uncovered and stopped by the Spanish Police before the explosives could be set.
In the 1984 Dikko Affair, a former Nigerian government minister, was kidnapped and placed in a shipping crate, in an attempt to transport him from the United Kingdom back to Nigeria for trial.[4] However, it was not marked as a diplomatic bag, which allowed British customs to open it.[4]
In 1984, the Sterling submachine gun used to shoot dead WPC Yvonne Fletcher from inside the Libyan Embassy in London was smuggled out of the UK in one of 21 diplomatic bags.[5][6][7][8]
In March 2000 Zimbabwe created an international incident when it opened a British diplomatic shipment.[2]
In May 2008, a replacement pump for the toilet on the International Space Station was sent in a diplomatic pouch from Russia to the United States in order to arrive before liftoff of the next shuttle mission.[9]
In 2012, a 16 kg shipment of cocaine was sent to the United Nations in New York in a bag masquerading as a diplomatic pouch.[10]
In January 2012, Italy detected 40 kilograms of cocaine smuggled in a diplomatic pouch from Ecuador, arresting five. Ecuador insisted it had inspected the shipment for drugs at the foreign ministry before it was sent to Milan.[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_bag

Still, it's possible, if you're desperate enough which I reckon Assange is.

As for clearing his name, if he genuinely believes it is all a setup (a very legitimate concern) then why hand yourself into the authorities

I have no doubt the Seppos want to get their hands on Assange. But if you think about this logically, for it to be a setup the Seppos would have to have a) leaned on some Swedish girls to get them to fabricate rape allegations; b) leaned on the Swedes to influence their court system to have Assange found guilty; or c) leaned on the Swedes to either bypass their own court system to try Assange on the rape charges so that he can be extradited to the US to face charges of espionage or something similar. There's just too many dots to connect on that score, considering that Sweden has a pretty complicated extradition treaty with the Seppos (much more complicated than what the Poms have).

If the Seppos really wanted to get their hands on Assange (and I have no doubt they do) they could have asked the Poms to extradite him while he was under house arrests appealing his rape conviction. It's much easier to extradite someone to the US from Britain than it is from Sverige.

My personal opinion is that Assange just wants to stay out of jail. Anyone would. He's using his profile to do that.

I don't have an axe to grind against either the Seppos (who I am no fans of even though I live in their country) or Assange (who is my own countryman though I think while exposing government realpolitik is a heroic act, I think personally he's a bit of an arrogant nonce with delusions of grandeur) as I haven't had my own country attacked by US drones for the past 5 years or my religion besmirched by George Dubya. I fully understand the prevailing opinion in this thread. But I'm not comfortable with someone trying to escape from defending themselves from facing criminal charges because of their fame, no matter whether he did a good thing for my cause or not. Reminds me of Michael Jackson or Roman Polanski. Maybe I am naive, but if he thinks he is innocent then he shouldn't have anything to worry about. It's usually the guilty who run. Maybe I haven't watched enough Bourne movies though.

 

[OZGOD]

i don't understand why polanski hasn't been hunted in the same way

Maybe because of this? Which was the reason the Swiss refused to extradite him. Typical American stuff up. More boring than conspiracy theories, I know.

On 12 July 2010, the Swiss authorities announced that they would not extradite Polanski to the U.S. in part due to a fault in the American request for extradition. Polanski was no longer subject to house arrest, or any monitoring by Swiss authorities. In a press conference held by Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, she stated that Polanski's extradition to the U.S. was rejected, in part, because U.S. officials failed to produce certain documents, specifically "confidential testimony from a January 2010 hearing on Mr. Polanski's original sentencing agreement." According to Swiss officials, the records were required to determine if Polanski's 42-day court-ordered psychiatric evaluation at Chino State Prison constituted Polanski's whole sentence according to the now-deceased Judge Rittenband. Reasoning that if this was the correct understanding, then "Roman Polanski would actually have already served his sentence and therefore both the proceedings on which the U.S. extradition request is founded and the request itself would have no foundation."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Polanski_sexual_abuse_case

 

[bixby]

Why doesn't he climb out of the window onto the top of the embassy building.

Chopper comes and picks him up.

cause the ecuador embassy isnt at the top of the building?

 

[OZGOD]

Julian has returned serve.

