Julian Assange May Surrender To British Police On Friday (twitter.com) 327
bestweasel writes: As reported by The Guardian and others, Julian Assange has announced via Wikileaks that: "Should the UN announce tomorrow that I have lost my case against the United Kingdom and Sweden, I shall exit the embassy at noon on Friday to accept arrest by British police as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal. ... However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me."
Assange went about this all wrong. (Score:5, Funny)
1) Claim asylum in Russia.
2) Menage a trois with Snowden and his lover.
3) Pressure from conservative Russians to have them imprisoned for being bum-boys.
4) Putin knows they're too good a fuck-you to the West to bring to harm.
5) Putin, bareback, rides horse, bareback, into Snowden+Assange love shack, figuring that if you can't beat 'em, beat 'em off.
6) Homosexuality in Russia decriminalised.
7) Oligarchs no longer have blackmailable closet secrets on Putin, so he purges them and renationalises the commanding heights of the economy.
8) Putin is more popular than ever.
9) Putin renationalises everything else and rebuilds Soviet command structures.
10) Finland figures it won't get lucky a second time and finally applies to join NATO.
11) Putin pre-emptively overruns Finland and founds a new Union of Soviert Socialist Republics comprising Russia and Finland.
12) Stallman is invited to visit Putin, who is keen to implement a single People's Licence for all Soviet intellectual property, and ends up choosing GPL 3.0. Putin makes Stallman an honorary Russian bear, sealing the deal in his Kremlin bedroom.
13) Torvalds is kidnapped and repatriated to Finland, where he is forced to direct a Russian musical based on Stallman's "The Free Software Song".
Eh my cat's just jumped on my lap I'm tired now.
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42) Assange gets a brand new bullet opening his third eye as soon as his head gets out of the embassy.
Easy!
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42) Assange gets a brand new bullet opening his third eye as soon as his head gets out of the embassy.
I've just realized I honestly don't trust my government not to do that. There was a time I did. I've just seen too many cases of government officials feeling (or actually being) unconstrained by the Constitution and rule of law to believe that they won't disappear/torture/kill Assange. That's depressing, actually.
Really? That's All It Takes? (Score:2)
And also, "You guys might want to think about, ah... febreezing that embassy of yours there... it smells like moldy pizza and... Assange crotch."
Shooting the messenger. (Score:2, Interesting)
Actually, I don't think they will shoot Assange immediately. I think he will disappear into a black hole of some sort, unless they can use him for a show trial a la Stalin. Doesn't even matter anymore what he did. What matters is putting the fear of gawd into anyone else who is thinking of doing something that causes similar embarrassment to sufficiently rich and powerful people.
As regards the comments here, I'm not at all surprised to see the attacks on Assange. I just wonder why are they such big fans of
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I think he will disappear into a black hole of some sort
Not sure thats possible with the story all over the Internet.
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Want to wager on it? We need some metric of disappearance, but I think it is absolutely safe to say the story will not last as long as Snowden's.
As regards the anonymous and spineless fascist who gave my comment the overrated mod: You're supposed to wait for it to get a mod point. You're only showing your willingness to abuse the rules, such as they are.
The troll question is actually related to this topic via their abuse of anonymity, but it is again philosophically complicated. I think "troll" is actually
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Why did this part of that last reply trigger the so-called lameness filter:
Now about that meta-modding thing. Years since I had noticed it, and it's just as stupid as it ever was. To evaluate the moderation of a comment, to form ANY meaningful opinion about the moderation, I need CONTEXT. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I don't feel like searching in other tabs to see the rest of the thread and the moderation itself is worth the effort, and without the effort, any meta-moderation is worthless. I should have looked for that in the recent discussion of slashdot's future... Make that "possible future".
Now that is truly bizarre. I cut and pasted the last bit into this new comment so I could figure out which word or words were problematic, but in isolation, there is apparently no problem. I think that is sufficient evidence of the importance of context, eh?
