Julian Assange 'disappointed' as sex assault case dropped • Hacker News Board

Re: Julian Assange 'disappointed' as sex assault case dropped

#61

Post by onezeno » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 1:32 PM UTC

Bohahahaha wrote: post #55

Assange was now 5yrs 'imprisoned', how much would he have gotten in Sweden on the charges? (if proven guilty)

The bigger issue is would he have been extradited to the US to face draconian charges for whistleblowing.

Re: Julian Assange 'disappointed' as sex assault case dropped

#62

Post by vinceguidry » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 1:32 PM UTC

jamespo wrote: post #46

Wonderful how Assange wants everything done on his terms, if I was accused of a serious crime I'd want to be questioned from somewhere they couldn't extract me from too.

It's Ecuador demanding the terms, not Assange.

What makes this whole process so strange is the fact that there's multiple countries involved. Each country has it's own idea of human rights, it's own conception of judicial process. Judicial process in one country can easily resemble a human rights violation in another. It's one of the reasons political asylum exists. Ecuador granted Assange asylum because they recognize the possibility of Assange being extradited to a country where he's never resided for a political crime and possibly tortured for is a grave rights violation.

Ecuador is now responsible for ensuring that those rights aren't violated. They're the one's laying out the conditions, not Assange. It would make Ecuador look bad if they allowed Sweden to take charge of him, and then he ended up being extradited to the US by an organ that doesn't recognize his asylum status in another country.

Everybody involved is just trying to do their jobs, it just takes a long time to work everything out because the legal systems involved were never intended to work like this. If it were just one system, it could work as designed.

Re: Julian Assange 'disappointed' as sex assault case dropped

#63

Post by Bohahahaha » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 1:34 PM UTC

"The Republic of Ecuador already made the sovereign decision to grant the journalist Julian Assange asylum on 16 August 2012. At no point has the Republic of Ecuador asked the Kingdom of Sweden to grant Mr. Assange asylum."

http://reinounido.embajada.gob.ec/statement-by-the-embassy-o...

Re: Julian Assange 'disappointed' as sex assault case dropped

#64

Post by spiralpolitik » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 1:35 PM UTC

pionar wrote: post #42

spiralpolitik wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not quite. Ecuador made the offer to Sweden to interview Assange in the embassy as early as 2012. The Swedish prosecutor did nothing until March this year when she was prompted to do something by higher ups due to the statute of limitations. Sweden then made the formal request in June which led to what you describe. If Sweden was serious about getting this sorted out then they could have done so years ago. Instead th…

Or, one could argue that Ecuador changed the deal when Sweden finally took them up on the offer. (I don't have a dog in this fight, I just find the whole situation interesting.)

I suspect that the terms and conditions didn't start getting thrashed out until Sweden made the formal request. At this level of play there is usually a lot of red tape to work through as two legal systems collide. Which is why you don't leave it to the last minute.

(While I admire the work WikiLeaks has done, I find Assange to be an egotistical idiot but given the number of unusual events that have occurred during this whole affair one can't help being interested.)

Re: Julian Assange 'disappointed' as sex assault case dropped

#65

Post by trevelyan » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 1:36 PM UTC

youngtaff wrote: post #25

enraged_camel wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ignorance and arrogance make a terrible combination. The reason he didn't travel to Sweden to just get it over with is because Sweden was planning to extradite him.

Yup they do so where is your evidence he was going to be extradited from Sweden to the US?

You need to read the UK High Court ruling. As is explained there, if Sweden had sufficient evidence to charge Assange in absentia they could do so and issue a European Arrest Warrant. The problem is that this would require the prosecution to demonstrate probable cause and proportionality to a public Swedish court:

> Under Swedish law the issue of a domestic detention order in absentia was a precondition to the issue of an EAW. That order was issued by a court which... had to be satisfied that there was sufficient evidence giving rise to probable cause and that domestic arrest was proportionate.

The Swedish prosecution (a political appointee) is claiming she cannot demonstrate probable cause without interviewing Assange, and yet she refuses to interview him. Leaving aside the absurdity of any reasonable person thinking that any interview will give the Swedish authorities the smoking gun they obviously lack, from a legal standpoint the only sensible explanation for their behavior is that it allows the option of extraditing without public judicial consideration of probable guilt and proportionality of prosecution. Couple that with the very obvious irregularity of the prosecution, the very real prospect of Assange facing indefinite detention in Sweden and the refusal to offer any guarantees against hand-over to the States and there is plenty of evidence that his concerns are very well founded.

Re: Julian Assange 'disappointed' as sex assault case dropped

#66

Post by discardorama » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 1:37 PM UTC

jamespo wrote: post #46

Wonderful how Assange wants everything done on his terms, if I was accused of a serious crime I'd want to be questioned from somewhere they couldn't extract me from too.

> Wonderful how Assange wants everything done on his terms

It's almost as if he has some ... "rights", correct? What a concept!

Re: Julian Assange 'disappointed' as sex assault case dropped

#67

Post by manangatangy » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 1:37 PM UTC

jamespo wrote: post #46

Wonderful how Assange wants everything done on his terms, if I was accused of a serious crime I'd want to be questioned from somewhere they couldn't extract me from too.

Apparently, Sweden has performed remote interviews, like Assange has been asking for, many times before.

'Swedish prosecutors have been accused of "victimising" Julian Assange after it was revealed they had interviewed 44 people in the UK but were refusing to question the WikiLeaks founder in the London embassy where he is living.' [1]

[1] https://uk.news.yahoo.com/swedish-prosecutors-slammed-victim...

Re: Julian Assange 'disappointed' as sex assault case dropped

#68

Post by wavefunction » Thu, Aug 13, 2015, 1:38 PM UTC

hedwall wrote: post #58

Sone7 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The two women say they were not raped, and were railroaded by Swedish police. So why exactly should that have been the headline?

Yes, but the state can arrest you for rape in Sweden. It doesn't have to be an accusation coming from any of the victims.

Certainly, but if the victims in the case don't feel that they've been raped, perhaps that's more important than the technicalities of what the State may or may not do.