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Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#261

Post by foldr »

EdHominem wrote: post #256
foldr wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an absurd request. No country could issue such a document. For one thing, it would establish a precedent that the government could arbitrarily decide to overall any future decisions of the judiciary. For another, it would probably violate Sweden's treaty obligations.

That's well within the range of what a leader can do. Presidential pardon overrides the courts for one specific issue. And they could preemptively refuse to allow him to be extradited for the leaks by stating definitively that it was not a crime by their laws.

It's not possible within the limits of the Swedish constitution, as has been endlessly explained by now.

Presidential pardons are irrelevant as Sweden is not the USA, but in any case, the President cannot preemptively pardon people for future offenses for which they may or may not be convicted.

>And they could preemptively refuse to allow him to be extradited for the leaks by stating definitively that it was not a crime by their laws.

Who's "they"? Who is the person in Sweden who has the authority to override the courts and declare that someone isn't guilty of a crime in the absence of any proper legal process?

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#262

Post by niyazpk »

willvarfar wrote: post #258
niyazpk wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no opinion on Assange either way, but at this point is it so fantastic even to suggest that there might be state actors behind this? Or are you suggesting that blocking internet connection is probably not a worthwhile exercise enough for state actors? I can understand that argument.

Occam would say that access problems are really very very common and are not the results of state actors. Was it a "state actor" the last time your internet stopped working?

Fair enough.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#263

Post by Nadya »

mikeash wrote: post #244
Kenji wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about Hillary Clinton literally saying "Can't we just drone this guy?" [1] [1] https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/782906224937410562

Yes, a drone strike in the middle of the capital city of our closest ally, obviously that was a serious suggestion....

Because joking about droning people is a thing we want our leaders to do. /s

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#265

Post by toomuchtodo »

irrational wrote: post #253
toomuchtodo wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As Archer would say: "Do you want terrorist groups? Because this is how you get terrorist groups." Or, another way, one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. What option are citizens left with when state collusion to deny people their basic rights occurs in broad daylight?

Is internet access really a basic right? I would argue no, but then again I grew up in a world without internet access for the most part so I consider it a nice-to-have rather than a necessity.

The UN considers it so, but I was referring to Assange not being able to leave the Ecuadorian embassy for over 4 years.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#266

Post by hbosch »

tptacek wrote: post #196
foldr wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an absurd request. No country could issue such a document. For one thing, it would establish a precedent that the government could arbitrarily decide to overall any future decisions of the judiciary. For another, it would probably violate Sweden's treaty obligations.

He has in fact more protections against extradition in Sweden than he does in the UK, both because the UK has a friendlier bilateral extradition agreement with the US and because the ECHR would require the consent of both the UK and Sweden at this point for him to be extradited.

Doesn't being in the Ecuadorean embassy mean he is technically/politically residing in Ecuador? Or is that an oversimplification when it comes to how embassies work?

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#267

Post by gok »

wildmusings wrote: post #160

My guess is that the US is applying pressure on Ecuador. They want the leaks to stop. Ecuador already has incentives to stop helping Trump, as Trump has recently taken a hard line against Latin American strongmen, of which Correa, President of Ecuador, is one. Some assurances from Hillary, and threats from Obama, could have been enough to push him over. I imagine that one of the currently unspoken fears that the Demo…

I don't necessarily agree that Obama himself was fine with Wikileaks, but it's certainly true that many on the American left loved the leaks when they revealed ostensibly embarrassing details about things they do not support (the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) and then suddenly got rather upset when the leaks revealed ostensibly embarrassing details about things they do support (Clinton). Of course the same could be said about many on the right.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#269

Post by pvg »

jacquesm wrote: post #127

- Is the whole embassy shut down? - Is there any direct reason for the timing (US elections, attack on Mosul or other current headlines)? - Was there any imminent release? (last week there was an announcement of a leak but it didn't materialize as far as I know) http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/4/13159914/wikileaks-hillary... - You'd assume that Wikileaks the organization will continue to work even without Assange hav…

All your theories rest on the assumption that someone deliberately and maliciously 'cut' his internet access. There's no evidence of that or even that his access has been 'cut', whatever that means.
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