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Actually, I think that is one of the reasons he tries so hard to stay in the media spotlight, the other being his ego, is that he knows that he can be "disappeared" as soon as the cameras are off.
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Well, we know that GCHQ has a large programme dedicated to altering public opinion on the internet, and has targeted Slashdot in the past with both shills and malware. Thanks to Snowden's leaks we have documentary evidence that they were serving people Slashdot pages laced with custom malware.
So when there are stories about Assange and Snowden, I tend to assume many of the accounts that come out of the woodwork to comment are just GCHQ shills trying to screw with us.
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Assange's revelations embarrassed the US government and the US military, not "rich people". And you're right: the purpose of a trial and conviction is to act as a deterrent.
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You give it to someone who might cause a lot of trouble to encourage them to take another path.
So what do you do when you give it to someone [wikipedia.org] who wasn't supposed to cause a lot of trouble but did [nationalreview.com]?
Breaking - "UN panel 'rules in Assange's favour'" (Score:5, Informative)
On the BBC just now: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35490910
He probably had someone "leak" that result prior to his "I'll give myself up on Friday", offer.
As if the UN can change anything...
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It's changed one thing: the fact that he said he'll leave the embassy if they rule against him.
Of course, if Assange is known for anything these past few years it's "keep the focus on me" stunts. Remember the time when he said he'd be leaving the embassy "very soon"? Held a press conference and everything.
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Prison vs. embassy (Score:2)
- In a prison he will have to eat a food and medications which are given to him. So there could be significant personality changes for a ridiculisation.
+ In the embassy he has got the Internet access.
- No outdoors walks whatsoever in the embassy. And it is very hard.
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The prosecutor's office has already announced that there will be no restrictions on his internet access - there's actually a court ruling on that. That's only for people accused of computer crimes who are deemed a high risk of conducting more from prison, and people who are deemed likely to try to interfere with cases against others from within prison.
UN rules in Assange's favor (Score:5, Informative)
Don't expect the authorities to give him back his passport any time ever.
http://www.reuters.com/article... [reuters.com]
E
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He is Australian. As such, he has no automatic right to enter any other country than Australia.
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Maybe. This will be a demonstration of just how much of a US sock puppet Australia really is.
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I know, replying to an AC, but your comment is just a little strange.
I don't understand why you would say "he was the darling of the establishment". Is that because the leaks embarrassed the US or UK governments so much that they loved him? Or do you have some pet definition for "the establishment"?
On the other hand, "he's just an arrogant little toerag" seems about spot on. If there really is a US-backed conspiracy to disappear him that is pretty bad, but Assange's mental and emotional stability seem to ce
Loksins (Score:2)
Thank YHVH that this expensive ego-driven sideshow will (theoretically) be ending. :P
All My Best Wishes (Score:2)
Do not Surrender- Please (Score:2)
One Final Option (Score:2)
A giant all-night Assange look-alike rave at the embassy.
Thousands of Assanges.
Watching ... (Score:2)
Don't Forget (Score:2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0
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Link [youtube.com]
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So if he gets off, gets his passport back, then what?
Well, we know where he advised Edward Snowden that was safe from CIA black ops, and it's not Equador.
I'm betting Assange has spent some of the last few years learning Russian.
What has the world come to?
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Everyone needs a hobby. Why shouldn't he learn a foreign language in his spare time...
Except that ASCII Slashdot doesn't support Cyrillic.
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PECTOPAH "MOPKOBKA". CEKC HA 3ABTPAK.
See, you can work with what you have.
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Translation: Morkobka restaurant. Sex and Breakfast.
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Re: should be interesting (Score:2, Insightful)
Who's a spy for which enemy exactly? The only enemy here are western governments, including the US, who will engage in any activity at all to promote their multinational corporations, protect their overseas assets at taxpayer expense, and suppress by any means necessary anybody who tries to tell the truth about that, especially when they have proof.
