Interpol Issues Wanted Notice For Julian Assange 1020
chrb writes "Interpol have issued a wanted notice for Julian Paul Assange for alleged sex crimes. The Guardian and Wired both have commentary."
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Interpol Issues Wanted Notice For Julian Assange
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Bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
This seems to be blatant character assassination and should be beneath an international political body.
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
There's a difference between not treating women with respect and raping them.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
There's a difference between not treating women with respect and raping them.
Apparently not in Sweden...
Re:Bullshit (Score:4, Informative)
In Sweden, it is considered rape if a woman asks a guy to stop, even if they have been rutting for twenty minutes and he's five seconds from orgasm.
When in a foreign country, you are responsible for following the laws there, no matter whether you believe they're fair or not.
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
That's quite incredible. I agree that, if a girl asks you to stop, even if you're five seconds from orgasm, you should stop, and you are an asshole if you continue anyway. However, equating this situation (you are already having consensual sex, and you just keep going a bit longer than she wants) to an actual rape (she really never wanted to have sex with you at all) is pushing politcal correctness a bit too far.
When a girl is actually raped (forced to have sex with someone she never wanted to have sex with in the first place), this can be an extremely traumatizing experience. Merely being forced to continue a sexual act you have already engaged in, is more on the level of "being forced to do something you do not want to do" without all the "oh my god he's touching my vagina" feelings associated with a real rape.
Both are bad, but I think it's quite obvious that a real rape is orders of magnitude more serious, and punishment should be adjusted accordingly.
Re: (Score:3)
Only in countries where the court system has deteriorated so much that "he said she said" is enough to make a rape case.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I would call it rape if she could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he kept going after she had said stop. That is almost never the case because people tend to prefer to have sex without witnesses - or at least one of the partners does, or they can't find willing witnesses - and I can't imagine any sort of physical evidence that could prove that particular accusation.
And that's the point, I call shenanigans whenever someone makes any accusation that they clearly haven't even bothered to think about how
Re: (Score:3)
If afterwards she decides she didn't want to and was coerced or pressured by word or deed, then it really is rape. This is especially true if alcohol was involved in the night. So be nice after sex.
No. No it is not.
Re:Bullshit (Score:4, Insightful)
As a man, if I was really drunk and had sex with someone and then in the morning was disgusted by the act could I then claim rape?
I fail to see the difference between that and your example using a woman.
Of course as a man I would be laughed out of court.
Also I find the implication that a drunk woman having sex is any different than a drunk man to be degrading to women. You are implying that women are weak and if they do something stupid they aren't able to take the responsibility for it.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Honestly, a good suggestion is that if you don't want to be treated like trash, perhaps you ought not to act like trash.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Bullshit (Score:4, Informative)
My guess is the former and watch as he might mysterisouly be transferred to the US to be tried for American crimes on disclosing secrets.
Put the tinfoil hat away. Nobody has ever been successfully prosecuted in the United States for publishing secret material. The number of such prosecutions can be counted on two hands. All the case law on the matter comes down AGAINST being able to prosecute the publisher of such information.
The crime was committed when the information was leaked by someone with a duty to keep it secret, not when a third party published said information. This doesn't make Mr. Assange any less of an asshat but I would not be overly worried about an American criminal prosecution for his activities.
HA! (Score:4, Interesting)
Spreading rumors of sexual crime (predator, pedo, deviancy, etc.) is standard policy against street people and homeless people. Any question about a new homeless person, asked of any ten other homeless people, will usually attract one to four respondants,"Don't know who that person is. I heard they might be a sex offender. $So_and_so said they heard that there are some new pedophiles around." It is nearly standard policy to run the pedo/predator line against any new people on the street and, if they so much as bat an eye, run them down with it.
Julian Assange is free to have a beer with me on the sidewalk any day! I'll even buy.