Assange condemns WikiLeaks witch-hunt

Karen Kissane, London
Published: August 20, 2012 - 12:52AM

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has appeared on the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy to ask US President Barack Obama to make his country "do the right thing" and "renounce its witch-hunt against WikiLeaks".

"The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation," he said. "The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute … our staff or our supporters. The US must pledge before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful.

"There must be no more foolish talk about prosecution of media organisations, be they WikiLeaks or The New York Times."

This was the closest Mr Assange came to asking that the US promise not to seek his extradition should he go to Sweden to face questioning over claims of sexual misconduct. He has not been charged and denies the allegations.

Earlier, one of his spokesmen had said that Mr Assange would consider accepting extradition to Sweden if the US would publicly pledge not to seek his extradition.

Mr Assange and WikiLeaks outraged American authorities with the publication of thousands of confidential diplomatic cables.

The WikiLeaks founder has been sheltering in the Ecuadorean embassy since June because he fears that if the UK sends him to Sweden, the Swedes might hand him over to America and he may face a potential death penalty related to espionage allegations.

Wearing a shirt and tie and sporting a new crew-cut, Mr Assange demanded that the US return to its "revolutionary values" before it lurched over a precipice into which it dragged "all of us": "A dangerous and oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the threat of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark”.

The US “war on whistleblowers” must end, he said, making a forceful call for the release of Bradley Manning, an American soldier detained over espionage claims for allegedly leaking material to WikiLeaks.

To loud cheers from dozens of supporters - held back by more than 40 police - Mr Assange said the United Nations had found that Mr Manning had endured months of "torturous detention" at Quantico and was about to have his 815th day in jail without trial.

“The regular maximum is 120 days,” Mr Assange said, calling Mr Manning "the world’s foremost political prisoner".

He issued a series of thank yous, including “to the people of the US, the UK, Sweden and Australia who have supported me even when their governments have not”.

He thanked all the South American nations that have rallied behind Ecuador in outrage over a letter that has been seen as a threat by the British Foreign Office to use police to storm the Ecuadorean embassy to retrieve Assange: “Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela”.

Mr Assange also thanked supporters who had come out for a vigil in the dark last Wednesday night when police entered the building that houses the embassy.

"Inside this embassy after dark I could hear teams of police swarming up through the building through its internal fire escape". But he said he knew supporters were watching outside.

He finished with, "To my family and to my children, who have been denied their father; forgive me. We will be reunited soon".

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/world/assange-condemns-wikileaks-witchhunt-20120819-24gys.html

 

[ProteaBoy]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gOvXwheu1yw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Maybe because of this? Which was the reason the Swiss refused to extradite him. Typical American stuff up. More boring than conspiracy theories, I know.

And since then?

 

[oyei]

so what happens, when the lease of that rented property in which embassy was established expired, and the owner refuses to renew the lease? will he get arrested thn?

 

[KingKhanWC]

This case demonstrate just how much the British government is poodle of the US. Numerous South American nations have now joined to support Ecuador in this. The USA is a terrorist state, never has history witnessed a nation responsible for so much mass murder and sickening crimes against humanity, never been held to account because of the ridiculous order of the world(UN).

If anything Britain should give this man asylum because we are told all the time Britain is against torture, the US has been torturing Manning for a year now.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

and to think people were going mental over the ***** rioters in russia, double standards?

 

[humzy]

The U.S always get what they want. Once he gives himself in, mark my words, he will be in jail for a long long time.

 

[OZGOD]

And since then?

Well, he lives in France, generally avoids travel to places where he could be extradited or charged (Geneva being an exception) and the Frogs refuse to extradite him a) because he is French and the Frogs don't extradite their own citizens; and b) most European countries, including the UK and Sweden, do not extradite suspects to countries to face charges that could carry the death penalty.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Well, he lives in France, generally avoids travel to places where he could be extradited or charged (Geneva being an exception) and the Frogs refuse to extradite him a) because he is French and the Frogs don't extradite their own citizens; and b) most European countries, including the UK and Sweden, do not extradite suspects to countries to face charges that could carry the death penalty.

Unless they happened to be called talha ahsan or babar ahmed

One rule for polanski and one rule for assange

 

[Gabbar Singh]

A movie on Assange is to be released later this year. Although he isn't too pleased about it.