The US has always had a problem with being full of idiots who think their country can do no wrong anywhere. A disturbing number of our population (radical cons
Re:should be interesting (Score:5, Informative)
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And "the right thing" is to arrest Assange for jumping bail and haul him back in front of the court. The whole point is that he is *not* currently in detention (and so of course isn't being detained illegally) when he should be.
Re:should be interesting (Score:5, Funny)
So if he gets off, ...
Wasn't that what got him into this mess to start with?
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And if they rule otherwise .. who cares. The UN has as much legal jurisdiction in this matter as the members of slashdot do.
Julian .. try personal responsibility and accept the consequences of your actions. Stop acting like you are any different than thousands of others that get accused of things. You don't deserve an of this attention, your 15 minutes of fame are over.
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The best punishment for him, would be the fact that these evil governments really just don't care about his involvement in wiki-leaks. He is let out, he goes to sweden gets tried fairly for his charge.
Re: should be interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
Officer: Sir, your car tyre is over the line meaning that you have parked illegally. You will now be transferred to Guantanamo Bay for 12 years of interrogation and torture. We take parking tickets very seriously around here.
Re:should be interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe he shouldn't have legal issues? Just keep his head down?
That's a fantastic idea! No one should ever make waves, or make things uncomfortable for The Powers That Be(tm)!
Everybody wins! [If they happen to be one of The Powers That Be(tm); otherwise they lose...]
While we are at it, let's put the final nails in the coffin of all investigative, yet inconvenient, reporting!
Also: I want a pony...
Re:should be interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
I don'; know about not leaking, but not having sex with woman you have to [alternet.org] start "holding her arms and bending her legs open and trying to penetrate her" would be a pretty good start at avoiding legal problems.
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There are all sorts of ways in which people can "make things uncomfortable for The Powers That Be". Assange has chosen to leak secret documents. I'm glad the information came out. But that doesn't mean that what he did should be without consequences. Furthermore, Assange's activities seem to have been motivated in significant part by vindictiveness and a desire for notoriety and exposure, not a
Re:should be interesting (Score:4, Insightful)
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Journalists unfortunately, need to get paid. If, when you are making a feature of some form, and waiting for 20 responses to FOIA - if someone comes along and writes an article on the first 15, you're pretty much screwed, and don't get paid (directly, or your employer) this means less investigative journalism. Journalism is pretty much dying - especially investigative journalism like this.
Re:should be interesting (Score:4, Insightful)
At the same time, the purpose of FOIA isn't to help journalists, it is to ensure that data collected and held by public bodies has a way of becoming publicly available to the general public. If that suits journalists then great, if not, well, it wasn't specifically intended for them anyway and supporting their particular needs is not FOIAs purpose.
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wikileaks is biased though. Wikileaks has been shown to edit documents and footage to alter their meaning. hiding the originals as they do so.
or did you forget the footage from the iraq they posted a number of years back. the original and the wikileaks version were very different
Re:should be interesting (Score:5, Informative)
The us military released the entire video unedited to discredit and show just how badly edited the file was.
That's not correct.
Wikileaks actually released both videos at the same time, with the edited "short version" clearly labeled as such.
Here is a link to the videos: https://collateralmurder.wikil... [wikileaks.org]
Re:should be interesting (Score:5, Interesting)
Ok, I keep hearing "rape" being brought up but, the charge is not quite what it seems. The women in question did not go to the police with charges of sexual assault. One of them discovered that the condom came off, during consensual sex, and after she was unable to locate him, went to the police to locate him for the purpose of taking a STD test. After a short time, federal authorities and US authorities were involved in the case (for a STD test!) and they convinced one of the women to upgrade her complaint to failure to cease sexual activity immediately upon request; namely he didn't stop instantly when the condom came off, it took a few moments. This does not qualify as any sort of a crime in most countries, including the US and UK. Yet, for this, even by Sweden's standards, minor charge, he was wanted by Interpol and had an international manhunt for him to the point of having to take shelter in an embassy. And there's been a 24 hour guard around the embassy ever since in case they try to move him or he comes out. US and UK authorities still try to claim that this has nothing to do with his involvement in Wikileaks or US authorities' interest in him, they only want justice for the women in Sweden. Smells like bullshit to me.