Re:HA! (Score:4, Insightful)
And in today's world, "yes" means "sure, but I might change my mind later and there's fuck all you can do about it!"
Re:HA! (Score:5, Funny)
That's why I videotape all my random sexual encounters.
Re:HA! (Score:5, Informative)
The incidents *supposedly* occurred in August. But the women in question didn't turn up at the police station until a week after he released his first batch of Iraq War leaks. I'm sure the timing was just a coincidence, of course.
Re:OTOH (Score:5, Informative)
if the police strongly suspect a person is guilty of a crime but are unable to prove it, it's ok for them to go searching for something else to convict that person of instead?
That's a rather humorous misunderstanding of what I said, and how Capone's conviction took place.
It's more like they tried to collect evidence to convict him on murder and bootlegging charges, and when they looked at the evidence they'd collected realized that they could prove tax evasion.
It's not as if they said 'Well, we have no evidence for murder, start looking for the next thing on the list, we'll get him eventually.' Tax evasion came up after they'd already collected the evidence that proved he was guilty of tax evasion in the course of their existing investigation.
This is standard operating procedure for police organizations and prosecuting attorneys throughout the US. "What can we prove with the evidence we have?" So long as the evidence is collected legally (warrants and such), what is wrong with this? They weren't trolling random citizens for evidence of crimes, they found evidence of other crimes committed by someone they already had good reason to investigate.
Which means that if the police set their minds to it, they could convict anyone they wanted.
This is already a fact of reality. What stops it from happening is that they generally have to have a reason to carry out the initial investigation (see 4th amendment).
It's the other way around actually.. (Score:5, Informative)
In a statement earlier this month, Assange’s British counsel said that his client repeatedly offered to cooperate with local investigators while he was in Sweden, and has offered to answer questions remotely from Britain since then.
“All of these offers have been flatly refused by a prosecutor who is abusing her powers by insisting that he return to Sweden at his own expense to be subjected to another media circus that she will orchestrate,” wrote attorney Mark Stephens. “Pursuing a warrant in this circumstance is entirely unnecessary and disproportionate.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it's not unreasonable. They turned down doing an interview by video camera, because if the questioning should warrant an arrest, there would no way to arrest him over video conferencing. This is entirely reasonable.
As for why he's wanted, the two women in question seem to have no connections to those who oppose Wikileaks -- at least one of them is associated with a group that's highly critical of the US, and the other is or was part of the Swedish Wikileaks support organization (and is definitely not
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it's not unreasonable. They turned down doing an interview by video camera, because if the questioning should warrant an arrest, there would no way to arrest him over video conferencing. This is entirely reasonable.
In civilized societies there is a right against self-incrimination, and a right not to answer any questions that could lead to self incrimination.
If they want to question him, a video conference should be fine. It is sufficient to question him, which he has no obligation to assist with a
Re:It's the other way around actually.. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It's the other way around actually.. (Score:4, Funny)
He was in Sweden, not America. But he'll be in a little vacation spot in Cuba soon...
And when that occurs, and the leaks keep on coming, who's next. I believe there are more people involved than anyone thinks.
Look at any news article and you will see: Source requests not to be named since not authorized to comment. And yet, a comment. This whole affair is a misdirection to keep us from the Kardashians.
Re:It's the other way around actually.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Are you kidding me? One of them is a right-wing feminist (yeah, weird) who has been outspoken about how woman should use rape accusations to destroy man.
This is the US trying to bring him down with its usual tactics. Next is a bullet in the head, like they used to do in the good old days before the media become their best weapon.
Re:It's the other way around actually.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Are you kidding me? One of them is a right-wing feminist (yeah, weird) who has been outspoken about how woman should use rape accusations to destroy man.
Unless you have a source, you should not post unverified information like that.
Here you have her seven step model for legal revenge [google.com] blog post, translated from Swedish by Google Translate. She deleted it when the media circus started but because there were so many ways to find it anyway (Google cache, way back machine, cached RSS-feeds etc) she "undeleted" the post after a while.
