Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation • Hacker News Board

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#371

Post by Avalyst » Sat, May 20, 2017, 11:18 AM UTC

allover wrote: post #355

bjourne wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was his stated concern. I don't think it makes any sense because he could have been arrested by Swedish or British authorities long before the alleged rapes occurred.

Well let's assume he was scared of a random arrest before the allegations. He'd be extra scared when they emerged. Not sure what's to doubt.

The fact that he was in Sweden already? And the fact that he fled to the UK, the closest ally of the US in Europe as well as a NATO country, unlike Sweden? And perhaps the fact that he now plans to seek asylum in France, another NATO country?

It's very convenient how this conspiracy theory of the US snatching Assange from Sweden cropped up just as he was accused of a crime in Sweden I would say.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#372

Post by Avalyst » Sat, May 20, 2017, 11:21 AM UTC

vidarh wrote: post #158

notahacker wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Assange truly feared the police blatantly violating Swedish law in support of rendition, then it would seem strange for him to base himself in Sweden, remain in the country whilst being well aware of the investigation under way against him and leave only on the day they notified him they'd received legal authorisation to detain him. And then repeat the whole thing in the UK...

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…

But if he's worried about the Swedish police violating Swedish law, why would he care about whether or not the case is closed? If the CIA/Swedish police were to snatch him, in blatant violation of a number of laws, it's not like they would hold back just because some rape charges were dropped?

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#373

Post by travmatt » Sat, May 20, 2017, 12:50 PM UTC

nebabyte wrote: post #231

appleflaxen wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

It's a fair point - I don't see how ad hominem attacks change the news. I guess that's why painting him as a russian sympathizer is "in" now. Makes it seem like the leaks even if authentic have some agenda. But still, parties and a gov that are threatened by their people looking in on them are just asking to be influenced by outside actors anyways, state or not. There's a reason transparency is key.

>I guess that's why painting him as a russian sympathizer is "in" now. Makes it seem like the leaks even if authentic have some agenda

You do realize that Assange signed a commercial tv deal with Russian state propaganda shortly after they threatened his life? This followed his threats to dump 'kompromat' on them (threats which never translated into action), and was later followed through by Assange censoring emails showing Russian banks involvement in Syria, and then later trying to paint the panama papers as a'CIA plot to discredit Putin.' To act like there isn't more than reasonable grounds on which to question Assanges biases is absurd and contrary to actual history.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#374

Post by travmatt » Sat, May 20, 2017, 12:51 PM UTC

ionised wrote: post #125

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/...

You know, I harbour a lot of anti-American sentiment too (US government that is, the American people seem mostly fine) and I frequently speak up about it. Does that make me a Russian agent/mouthpiece/troll too?

Do you get paid by Russian state propaganda to censor negative news about Russia and emphasize negative news regarding the United States? If yes, you may be a Russian agent too!

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#375

Post by ekianjo » Sat, May 20, 2017, 3:35 PM UTC

wayn3 wrote: post #324

ekianjo wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah otherwise it would be hard to justify the invasion of Iraq among other things.

such laws generally don't apply to war. they don't even apply to soldiers. an officer can order hundreds of soldiers to charge into certain death without repercussions - as long as the military goal he's trying to achieve is justifiable.

> such laws generally don't apply to war. they don't even apply to soldiers.

There was never a formal declaration of war on Iraq. Just saying.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#376

Post by ekianjo » Sat, May 20, 2017, 3:35 PM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #323

ekianjo wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah otherwise it would be hard to justify the invasion of Iraq among other things.

Declaration of war comes under "due process of law" surely.

> such laws generally don't apply to war. they don't even apply to soldiers.

No declaration of war was made on Iraq.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#377

Post by ddalex » Sat, May 20, 2017, 3:38 PM UTC

exidy wrote: post #366

josteink wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> AFAIK they could try and charge him under the Espionage Act but it would be difficult and unlikely to succeed. So you are saying the US has laws which within US jurisdiction says that it's OK to file for extradition of non-US citizens anywhere in the world, if the US doesn't like what they do? Good for them, I guess, but why should the rest of the world comply? If we should comply with this for the US, surely we sh…

Have you not heard of Kim Dotcom? He's battling extradition to the USA despite never having set foot in the country nor registered a business there.

Yes, but he deprived MPAA and RIAA of revenue, so that's fair game.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#378

Post by tptacek » Sat, May 20, 2017, 5:04 PM UTC

ginko wrote: post #44

k-mcgrady wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure about 'secret charges' but there are these recent charges. [1] [1] http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/julian-assange-wi...

What base do these have? Assange isn't a US citizen, so he can't be charged for treason like Snowden and Manning. He just gained information and published it.

It would be extraordinarily difficult to charge him with treason even if he was an American citizen.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#379

Post by vidarh » Sat, May 20, 2017, 7:44 PM UTC

praneshp wrote: post #358

lenkite wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually tough to extradite from the UK. Lots of corrupt Indian businessmen go to the UK when they wish to flee our taxmen. And then mock us in the British papers and TV.

India != US. My bet is that UK would fall over themselves if the US demanded a corrupt businessman or a "high value target" like Assange.

Here is Theresa May, current UK PM, denying extradition of Gary McKinnon, after years of hearings, wanted for one of the largest hacks of US military networks of all time:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/16/world/europe/uk-us-mckinnon-ex...

The UK has a history of both courts and the Home Office denying extraditions. Theresa May is a "law and order" authoritarian to boot, but even she is not prepared to fall over herself to satisfy US extradition requests.

Re: Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

#380

Post by mcv » Sat, May 20, 2017, 11:01 PM UTC

empath75 wrote: post #228

mcv wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When he still was just a journalist receiving and disseminating leaked information, I supported him. But after the Manning leaks, his power seems to have gone to his head, and he thought he could get away with anything. Journalists need to be protected from persecution for their work as journalism, but they don't get a free license to violate laws in completely unrelated cases. Rape is still rape. And his recent gran…

Actually, I think it wasn't the manning papers, it was being locked up in the Ecuadorian embassy, where the Russians were free to compromise him.

That happened later. He was already becoming somewhat unhinged well before that. Though living for years locked in an embassy probably hasn't done him much good either.