The Fifth Estate is a fictionalised account of the Wikileaks saga. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder who leaked confidential information on the US military's operations in Afghanistan and Iraq to newspapers including the Guardian, the New York Times and Der Spiegel. The film is partially based on Guardian writers David Leigh and Luke Harding's book WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy and has already been described by Assange as 'massive propaganda attack'. The Fifth Estate is released in the UK later this year

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/vide...benedict-cumberbatch-julian-assange-wikileaks

 

[Robert]

The UK is bound by EU law to hand him over to the Swedes, not the US.

 

[s28]

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-08-12/...to-be-dropped-as-time-to-prosecute-runs-out/?

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, could be cleared of three sex assault claims as the time limits for prosecution are set to expire while he remains in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Within the next week three of the four allegations made against him in 2010 will reach the five-year expiry date set out under the country's statute of limitations, the Swedish Prosecution Authority (SPA) confirmed.

A spokeswoman for the authority said one allegation of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion would expire on Thursday, while another of sexual molestation claim would expire on Tuesday 18 August.

But an allegation of rape will not expire until 2020, the spokeswoman added, meaning the legal impasse could remain.

 

[Robert]

These so-called "charges" were dropped by the Swedish authorities for lack of cause during their investigation to the girl's stories. Normally, for any one of us, that would be that. But another party pressured Sweden into re-opening the charges. That party is of course the USA.

If Assange goes to Sweden, then he will almost automatically find himself in US, possibly facing the death penalty. This is a political game. Sweden's rape case can be conducted via video link without Assange appearing there in person and that is exactly why he is in the Ecuadorian embassy.

It would be difficult for the US Justice Department to extradite Assange from Sweden.

- there is no US-UK and US-Sweden extradition treaty in place for spies, even if the US could demonstrate that Assange is a spy, however:
- Assange is not an American citizen
- He did not work for the US government
- he has no known links with governments hostile to the US
- US officials would have to prove that Assange intended harm to US citizens / national security

Even if extradited (which seems highly unlikely in law) Asange would have a strong case in a US court by claiming that he is a journalist and not an agent of a foreign power.

I suppose that the US military could try a black ops extraordinary rendition, but given that Assange has such a high profile that would seem diplomatically most unwise.

So IMO he should face his accusers in Sweden and try to clear his name. If he is innocent I think he has very little to fear.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Unless he's being stitched up.

 

[Robert]

Guess he'll have to stay in the embassy basement until the statue of limitations runs out, then.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I'm assuming that's why he's there in the first place.

 

[Robert]

I'm assuming that's why he's there in the first place.

But even when it does, the assumption by most people above is that he will be extradited to the USA anyway. Which I think I have demonstrated will not happen. So he might as well come out and face the Swedes.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

But even when it does, the assumption by most people above is that he will be extradited to the USA anyway. Which I think I have demonstrated will not happen. So he might as well come out and face the Swedes.

Unless he thinks the charges in Sweden are trumped up in the first place and he's going to get stitched up. We have no way of knowing this of course, I'm just speculating what his reasoning might be.

 

[s28]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Julian Assange says he will not 'forgive or forget' after Swedish prosecutors drop rape investigation <a href="https://t.co/SHzlKrS2eW">https://t.co/SHzlKrS2eW</a> <a href="https://t.co/D2gUKvbOSh">pic.twitter.com/D2gUKvbOSh</a></p>— ITV News (@itvnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/itvnews/status/865556018872295425">19 May 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Black Zero]

Most influential person in modern history.
States hate him and general public trust him.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

I wasn't always a fan of his but lately I have been - Assange, Snowden, Manning etc did us all a big favour.

 

[Gilly]

Most influential person in modern history.
States hate him and general public trust him.

Don't know much about overseas but in Australia Assange is not trusted at all, the general public distrust him. He has a very bad reputation as a leech who exploits his position.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Keep exposing them, Julian. Love this guy.

 

[Robert]

He still won't come out. I doubt that the Met will put an Officer at the door of the Embassy any more - waste of resources - but he will be arrested for bail-jumping if he tries to leave the UK from a port.

It will be interesting to see Trump reverse his position on Assange now he is President.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/aug/11/julian-assange-loses-court-battle-stop-us-expanding-extradition-appeal

The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, has lost a high court battle to prevent the US government expanding the grounds for its appeal against an earlier refusal to allow his extradition to face charges of espionage and hacking government computers.

On Wednesday, judges said the weight given to a misleading report from Assange’s psychiatric expert that was submitted at the original hearing in January could form part of Washington’s full appeal in October.