Re:It's the other way around actually.. (Score:4, Insightful)
A few things you're missing (or ignoring) here...
First, swedish police had lots of opportunities and offers to interview him while he was still in Sweden. For some reason they didn't do it, probably mostly cause the accusations were vapid.
Second, what he is under investigation of is not 'rape' and is very unlikely to give any prison time at all even if convicted afaik. Well, that is unless they want to throw the book at him to cause as much damage as possible instead of giving out blind justice.
Not unreasonable? Depends on what you really are after.
Re:It's the other way around actually.. (Score:4, Insightful)
But if the accusations should turn out to be correct, and the leaks also correct, it doesn't appear to be rape as in forcing the women to have sex, but turning consensual sex into a "rougher" and "degrading" sex.
So, lets say this is worse case scenario and he had rough sex with a girl - where the fuck is the crime there? Is doggy style going to be criminalized next? What about anal, is that still cool or do we need to revive the anti-sodomy laws?
Nothing screams "bullshit charge" than trying to arrest someone for having rough sex.
Exactly (Score:5, Insightful)
He was in Sweden and prosecution waited until he left Sweden to start making demands. Probably specifically to get Interpol involved and limit his movements. You knew this guy was going to get nailed for what he was doing. This is the beginning. Paint him as a child molester because nobody feels bad for one of those. A classic first step. Limit his movements, deny him places to be. Eventually he'll wind up somewhere with an extradition treaty and that will be that.
Also, if there are any Interpol people who happen to read this - I know of an actual child molester you could go pick up pretty easy if this is the sort of thing that actually interests you. [wikipedia.org]
No? Not interested? Hypocrisy. Imagine that.
Re: (Score:3)
Would you talk to the police if you were being character assassinated? If they are willing to do it in the first place, they are willing to find holes in your story and later produce fake evidence. Not saying he is innocent, but if he is, I can't blame him.
Re:Bullshit (Score:4, Insightful)
Better in Swedish prison than just disapear. This asshat has pissed off just about every country in the world,
Its not Asshat, its Assange. Actually, I don't want to make fun of someone who I think is a hero. He seems like a level headed guy and it takes a lot of bravery to do what he does. Its not like he's a guy with nothing to lose. As Wikipedia quotes him: "the more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie". Obviously this is the case as there seems to be a bigger panic by this by our government and others.
This sex charge is obviously a low blow smear campaign against him, but the thing is. What does it matter, its not like public opinions are going to make the facts private again. Sure, your grandma won't read them, but she probably wouldn't anyways. But at least with the documents more in the public eye they can be scrutinized.
Re:Bullshit (Score:4, Insightful)
It's interesting how much you know about a person you never met.
If the "news" about various figures certain governments don't like told me one thing it is not to listen to the "expert witnesses" and "friends and family" testimonials. As soon as a person is to be demonized, you may rest assured that whatever has ever been said about him will be twisted around.
What did his friend exactly say? He's paranoid and borderline insane? Did he say that? Or was it something like "Well, recently, he's become more and more cautious, and I guess he feels like he stepped on too many toes and now someone's out to get back at him"? Because that can easily be retexted into "friend thinks he's paranoid", it fits the description of paranoid quite well. But it also makes sense that he feels like this because it is most likely even true to some degree.
So, if anything, I want to hear the interview first. I want to know just WHAT his friend really said. After that I want to know whether he really is (still) his friend or whether he still was at the time of the interview.
Too much bull has been flying around lately and we all too readily sucked it up. Once such bull even led us into a war. Remember? Iraq? Why did we go there again? Right, WMDs. Were they there? Not really. Who said they were there? Ayad Allawi. Who was that? Former buddy of Saddam who was kicked out 'cause Saddam didn't like him anymore. What became of him? He became Prime Minister of Iraq after we hung Saddam.