Re:should be interesting (Score:4, Interesting)
Your post is a bunch of baloney. Assange's extradition went to the Supreme Court in the UK and the allegations against him were judged to include rape. Assange was wanted on an international arrest warrant because Sweden filed for it. Assange went to the embassy to escape arrest, deportation, and judgment. Please substantiate the involvement of US authorities regarding "STD testing." Your bullshit detector is miscalibrated.
Re:should be interesting (Score:5, Interesting)
There's a reason why Sweden has one of the highest rape rates in the world and it's not because there are that many actual rapes going on.
But it is somewhat amusing to watch the racists and the feminists fight over it, as the racists claim it's because the immigrants and the feminists have to constantly switch their realities back and forth between 'it's only a statistical issue' and 'but rape is everywhere!', depending on the situation...
But yes, if you read the original police documents, the purpose of going to the police was to force an STD test. That the US was involved I rather doubt, as any borderline chargeable offense will automatically be pushed by the police and prosecution whether the supposed victim wants it or not it's quite enough that an activist prosecutor like Marianne Ny smells some publicity and the opportunity to 'send a message' to start that chain of events and completely screw up the victims life far beyond the original issue. Hopefully Ny's utter incompetence in this has put a permanent black mark on her career.
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There's a reason why Sweden has one of the highest rape rates in the world and it's not because there are that many actual rapes going on.
The Swedes will be glad to hear that. Of course you realize there are different views [gatestoneinstitute.org] about that.
But it is somewhat amusing to watch the racists and the feminists fight over it,...
I suppose it would be a shame for nobody to get a benefit from the situation.
But it is somewhat amusing to watch the racists and the feminists fight over it,
If it turns out the "racists" are correct in some fashion [gatestoneinstitute.org], does that make them "racists"?
But yes, if you read the original police documents, the purpose of going to the police was to force an STD test.
Traumatized people don't always think right.
That the US was involved I rather doubt
In absence of evidence that is a good thing.
as any borderline chargeable offense will automatically be pushed by the police and prosecution whether the supposed victim wants it or not
See my first comment.
it's quite enough that an activist prosecutor like Marianne Ny smells some publicity and the opportunity to 'send a message' to start that chain of events and completely screw up the victims life far beyond the original issue.
Interesting rhetoric, but I don't recall hearing that it was the prosecutor that "screwed up" anyone's life. I would think Assange might h
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But it is somewhat amusing to watch the racists and the feminists fight over it,
If it turns out the "racists" are correct in some fashion [gatestoneinstitute.org], does that make them "racists"?
Fortunately for everyone but the racists, their claims are not even close to true. For example, the very prominent claim of a 300% increase in violent crime since 1975, does not seem to be born out by actual data [www.bra.se], which seems to show a modest decrease in crime over that time period.
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Re:should be interesting (Score:4, Insightful)
Not all feminists believe the way you seem to think they do. That says more about you than them, unfortunately, and it's not good for you.
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There's a reason why Sweden has one of the highest rape rates in the world
Don't tell Trump! He'll want Norway to build a wall and make the Swedes pay for it!
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Citation please? Which also brings up the point, if you are such a high profile person why are you fucking around with questionable people? Keeping a low profile includes keeping your dick in your pants.
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It's BS. I did as the AC suggested, and Googled it. It looks like one of the women's best friend's mother's uncle's former roommate said something about Cuba one time. Or something silly like that.
http://www.theguardian.com/med... [theguardian.com]
What has most engaged the conspiracy theorists and Assange's more excitable defenders, however, are a few key incidents in Miss A career, in particular that she is said to have worked in the Swedish embassy in the US, and wrote her university thesis in 2007 on a vision of Cuba after the death of Castro.
