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Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#311

Post by notahacker »

imron wrote: post #295
notahacker wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wikileaks didn't release the cache, but they certainly did their best to boost its credibility with tweets like "We have not yet discovered fakes in #MacronLeaks & we are very skeptical that the Macron campaign is faster than us" (yeah, because there's no way alleged senders and recipients of emails could spot fakes faster than people analysing the meta data...) and the outstanding "assessment update: several Office…

> yeah, because there's no way alleged senders and recipients of emails could spot fakes faster than people analysing the meta data... You're absolutely right, and in fact all the Macron campaign would need to do is point out a handful of them and it would call in to question the veracity of all of them. Did they do that though, or did they just insinuate that there might be fakes (like the DNC did but couldn't actua…

The few interesting titbits promoted by Macron's opponents (supposed offshore bank accounts, membership of gay mailing lists and an aide's supposed Bitcoin drug orders) have all been quite thoroughly debunked as crude forgeries and documents in the archive even linked to specific Russian security companies by media, security consultants and even pretty radical pro-leak publications like the Intercept. The Macron campaign even shared the phishing emails they'd received.

Wikileaks and their much trumpeted reputation for authenticating stuff's contribution to this was to deny anything they'd looked at was fake (possibly true if they only looked at the banal campaign material) and suggest the Cyrillic headers on attachments might have been evidence that Macron had Slavic employees...

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#312

Post by abritinthebay »

ttctciyf wrote: post #310
abritinthebay wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which, as evidence to that goes, isn't any. Comey can't comment on classified or open cases (which Assange would be because, duh, WikiLeaks) just procedural things. Which that was. It says nothing other than they have an investigation- well we knew that.

> It says nothing other than they have an investigation- well we knew that. To me, the words “he hasn't been apprehended because he is inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London" strongly imply, in context, that the US has an intention to "apprehend" Assange.

Well yes. We knew that already too.

The US already wanted to apprehend him while he was walking around London before his Embassy period so it's clearly not a snatch & grab situation.

He's not been officially charged with a crime in the US yet either so extradition isn't an issue.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#313

Post by AnimalMuppet »

Dolores12 wrote: post #56
mootothemax wrote: post #16

Five years living in a single room, not able to leave or walk outside. Millions of pounds/dollars spent enforcing the same. A gigantic show of idiocy from both sides.

In essence he is in prison for 5 years.

In essence he imprisoned himself for 5 years.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#314

Post by ihm »

k__ wrote: post #189
cjrp wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? We're congratulating people who successfully skip bail now?

Didn't they setup fake accusations to destroy his reputation and make it easier to let the US imprison him? I thought this all was pretty obvious :/

Far from it. I would watching recommend Laura Poitras' (of Citizenfour fame) new movie Risk. It follows Assange over the course of 6 years, including through the rape allegations. It's an extremely intimate view as Poitras is able to get ostensibly unfettered access to Assange.

Assange's private reactions to the rape allegations seen in the film seemed pretty telling to me. He is clearly made uncomfortable by them, and offers somewhat misogynistic conspiracy theories in his defense. I really got the sense watching it that it was more likely than not he committed some kind of sexual assault. I think even the most dyed-in-the-wool Assange supporter would be left with a lot of uncertainty at least after watching it.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#315

Post by nanistheonlyist »

dghughes wrote: post #209
codedokode wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were many cases when USA kidnapped citizens of other countries and put them to jail.

If other countries did that to US citizens we all know the uproar it would cause in the US. Incredible hypocrisy.

Might makes right, and so the wolf cares not for the opinion of sheep. Those with power do with it what they like. It has always been this way, to think otherwise is to fall prey to the just world fallacy.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#316

Post by panglott »

perseusprime11 wrote: post #280
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?

That was Assange's claim, but there are two women in Sweden who say that he sexually victimized them. The details of their claims have been out for a while: IIRC they had consensual sex with him, and later that night he had nonconsensual sex with them. It seems Sweden (rightly) takes sexual assault much more seriously than some other jurisdictions.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#317

Post by ttctciyf »

abritinthebay wrote: post #312
ttctciyf wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It says nothing other than they have an investigation- well we knew that. To me, the words “he hasn't been apprehended because he is inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London" strongly imply, in context, that the US has an intention to "apprehend" Assange.

Well yes. We knew that already too. The US already wanted to apprehend him while he was walking around London before his Embassy period so it's clearly not a snatch & grab situation. He's not been officially charged with a crime in the US yet either so extradition isn't an issue.

> > > > > do secret charges exist?

> > > > The best info we have is from Comey's testimony which says 'maybe' and they want to arrest him

> > > It says nothing other than they have an investigation- well we knew that.

> > and they want to arrest him

> Well yes. We knew that already too.

Anything else that we already know you would like to add?

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#318

Post by seppin »

cptskippy wrote: post #268
efraim wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's nice of him to offer to answer their questions where he chooses, everyone should have that choice. It wasn't Assange that refused to go back to Sweden, it was Sweden to refused to come to Assange.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not. His refusal to cooperate with the investigation on Sweden's terms wasn't about the alleged crime itself. His concern was that because he was involved in a criminal investigation, he could be taken into custody by either British or Swedish authorities at which point he could be extradited to the US.

Actually, his 'conditions' for meeting with the Swedish government were absurd. Basically guaranteeing his freedom no matter what. That's not how criminal investigates are done.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#319

Post by gribbly »

notahacker wrote: post #177
vidarh wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They had closed the case, and notified him of that. Then a new prosecutor reopens the case and goes after him. The point is that Sweden might very well have seemed perfectly safe despite those past actions until a prosecutor took those steps which still seems exceedingly odd. To have one prosecutor say there was no case to answer, only to have another prosecutor specifically go after the case and reopen it, is uncomm…

(i)The case was very publicly reopened the week after it had been announced it was being dropped. I mean, it's not like headlines like this would have escaped Assange's notice http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rape-investig... Assange spent 26 more days in the country and then flew out hours after his arrest warrant was signed. (ii) there's nothing particularly unusual about a more senior prosecutor over…

>Assange spent 26 more days in the country and then flew out hours after his arrest warrant was signed.

You are spreading many falsehoods here, first of all, it was NOT a junior prosecutor who dropped the case, chief prosectutor Eva Finné was the one who first handled it and immediately dropped it due to there not being any grounds for a case.

It was a junior prosector Karin Rosander who then suddenly brought the case up again, at this point (20/10 2010) Assange WAS questioned by the police.

The day after this, senior prosecutor Marianne Ny decided to restart the preliminary investigation.

At this point Assange left the country, three weeks later, Marianne Ny filed an arrest warrant on Assange for further questioning.

Assange agreed to be interviewed by video link, something Swedish prosecutors have done many times before, by Marianne Ny refused and demanded that he'd return to sweden for further questioning.

This for accusations which even well known feminists working daily against rape say are laughable:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/interpol-the-worlds...

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-rape...

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#320

Post by seppin »

cptskippy wrote: post #268
efraim wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's nice of him to offer to answer their questions where he chooses, everyone should have that choice. It wasn't Assange that refused to go back to Sweden, it was Sweden to refused to come to Assange.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not. His refusal to cooperate with the investigation on Sweden's terms wasn't about the alleged crime itself. His concern was that because he was involved in a criminal investigation, he could be taken into custody by either British or Swedish authorities at which point he could be extradited to the US.

Actually, his 'conditions' for meeting with the Swedish government were absurd. Basically guaranteeing his freedom no matter what. That's not how criminal investigates are done.
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