Sitting in London, Lord Justice Holroyde said he believed it was arguable that Judge Vanessa Baraitser had attached too much weight to the evidence of Prof Michael Kopelman when deciding not to allow the US’s appeal.

The expert had told the court he believed Assange would take his own life if extradited. But he did not include in his report the fact that Assange had fathered two children with his partner while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London – a fact Assange later used in support of his bail application.

Clair Dobbin QC, for the US, argued the expert misled Baraitser, who presided over the January hearing.

Edward Fitzgerald QC, representing Assange, told the court Baraitser, having heard all of the evidence in the case, was in the best position to assess it and reach her decision.

He said Kopelman’s report was given long before any court hearing and against a background of concern for the “human predicament” in which Assange’s partner, Stella Moris, found herself at the time.

Delivering the latest decision, Holroyde said it was “very unusual” for an appeal court to have to consider evidence from an expert that had been accepted by a lower court, but also found to have been misleading – even if the expert’s actions had been deemed an “understandable human response” designed to protect the privacy of Assange’s partner and children.

The judge said that, in those circumstances, it was “at least arguable” that Baraitser erred in basing her conclusions on the professor’s evidence.

“Given the importance to the administration of justice of a court being able to reply on the impartiality of an expert witness, it is in my view arguable that more detailed and critical consideration should have been given to why [the professor’s] ‘understandable human response’ gave rise to a misleading report.”

The US government had previously been allowed to appeal against Baraitser’s decision on three grounds – including that it was wrong in law. Assange’s legal team had described the grounds as “narrow” and “technical”. The two allowed on Wednesday were additional.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the US government argued Assange, 50, was not “so ill” that he would be unable to resist killing himself if extradited – challenging Baraitser’s ruling that the US authorities could not “prevent Assange from finding a way to commit suicide” if he was extradited.

Dobbin said the US government would seek to show that Assange’s mental health problems did not meet the threshold required in law to prevent extradition.

She told the court: “It really requires a mental illness of a type that the ability to resist suicide has been lost. Part of the appeal will be that Assange did not have a mental illness that came close to being of that nature and degree.”

Holroyde said he would not ordinarily have allowed this to form part of the appeal on its own merits alone. But he said it must be taken in the context of the broader grounds allowed and could be argued at the full hearing.

Assange appeared at the hearing via video link from Belmarsh prison, wearing a dark face covering and a white shirt, with what appeared to be an untied burgundy tie draped around his neck.

 

[MenInG]

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is to request leave from prison to attend the funeral of his friend Dame Vivienne Westwood, according to his wife.

Dame Vivienne, known as the Godmother of Punk, died aged 81 on Thursday surrounded by her family in south London, prompting Mr Assange to search for a way to say goodbye, despite being behind bars in London's Belmarsh prison as he fights extradition to the US.

SKY

 

[sweep_shot]

Assange is a great man.

I am a big fan of Wikileaks. Assange and Wikileaks really shed light on deep state corruption. Check those Podesta emails.

 

[Major]

Assange is a great man.

I am a big fan of Wikileaks. Assange and Wikileaks really shed light on deep state corruption. Check those Podesta emails.

true, and i agree, but tell me one thing

if someone from your country exposed your favourite leader by leaking state news would you call that person a trator or a great man?

 

[sweep_shot]

true, and i agree, but tell me one thing

if someone from your country exposed your favourite leader by leaking state news would you call that person a trator or a great man?

If the leader is corrupt, I do not mind if he gets exposed.

 

[Major]

If the leader is corrupt, I do not mind if he gets exposed.

If the leader is not financially corrupt, but violates the laws like spying on people, evs dropping and he is ur favourite leader. Than?

For example, you probably like erdogan, if we find out that erdogan spies on the citizens than would you support the whistle blower?

 

[sweep_shot]

If the leader is not financially corrupt, but violates the laws like spying on people, evs dropping and he is ur favourite leader. Than?

For example, you probably like erdogan, if we find out that erdogan spies on the citizens than would you support the whistle blower?

I support Erdogan and Imran Khan. Yes.

Regarding whether or not I would support whistleblower, it depends on what the whistleblower revealed.

What Assange did was a great service to people worldwide. He exposed the deep state and confirmed many of the suspicions. Check out those Podesta emails, for example.