This has led to widespread allegations that the woman is a CIA agent, planted as a honeytrap to bring down Assange. One blogger notes: "[Assange] just happens to meet a Swedish woman who just happens to have been publishing her work in a well-funded anti-Castro group that just happens to have links with a group led by a man at least one journalist describes as an agent of the CIA: the violent secret arm of America's foreign policy.
There are various more sensational articles, but none of those provide any evidence. This was the only article that seemed to explain the connection clearly.
Re:should be interesting (Score:5, Informative)
Read the British judges conclusions - they consider the concept of "dual criminality", which is a requirement for extradition from the UK. Under UK law, the same charges are indeed classed as rape. So yes, it is exactly what it seems.
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After a short time, federal authorities and US authorities were involved in the case (for a STD test!) ...
You can see why this will never be made into a Hollywood movie - it's too implausible.
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well after he get's jack rubyed there will be a moive about this.
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Ok, I keep hearing "rape" being brought up but, the charge is not quite what it seems. The women in question did not go to the police with charges of sexual assault. One of them discovered that the condom came off, during consensual sex, and after she was unable to locate him, went to the police to locate him for the purpose of taking a STD test.
That'd be the sexual assault charge. The rape charge is from the other situation where he penetrated a woman while she was sleeping, knowing she did not consent, having been explicitly told "no" before she went to sleep. That's the one that the UK courts said "yes, that's rape, even under British law."
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She made him breakfast the next morning, apparently the victim did not think she was a victim. In fact she did not even go to police until she found out he had slept with her friend as well. So it was consensual until she decided to remove the consent after the fact.
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Victims of domestic abuse often have a 'normal' relationship with their abuser before and after thoses episodes.
By your logic that would mean that no abuse did happen...
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Activities after rape should not be used to determine if rape occurred. Some people sit in the corner and cry, some get on with their lives.
Nonconsensual sex is rape. Whether Assange is guilty of it isn't for me (or you) to determine. That's a matter for the courts. There's a lot of blame to go around for how this has been handled.
I respect Assange's determination; I really didn't think he'd last very long before giving up, but he's sticking this out far longer than most believed he would. I also am no
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They went to the police to locate him for a STD test, not for rape charges. Officials "convinced" one of the women to upgrade her charge. She's wanted it dropped ever since.
Breathtaking (Score:2)
The silence from them (while everyone claims to speak on their behalf) is both deafening and exasperating.
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a) Now he had an STD....? That's news.
b) Nobody except the Swedish prosecutor is sure what exactly he's accused of. The Swedish police didn't think he'd done anything, they let him go. The prosecutor only became interested int he case when she was on a fishing trip through the police computers using the search term "Julian Assange". After she found his name on a police statement she called the two girls in and persuaded them to upgrade their query to "complaint" so she could call Assange in. Both the girls
Re:should be interesting (Score:5, Informative)
You do realize that no one in sweden is tried or even charged in absentia. You have to appear before a judge before charges can even be filed or dismissed.
I really wish idiots like you would stop thinking swedish law is the same as English common law.
Also Sweden doesn't have any laws to allow them to lend someone to another country. That goes against both Swedish law and EU law.
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Even the Swedish prosecutor has admitted that it happens all the time, in accordance with EU law.
Now, unless I have missed something, the UK hasn't left the EU yet, and neither has Sweden.
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Well then, "thank goodness" you're here to help set the record straight. How could progress occur without folk like you?
The rush to smear Assange’s rape accuser [salon.com]
OK, so maybe the charges really are for rape-rape, but still — the woman has CIA ties! I’ve read that on at least a dozen blogs! Keith Olbermann tweeted it and everything! That’s got to be coming from a highly credible source, right?
Actually, as far as I can tell, the only source for that claim is an August Counterpunch article by Assange fanboys (seriously, they recast him as Neo of “The Matrix”) Israel Shamir and Paul Bennett. Here’s the most damning evidence Shamir and Bennett have compiled against Assange’s accuser:
1) She’s published “anti-Castro diatribes” in a Swedish-language publication that, according to an Oslo professor, Michael Seltzer (who?), is “connected with Union Liberal Cubana led by Carlos Alberto Montaner,” who reportedly has CIA ties. Let me repeat that: She has been published in a journal that is connected with a group that is led by a guy with CIA ties. Says this one guy.