Am I the only one who can spot a rather big interest in telling us bull so we kick Saddam out of office? And am I the only one who thinks that (former) buddies of someone are not really the most reliable source of information, even if interpreted correctly?
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Informative)
Actually in the latest round of releases he did exactly that. He and the newspapers asked the US government what names they needed protected, and those names were blacked out. Even the newspapers have reported that some names were blacked out to protect them. So please stop spreading false information.
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
he doesn't directly editorialise
Sure, "Collateral Murder" is a nice, neutral name.
Re: Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, "Collateral Murder" is a nice, neutral name.
Yeah, it should have just been "murder".
How would you feel if some other country was killing your relatives and neighbors, for any reason whatsoever?
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
We can't really hate them for bowing to pressure from the most powerful country in the world.
What a fascinating case this whole Wikileaks thing has become. While the leaks themselves have really been a lot more heat than light, the most interesting thing about this has been the repercussions around the world. The same way a bat squeaks and then gets a picture of the shape and size of his cave by the echoes, the perturbations created by the Wikileaks announcement (even moreso than the leaks themselves) is really giving us a picture of world, where the power lies, and who dances to whose tune.
It's going to be even more interesting when Wikileaks starts releasing corporate leaks. If it serves to enlighten people that corporations have become the de facto world government for at least the last twenty years, then the leaks will have been the most important journalistic product in my lifetime. If they help people understand that we are living in a post-government, post-sovereignty world where the corporation is the only meaningful power (and help people act accordingly) then 20 years from now, we will look back at Wikileaks as the most important development in the history of the Internet.
Or, we'll look back as Wikileaks being the end of the Internet.
By the way, does Wikileaks change anybody's mind on the importance of Net Neutrality? Does anyone think that Wikileaks would ever exist in AT&T's Internet? Or in Apple's Internet? Or in Comcast's Internet? The jury is still out on Google, but I don't see any of the big companies that are opposed to net neutrality really having room for Wikileaks in their universe. Anyway, interesting times...
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Funny)
We can't really hate them for bowing to pressure from the most powerful country in the world.
China is involved now?
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Interesting)
How do you feel about Hillary Clinton ordering illegal spying on the Secretary General of the United Nations?
"Sex crimes" (Score:5, Informative)
Just in case some reads the comments and not the article..
The women themselves said they were not afraid of him, and he did not force them.
Re:"Sex crimes" (Score:5, Funny)
Re:"Sex crimes" (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
That's interesting. Previous reports claimed he didn't use a condom at all.
Re:"Sex crimes" (Score:5, Funny)
You could say she was afraid of his wiki leaking.
Re:"Sex crimes" (Score:5, Interesting)
One woman said Assange ignored her appeals to stop when the condom broke.
I'd like to hear a better explanation for that one. Maybe all the girls I've been with have been completely out of touch with their bodies, but there is no way any of them could tell if the condom broke until afterwards.
Re:"Sex crimes" (Score:5, Insightful)
I HATE Conspiracy theories, but this is just a little to ridiculous for even me to fall for.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Wow. Just wow. That's one of the worst things I've ever heard. How can you you live with yourself? I mean, you seriously let women talk during sex?!
Re:"Sex crimes" (Score:5, Insightful)
Well for one thing, when one considers some recent judgments relating to copyright law in Sweden they can have the impression that it has become the lap dog of the United States.
Assange seems entirely willing to be interviewed, just not in person for fear of getting a bullet in the head on his way to the courthouse.
The funny thing is how the U.S. and other countries think smearing Assange like this is going to do anything other than make him out to be a martyr... he'll be replaced just as quickly as he disappears.
Re:Sorry but that is BS (Score:4, Insightful)
That was before he released the volume of data that has been released this year and PO'd said governments to the degree he has now. You think for a second that if the US was willing to take out Saddam for never found WMDs over something that started in Afghanistan costing more lives on both sides than lost on 9/11, they wouldn't be willing to take out this blond guy that exposes their misdeeds? So, the question is, are you gullible, or astro-turfing, or both?
