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Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#271

Post by gpm »

efraim wrote: post #255
nailer wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well if you cannot question the accused What do you mean? The Swedish prosecutor has been invited to question Assange for the last 5 years and declined to do so until a few months ago.

Julian was invited back to Sweden and he declined. It's not the job of Swedish authorities to fly all over the world to question people of interest, they would get nothing done.

1. That's a false equivalence, and you know it.

2. The swedish courts have found that it was in fact the swedish authorities job.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#272

Post by burkaman »

baldajan wrote: post #238

Reading the comments, many people seem unaware that Assange was indeed interviewed by Swedish prosecutors in London [1]. And before that, for years, Assange gave them that offer, but they refused time and time again (until they reluctantly accepted) [2]. As @belorn noted [3], the prosecutors had 3 options, and given it seems like they didn't have enough to make a case or a plan to continue the investigation, it had t…

No he wasn't, he was interviewed by Ecuadorians. Swedish officers were just "present".

> The Swedish assistant prosecutor, Chief Prosecutor Ingrid Isgren, and a Swedish police investigator have been allowed to be present at the interview. They will report the findings to Sweden.

Edit: For people wondering what the problem is, Ecuador asked the questions and "[the Swedish prosecutor] is allowed to ask Assange to clarify his answers, but not to put additional questions, and will receive a written transcript of the exchanges from Ecuador after the interview has concluded." - https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/nov/14/julian-assange...

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#273

Post by _b8r0 »

rmc wrote: post #145
_b8r0 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of interest, when was the last time the UK secret service did this?

In 1989 MI5 assisted loyalist paramilitaries in murdering Pat Finucane, human rights lawyer. Not exactly "kidnapped", but in many ways being shot 14 times, at point blank range, in front of your children at home, is pretty bad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Finucane

I think I get where you're coming from, but the two situations are really unlike each other. It's not exactly an apples to apples comparison.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#274

Post by badosu »

sschueller wrote: post #30
Sephr wrote: post #14

What about the secret US charges? I honestly don't understand how in our democracy there is even such a concept as "secret charges". It just sounds mind-bogglingly corrupt and out of place.

There is a "kill list" [1] which is unbelievable on its own so I don't see this as much of a stretch. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposition_Matrix

> Disposition Matrix, informally known as a kill list

God, I wish this terrible term didn't remind me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuEQixrBKCc

I don't like words that hide the truth. I don't words that conceal reality. I don't like euphemisms, or euphemistic language. And American English is loaded with euphemisms. Cause Americans have a lot of trouble dealing with reality. Americans have trouble facing the truth, so they invent the kind of a soft language to protest themselves from it, and it gets worse with every generation. For some reason, it just keeps getting worse. [0]

[0]: https://www.iceboxman.com/carlin/pael.php#track15

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#275

Post by valuearb »

k1m wrote: post #260
_fizz_buzz_ wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol. Pretty standard to tell courts and investigators: "Hey, how about we meet at my place instead?" (on top of that at a place where the investigators don't have jurisdiction)

It actually is pretty standard. Sweden has done it in many other cases. As Wikileaks highlighted when this was made into an issue.

It's pretty standard to go to the police for questioning when they can't/won't come to you. In the US you can assert your 5th amendment rights not to answer questions, but as far as I know Assange hasn't said he won't answer questions.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#276

Post by FireBeyond »

k__ wrote: post #225
iddqd wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rape victim is still holding on to these "fake" accusations even after 7 years. Strange eh?

Not really. I mean, when you get in so deep, you can't just back off anymore. Also, the background isn't know. Those victims could be agents or be threatened by some governments.

Oh yeah, the whole government smear campaign theory. That a state could only muster "might have had quasi-consensual sex and not worn a condom".

That was the best they could come up with in a setup?

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#277

Post by codezero »

sschueller wrote: post #6
tontonius wrote: post #4

According to his Swedish defence lawyer Per E Samuelson, Assange sent a text immediately after being noticed: "Seriously? Oh my god!" Question kind of still remains: how "free" is he now?

He still can't leave. The US is just going to kidnap him off the streets of London. Wouldn't be the first time.

We're in a chaotic political climate, it seems just as likely that a rival nation state would kill him to implicate the US and cause chaos, upset, and confusion.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#278

Post by wfo »

cjrp wrote: post #180
baby wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> how did Wikileaks turn from a whistleblower into a mouthpiece of the Kremlin? Examples are not proof. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

He hosted a show on Russia Today; he was literally a mouthpiece of the Kremlin.

Amy Goodman hosts a show on NPR, a U.S. government news station. She is literally a mouthpiece for Trump and the U.S. government.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#279

Post by FireBeyond »

appleflaxen wrote: post #120
chx wrote: post #39

Is there a good article -- does even anyone know? -- on how did Wikileaks turn from a whistleblower into a mouthpiece of the Kremlin? Edit: some examples: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/... https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/03/...

i think assange is a victim of an effective smear campaign, probably organized by the CIA. He addresses this specific issue in his reddit AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5n58sm/i_am_julian_as...

The CIA plans an intricate effort to smear someone, to assassinate his character, and the best they come up with is "might have had sleep sex which might be quasi-consensual, said he'd wear a condom and didn't"?

That was the best they could come up with for their "smear"?!?

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#280

Post by perseusprime11 »

baldajan wrote: post #238

Reading the comments, many people seem unaware that Assange was indeed interviewed by Swedish prosecutors in London [1]. And before that, for years, Assange gave them that offer, but they refused time and time again (until they reluctantly accepted) [2]. As @belorn noted [3], the prosecutors had 3 options, and given it seems like they didn't have enough to make a case or a plan to continue the investigation, it had t…

Weren't the charges politically motivated? The story was too hard to believe. Does anybody have more details?
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