2) “In Cuba she interacted with the feminist anti-Castro group Las damas de blanco (the Ladies in White). This group receives US government funds and the convicted anti-communist terrorist Luis Posada Carriles is a friend and supporter.” That link goes to an English translation of a Spanish article noting that at a march last spring, Posada “wander[ed] unleashed and un-vaccinated along Calle Ocho in Miami, marching alongside” — wait for it — “Gloria Estefan in support of the so-called Ladies in White.” Apparently, it’s “an established fact” that Posada and the Ladies also share a shady benefactor, which means he should clearly be called a “friend” of the organization, and this is totally relevant to the rape charges against Julian Assange, because the accuser once interacted with them in some manner.
Are you kidding me? That’s what we’re basing the “CIA ties” meme on? An article that reads like a screenplay treatment by a college freshman who’s terrified of women? Actual quote: “[T]he Matrix plays dirty and lets loose a sex bomb upon our intrepid Neo. When you can’t contest the message, you smear the messenger. Sweden is tailor-made for sending a young man into a honey trap.”
Re:should be interesting (Score:4, Interesting)
Also Sweden doesn't have any laws to allow them to lend someone to another country. That goes against both Swedish law and EU law.
So Sweden has no ambassadors? No tourists? Nobody ever leaves? It's like the roach-motel of countries. And Sweden doesn't even have phones? Why couldn't the people already outside Sweden at http://www.swedenabroad.com/lo... [swedenabroad.com] walk down to Assange? It's illegal for someone from Sweden to walk?
That's why I default to believing Assange. The "other side" just seems insane.
Re: should be interesting (Score:4, Funny)
So she has ties to two anti-Castro groups that get CIA money.
Are there any anti-Castro groups that DON'T get CIA money? I'm pretty sure that I could move to Miami and get some anti-Castro letterhead printed up and get some CIA money.
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23% of anti-Castro groups are actually fronts for Castro, and the money is used to fund the Cuba government budget. Any surplus is used to subsidize low rum prices.
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Is it regret to wake up with a man having sex without a condom when you had previously stated your preference for condom use?
You have a strange definition for regret.
Having sex with a sleeping woman is indeed rape, as she has not given her consent. Sometimes the relationship you have with the woman allows this, but this is a very specific thing.
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I would bet my life savings if I followed you around long enough, I'd find you breaking a law.
Re:Shit (Score:5, Insightful)
How is the UK acting "shitty" here? He was allowed legal representation, allowed to appeal his case to the highest court in the land, lost at each level with each judge giving a detailed reasoning to each of his legal teams arguments, and he still went on to commit a crime in the UK. Regardless of how Swedens case is ruled on, there is no way the UKs actions can be considered unlawful in this instance - Assange jumped bail. His bail sponsors already lost their case to have the money back, so Assange is facing an open and shut case should he surrender to the UK authorities.
Re:Shit (Score:5, Insightful)
> How is the UK acting "shitty" here?
Remember: acting shitty and acting legally are, alas, not mutually exclusive.
While the "state of law" is a huge advance wrt tyranny, law (especially this hypercomplex law shaped by many interest groups we have these days) bends more readily to those in (financial, political) power.
Sometimes the only (meaningful, I don't believe violence cuts it long term) weapon we have is calling foul: they may have good attorneys, but they still are assholes.
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Neither are doing the right thing and acting illegally. Assange leaking documents was arguably doing the right thing. But he probably acted illegally doing so, and hence the US can reasonably charge him and demand his extradition. It is for a US court of law to decide his guilt.
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I'd suggest that the UK court didn't properly weigh the risk to Assange of being extradited to Sweden. The circumstances were suspicious and his fears not unfounded.
I'm surprised he is considering leaving the embassy. Presumably he thinks that the chance of being rendered for torture is now receding.