I'm realistic (Score:3, Insightful)
I've seen shit like, say, Russia killing a former spy who was not at all in the public eye. If the government wanted to kill him, they'd do it. This "Oh but they'd get me while walking to the courthouse, but not while I'm attending TED," is rather stupid.
Re:"Sex crimes" (Score:5, Informative)
make him out to be a martyr... he'll be replaced just as quickly as he disappears.
What makes you so sure about that? I bet once Assange goes down, WikiLeaks follows soon after. There are not very many people with the financial means to stay on the run all the time. Among those who do exist, how many of them want to compromise their comfy lifestyle by pissing off powerful interests?
Assange is not some drug dealer pushing crack on the corner. He is not some kid swapping pirated movies and music. There are not legions of people doing what he does who will just step up and keep it going if he disappears.
Assange alone is not Wikileaks. As I've already said it's run by a council of 5 anonymous people (who we can safely assume Assange is a member, along with his spokesperson duties) and nearly a thousand volunteers. If he disappeared, died, etc. there's other people to continue the mission.
What the fuck? (Score:4, Insightful)
Why is this story filled with assinine comments like this?
Did you miss the part where Assange offered, through his lawyer, several times, to be interviewed by these prosecutors before he had left Sweden? And they weren't interested?
There's no reason for them to go after him now, other than this:
Wikileaks is releasing lots of shit that makes governments around the world look bad, and they apparently feel the need to DISTRACT PEOPLE with these trumped-up "sex" crime accusations, and try to smear Assange any way they can.
Re:What the fuck? (Score:5, Informative)
Or him leaving the country after having been told to keep in contact with the Swedish authorities?
The prosecutor told Assange's lawyer that there was no warrant for Assange's arrest, and that he was free to leave the country without questioning. Assange did nothing wrong in this regard.
Re:What the fuck? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yea, convenient that in the middle of all of this data being released, they want to limit a man that travels extensively to do what he does to one country.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You're the head of an organization which has managed to seriously piss off a few dozen countries. You have personally read and dealt with many documents which indicate that the countries you have angered routinely ignore their own rules when it suits their national interests. You are now being asked to place yourself in the custody of a country which has t
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
well in the world I've you really don't get to dictate the terms of your questioning with the police.
He is no longer located in Sweden. He left the country after being told he was free to go. Would you voluntarily travel to another country that had some interest in arresting you? Let's say you were accused by Chinese authorities of helping dissidents in Tibet. Would you travel to China and hand yourself over? Does agreeing to be interviewed in the headquarters of the largest police force in the UK not seem reasonable? London is not a renegade state, and Assange is not a fugitive from justice.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, I'm much more interested what's going on behind closed doors in banks, financial institutes, Swedish courthouses and parliaments, than this guy's sex life. You've bought the "government" diversion hook, line and sinker my friend.
Who's watching the watchers? Swedish surveillance on Skandinavian citizens' internet activity, how much money did this require? How much access do politicians have to USA and EU spy datacenters?
Enquiring minds wants to know..
Awesome! (Score:5, Insightful)
If you can have sex with two women who will later regret it, can I kill a few hundred thousand Muslims and take a big hairy shit on the Constitution and International Law? Awesome!
Oh, wait, those two things are probably not on par, are they? Tell you what... I'll throw in the complete destruction of your civil liberties, and you can have some self righteous celebrity gossip egged on by the establishment.
It's a deal? Awesome!
Out of curiousity... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:5, Insightful)
You can tell from the progress against human trafficking ... rare to never.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:5, Interesting)
focuses primarily on public safety, terrorism, organized crime, crimes against humanity, environmental crime, genocide, war crimes, piracy, illicit drug production, drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, child pornography, white-collar crime, computer crime, intellectual property crime and corruption.
