Page 1 of Julian Assange just appeared outside the Ecuadorean Embassy

watched the Reuters Livestream, and while there are literally hundreds of people outside the embassy (and harrods next door, who will probably be hopeful of some passing trade), what he said wasn`t that earth-shattering, simply re-iterating the cases of people incarcerated for either making political statements in Communist countries (Pussy Riot) or exposing classified documents that probably weren`t in the public interest anyway (Bradley Manning).

The nobility of his words and actions are still open for debate, but simply stating that the US should drop their actions against him, his colleages and Wikileaks in general, was pretty bloody niave

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Writer`s Release

I`ve forgotten the origins of all of this, but wasn`t he facing charges of sexual something or other in Sweden, but was hiding out in the UK because he believed that once the Swedish authorities got their hands on him they`d extradite him to the US over bogus wikileaks related charges?

Whatever the reason, I did find the threats by the government (not sure exactly where they came from) about storming the embassy truly stupid beyond words.


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The charges against him are that while he had consensual sex with an unidentified female, she later (as in 4 weeks later) changed her mind, thus instigating a rape charge under Swedish law.

As for storming the embassy, the UK government are on incredibly shaky ground by claiming they`ve got an ancient and never-used law that may allow them access to the embassy. Thereby completely destroying our diplomatic standing in pretty much every country that isn`t part of the Commonwealth and the US

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Not really, as it isn`t actually an ancient law.  It`s the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1987/46/section/1

It was brought into law after WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot and killed outside the Iranian Embassy and her killers escaped justice by being granted diplomatic immunity.

Whilst Assange hasn`t killed anyone, I think the argument (which I think is reasonable) is that he is a wanted man in Sweden on criminal charges of rape and therefore the UK has an obligation to obey the law and try to get him to Sweden.

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http://synth.myreviewer.comDiplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987

I stand corrected.

And while he does need to face the charges he`s so tenuously charged with, he needs to do it on his own volition. He`s not a dangerous murderer (nor a rapist, AFAIC), and for us to go charging in with battering rams (metaphorical or physical), it would set a dangerous precedent for foreign relations in the future

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What I don`t get is, the US think they can get him extradited from Sweden, yet aren`t we the country with the "give the US anybody they want" agreement?


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Quote:
Pete-MK says...
(nor a rapist, AFAIC)
As far as you`re concerned?  So you know better than the Swedish Justice system?

I think you may have a point, but it`s not up to Assange to get to decide that.

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Quote:
Si Wooldridge says...
As far as you`re concerned? So you know better than the Swedish Justice system?Honestly? If I may don my Bandicap for a moment,  i think the whole thing was orchestrated by the US to get him into a swedish courtroom, where he could be extradited from there to the US. There`s so much about this we don`t know, and given the line of `work` Assange is in, shady dealings are probably at the forefront of this whole machine. Wikileaks are capable of exposing nefarious goings-on in any government department, so it`s probably `in everyone`s best interest` that he gets shipped off.

Just another example of how very little governments understand the current climate within the Anonymous internet community. If Assange goes down, 50 like him will come up in his name, and they won`t be quite so polite

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Some of it may well be orchestrated from the US but you`re missing the point.  He`s been accused of rape in Sweden and has to face the music, whether he`s set up or not.  This isn`t The Fugitive.  He`s not on the run trying to find evidence to prove his innocence, in fact did he actually say anything about the charges at all?

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Not a dickeybird, which obviously ****ed off no-one standing outside the embassy waving Anonymous flags. I understand the point you`re making about the `sexual assault` charge (and yes, of course he has to answer the charges), but nearly everyone observing this case is of the mindset that it`s just a manufactured claim against him, and as such, is more or less irrelevant compared to the `bigger picture`, that being he could face the death penalty in the US.
Quote:

Assange`s lawyer in Britain, Mark Stephens claimed the charges in Sweden are just a `holding case` while the US prepares its prosecution over Wikileak`s activities. He said Assange could face extradition or illegal rendition to the US from Sweden where he could be detained in a high-security prison and face the death penalty. Stephens said he believed Swedish officials were cooperating with US authoritieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_assange#Allegations_of_sexual_assault

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This item was edited on Sunday, 19th August 2012, 20:03