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You like many others confuse Swedish law and English common law. In Sweden you can't be charged in absentia. That means to even have charges applied against you have to be I front of a judge.
Those same charges can only be dismissed by a judge.
He will be in Sweden for 6 hours of which 2 will be be spent waiting for the next flight out, and 2 more for driving around town
Lastly Sweden extradition to the USA is and always has been several order more difficult than from the uk. Sweden won't extradition people
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The US grabs people off the street in Europe. In fact a bunch of CIA operatives were busted in Spain a few years back trying to do exactly that, because they leaked phone metadata (oh, the irony). They grab people and fly them to other countries.
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How is....
Would the world without Assanges, Snowdans, Chelsea Mannings be a better place where the perverts can do their extraordinary renditions under the umbrella of secrecy in a democratic system with separation of powers - checks and balances remaining unexposed?
Maybe the cops being so hot to "get him when he comes out" should just play a round of basketball with Assange and then all go home...
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No, skipping bail is illegal in the UK, especially after the extradition warrant against you is found to be 100% valid and legal. The rest of the legal case is Swedens, the bit ruled on by the UK passes UK law just fine.
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Silly fecker doesn't get it, these people make up the laws as they go along, yes they are written down but the point is - they have a tendency to interpret the law however they want to, whether or not you win depends on how authoritarian the judge is.
^ This applies to unique cases, in cases where the same ground has been trodden a thousand times before, you can know what to expect.
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Some more info - 46' long
http://www.disclose.tv/action/... [disclose.tv]
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You are the piece of shit, scum like you deserves to have their family marched to the gas chamber. State worshipping pig fucker scum!
Butcher all right wingers. We need a civil war. Murder all families of right-wing voters.
What about all the family members who can't stand the right-wing nut in their family? You know, the nut who won't ever shut up about politics. The nut to whom you never speak because he thinks he knows everything and tries to prove you wrong about everything. The nut who actively tries to start arguments. The nut who disowns his own children because they don't share his right-wing politics or follow his psychotic Southern Baptist religion.
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Well at least we are going to hear the answer to the US extradition theory. Maybe he is hoping to be pardoned by Obama.
Sure! (Score:2)
He'll surely meet some high-rank official who responds to the PotUSA...
Obama's people is REALLY looking forward to talk to Julian
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Nope he'll just go MIA.
And we'll never know until he surfaces again.
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They can kick him out anytime they want. He has no right to be there.
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The charge has never been rape. That's just the way it has been reported in the media. The "crime" he is charged with in Sweden has no equivalent in the UK or US and the woman was pressured into making it by the police once they figured out who the complaint was against. She only wanted a STD test done.
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If the "crime" had no equivalent in the UK, then Assange would have easily won his case in the UK at the very first court hearing, as the concept of "dual criminality" is paramount when it comes to extradition warrants and UK law - you cannot be extradited from the UK if the charge you are to be extradited for is not a crime in the UK, and on all the charges on the extradition warrant against Assange the requirement of dual criminality was satisfied.
It is amusing to see in these threads those people who act
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Meh, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Swaziland... what's the difference? ;)
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No, it's not a "front"; it's a country that has an extradition treaty with the US.
If the US has a legal and valid arrest warrant for him, then any country that the US has an extradition treaty with needs to extradite him; it's as simple as that. Where do you see the problem?
Assange is far too prominent to "disappear", nor would there be an
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That goal is inconsistent with keeping it secret and denying that they had him.
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Ah yes, The Guardian, that not at all anti US socialist propaganda sheet.
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Anyone who starts a comment with "wake up people" I automatically ignore.
A good strategy. That phrase generally prefaces a big pile of unsupported claims that the author believes are so obvious that he's surprised everyone else can't see it. If it actually were obvious, the author wouldn't have to explain it, and if it's not, then the right approach is to offer evidence rather than to imply that other people are stupid for not seeing it. But, given that the author chose the latter course, you know there isn't going to be anything of substance.