Seems a little below their level, unless it falls under public safety or crimes against humanity?
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:5, Interesting)
The scope / context of the crime is different. If you read the list again, you will realize that all of those crimes involve large numbers of victims. They are also large scale crimes that have a lot of moving parts and are multi-faceted.
While rape is a serious crime, it is not something that falls within the scope of Interpol's jurisdiction.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:4, Insightful)
Which is why there's not an Interpol arrest record for him either, but a request for apprehension and extradition. Along with thousands of other suspects and witnesses.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:5, Informative)
Good question. The whole situation is very unusual. Even if you assume that Assange did suddenly decide, during consensual sex, to carry out a non-consensual act, the issue of prosecution is on shaky ground. The vast majority of rape accusations never make it to court, and the vast majority of those are found "not guilty" (the figure is something like 95% of accused either do not get to court, or walk away free). For a successful prosecution there has to be more evidence than "she says she didn't consent, he says she did". The whole legal issue of being able to predicate consent and retroactively withdraw consent (e.g. consent based on unstated predicate of shared ethnicity [guardian.co.uk]) is fraught with difficulties for a successful prosecution. For a prosecutor to pursue a case, based only on the allegation, is unusual enough. For a prosecutor to issue a request for Interpol intervention, with a view to extraditing a foreigner from a 3rd party country, is highly unusual. For a prosecutor to do this, after the Chief Prosecutor has already stated that the alleged suspect is "no longer wanted" and "is not suspected of rape" and is free to leave the country, is very odd indeed.
Note also that the Interpol notice is apparently not an international arrest warrant - it is just a request for information: "The Interpol notice is not an international arrest warrant but the public is asked to contact police with any information about Mr Assange's whereabouts." [bbc.co.uk]. Putting out such a notice is bizarre, given that the Prosecutor is in contact with Assange's legal counsel in London, and that Assange has agreed to meet at either the Swedish Embassy or Scotland Yard. The prosecutor wants "more information" about him, but is already in contact, and can arrange a meeting in person or via video conference at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London, but instead chooses the Interpol route? This is not normal for a sex crimes case with only alleged victim testimony and no other evidence. If you or I had unprotected sex with a girl, and she subsequently said her consent had been predicated on use of a condom, the case would never go to court. Certainly it would never become an international police issue. There is the issue of there maybe being two alleged victims, but apparently only one actually complained to the police? I guess we will find out what really happened - if the case ever makes it to court.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
As an aside, I find it amusing that Interpol don't have a photo of Assange [google.com] for the Wanted Notice. I can't turn on the news without seeing his face, but they list his image as "Not Available".
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Look up the local rape/crime statistics in your neighborhood. How much of those investigations do you think lead to a SUSPECT that has left the area? How many do you see on the FBI or Interpol wanted list? How many SUSPECTS do you see on the local wanted list at your police office? Unless you killed somebody or a suspected serial rapist you simply don't end up on those lists.
I applaud Assange (Score:5, Insightful)
One thing I respect that dude for, is his ambition. Not even the 'strongest' nation on earth could derail him. Think about that for a second.
A quote I remember in one interview he had with the BBC...
"I get personal satisfaction when I expose what governments have denied the citizens they represent and will continue to do so till the very end."
This dude is one hell of a dude. I wonder what governments really fear if all they are doing is 'doing good' as they say.
One thing for sure: We now know what many governments were thinking despite the public rhetoric. I personally cannot wait for the financial documents to be exposed. My hunch...BoA.
Re:I applaud Assange (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I applaud Assange (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
could be dangerous (Score:5, Interesting)
This is scary (Score:4, Informative)
Got modded Troll for saying this which I'm not sure why.
Anyway I think the chances of these accusations against Assange being completely unrelated to the leak and the timing being coincidental are pretty slim. It's kinda obvious that higher powers have targetted him. It's even more scary because it seems that these days the easiest way to hurt someone is by accusations of sexual assault. Who would dare hint that it might be untrue? I mean even on Slashdot one gets modded down -1 as Troll for raising this option...
Here's a quote from the article:
According to local news reports, the women told investigators the sexual encounters began as consensual, but turned non-consensual. One woman said Assange ignored her appeals to stop when the condom broke.
I don't understand - the condom broke in the middle so she asked him to stop, he didn't - and that's rape?
Re:This is scary (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes. If anyone in the middle of sexual intercourse says stop, you have to stop. If you choose to disregard this direct request, it's rape or at the very least sexual assault - no matter what point during intercourse it happens.
Anyway, I have no clue whether these things happened or not, all I know is that Assange is in a world of trouble regardless. He has chosen one dangerous road.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Unless they agree before hand that no means yes.
Re:This is scary (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course it's rape; is that a serious question?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Key to his insurance? (Score:3, Informative)
Sweden (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, that answers the question of Sweden being the US stooge.
I was gonna write "our stooge", but I'm ambivalent on this one, as I am ambivalent about the disclosure of secret diplomatic cables.
Assange might be an asshole, but I want this guy protected.
I wonder if it was the bankers? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's one thing to poke at governments. No one is ever happy with their government. In fact, it's pretty standard to have something bad to say about government and it all gets washed away and forgotten in a short time because there's always a fresh new stink pile being created to distract us from the previous stink pile we all got pissed off about. It's almost fun at times. But when Wikileaks says it is releasing secret data from banks? Well, THOSE are the people who run this planet. There are no election turn-overs or parties to choose from. It's just a bunch of men in dark suits controlling the money supply for the whole world. I think it's about time Assange seeks asylum in China. The bankers are a LOT more serious than governments and politics.
Sex Crimes? (Lame) (Score:3, Insightful)
He should hide out in Brazil (Score:4, Informative)
How about Switzerland (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe he should move to Switzerland. If the example set by Roman Polanski.is anything to go by, the country's a haven for accused sex offenders.
We're old hands at this shit... (Score:3, Informative)
We're old hands at this shit. Last I checked, the US was on pretty good terms with Sweden, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_Sex_scandals_of_the_United_States [wikipedia.org]
Julian Paul Assange (Score:5, Funny)
is an anagram for
Iguanas Anal Juleps
and
Japans Sealing Luau
Which means a couple of things: the Japanese need to learn that the harming of marine wildlife is NOT a party. And iguanas should not be given anything rectally. But most importantly, the anagrams show that Julian Paul Assange is obviously a CIA agent.
I expect more of /. :( (Score:5, Informative)
I've read through all of the comments on here, and I'm really sad. I don't visit here for up to date news, I can get that elsewhere; I come here for the discussions. But so many of the commenters here are scarily uninformed. And where they're not informed, many of them seem poisoned.
This is a geek site - we're supposed to be able to view information objectively and without being tainted by unrelated information. This reads more like a political forum :(
Firstly, these accusations stem from months ago, so this has nothing to do with the most leak. Sweden have been pursuing the interviews and warrants for a number of weeks now.
Secondly, what's with all of the conspiracy nuts here ? Why is everyone second guessing his reasons for not wanting to go in and talk to the police ?
He offered to go in repeatedly when he was still in the country. When his residence claim was denied, he asked if there was any reason he had to stay in the country and he was told that he was free to leave. So he did. Now he's in another country, and he's _still_ offering to talk to them but he's not prepared to schlepp back there - that's not unreasonable, is it?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Fabricating a sexual assault case is a whole lot harder than a bunch of much more effective ways to make him go away forever. People get killed in automobile accidents all the damn time.
Re:scary (Score:4, Insightful)
If he suddenly dropped off the face of the earth it would just create a martyr out of him, something you cant fight. If he gets smeared into oblivion as a sick pervo that doesn't care about anyone else but himself its much less risky
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If he suddenly dropped off the face of the earth it would just create a martyr out of him
You mean except for the fact that especially in the US that most people despise him and Wikileaks and would be happy if he was killed?
Re:scary (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, if I were him I'd avoid going anywhere right now. Homes aren't safe either, but they beat traveling. In fact, he probably is doing exactly that, considering he's cautious bordering on paranoid.
Still, even if it were easier to murder Assange than to make charges stick, it would very much add to Wikileaks' credibility, moral high ground and popularity. Assange is already a popular hero; making him a martyr as well would be a stupid move.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
You mean like the New York DA who was going after all those politicians for going out with hookers and was caught himself paying for hookers? Or the "family values" politicians who are caught cheating on their wives, caught with gay lovers, etc? Yeah, if we ignore all of this what you said might actually be true.
On the contrary (Score:3)
Often you find people who scream the loudest about something are themselves one who do not do as they say. Look at the crazy evangelical preachers that hate on gays, and then turn out to be gay. Hell Ted Haggard called down fire and brimstone on gays and then went to fundie camp to get cured of t3h gay... Twice (really says how well that works). Elliot Spitzer ran on a platform of no corruption, anti-prostitution and so on and then got caught spending public money on $3000 hookers.
That Assanage loves to spi
Re:Legit? (Score:5, Insightful)
If he wanted a long, heathy and happy life, he could've remained in obscurity like all of us. I doubt that's his goal.
There's a lot of ways to look at these leaks, and one of them is a wake up call to the people of the world of what goes on and how things are run (it's a lot more "high school" than I ever would have guessed).
Things need to change.
Re:Legit? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
He has invited the various governments to give file numbers that could potentially put people at risk and they've flat out refused. So far, I haven't seen a single part of the leak that puts anyone in danger. It names names, but they are generally all high up government types, not anyone on the front lines or whatever.
Re:Where are the espionage charges? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Where are the espionage charges? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's time for the gloves to come off... These people don't care how many people die as a result of their rampages.
Soldiers kill thousands of innocent civilians and you say "oh, it doesn't matter, it's just collateral damage". An organisation leaks some heavily redacted information, putting maybe a handful of informants in possible danger (although no deaths have been attributed), and suddenly you care about responsibility towards human life?!?
Re:Julian Paul Assange = founder of WikiLeaks (Score:4, Funny)
What's love got to do with it?
Re:Julian Paul Assange = founder of WikiLeaks (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, I bet Julian Assange fully expects to be martyred "for the cause" at some point. He probably has some interesting "dead man's switch" set up to do something amusing after he goes... if it could make some point about how the world isn't ready for transparency then so much the better.
If these things don't go through WikiLeaks, they'd just go through something else. Hey, maybe his dead man's switch unleashes some sort of decentralized P2P leak site :P
Re:Julian Paul Assange = founder of WikiLeaks (Score:5, Funny)
$20. Unless you want something unusual.
He's convenient now, an Enemy (Score:5, Insightful)
Naw, this is blown out of proportion. He might disappear though, to be on the safe side. It's rather ridiculous, like a book, like "1984" by George Orwell, or something like that, but there you have it.
In 20 years, we will hear he's died from natural causes and went mad in the last years, like Fischer.
In the meanwhile, he can serve as our society's Enemy. It's convenient for authorities to create such Enemies, like Obama Bin Laden. They don't really exist, because in reality they are not that powerful as our Overlords, but they're very convenient for them to divert our attention to something that is not really important.
Oh look, someone's alleged of sex-abuse. They've not charged him, since both the girls rather enjoyed it, but they still wanna question him, just not when he agrees to it.
Something is very very rotten here..
Re: Trust Interpol (Score:5, Informative)
Remember the start of dear old Interpol. It was founded as an organized escape aid for upper echelon Nazis during WWII.
In 1923. Learn to causality.