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Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

theguardian.com

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Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#121
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s the third option of him leaving in a diplomatic bag: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_bag

Assange isn't a document or an article.

Diplomatic bags have, in various instances, been used to transport people. The bag can essentially be any sort of container. This was usually against their will, but Assange may find it agreeable.

Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#122
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is sort of the problem with secret indictments though, they are secret. So absence of proof is not the same as proof of absence.

In 2013 (i.e. after these emails came out), US officials denied there was a sealed indictment against him. Lots has happened since but this talk of indictment has been going on for 8 years and nothing has happened. And again, the actual question is 'what would they charge him with and what could you prove against him in court?'. The notion that the US just can't wait to get their hands on Assange seems to come mostly…

I'd say the time when we will know for sure is when Assange visits Disneyland, Florida and nothing happens. And if I were him - just being prudent - on the off chance that the US government is only about 1% as vindictive as various statements by various officials have suggested I'd visit Paris instead.

Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is sort of the problem with secret indictments though, they are secret. So absence of proof is not the same as proof of absence.

No, but there's a spectrum between "oh, this is leaked truth", and "even in the leak, there's just one person with no connection to the DOJ saying 'shh, we have a secret indictment against him!'."

I'm assuming Stratfor doesn't just make stuff up, their connection to the US government is far too sensitive for that. It's not just some random conspiracy group or tinfoil hatter saying that, it's Stratfor. You know, this one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratfor

Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't even a UK case. What do they care if Sweden wants to drop it?

Him skipping bail is a UK crime he has committed and is wanted for.

How many other wanted criminals or bail-runners could the UK police have caught for 10M+£?

The resource-usage is wasteful to the point of irresponsible.

Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#125
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're implying that Wikileaks did not release everything they have. Is this an assumption or is there evidence of this?

https://www.wired.com/2016/07/wikileaks-officially-lost-mora... Stating that Assange hoped that the leaks of the DNC emails would hurt the Clinton campaign clearly shifts WL from being 'just a conduit' for leaked material to being a political operator in its own right. An organization devoted to transparency should not have an agenda of its own, this in contrast to Assange's previous claims that he did not have a fav…

The Wired article makes Wikileaks look bad in other regards but does not contain evidence that material was not published. You implied that Wikileaks has a selective publication policy. I still don't see any evidence of that.

Of course it's hard to prove existence of what they didn't publish. And it is plausible their personal opinions would influence their publication decisions. But that's simply an allegation, not evidence of it happening.

Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#126
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.wired.com/2016/07/wikileaks-officially-lost-mora... Stating that Assange hoped that the leaks of the DNC emails would hurt the Clinton campaign clearly shifts WL from being 'just a conduit' for leaked material to being a political operator in its own right. An organization devoted to transparency should not have an agenda of its own, this in contrast to Assange's previous claims that he did not have a fav…

The Wired article makes Wikileaks look bad in other regards but does not contain evidence that material was not published. You implied that Wikileaks has a selective publication policy. I still don't see any evidence of that. Of course it's hard to prove existence of what they didn't publish. And it is plausible their personal opinions would influence their publication decisions. But that's simply an allegation, not…

Short of leak from within Wikileaks (or what's left of it) that will be a hard (or even impossible) one to prove. In the meantime, Assange taking sides in an election battle does not help to promote the independence of WL. There is other evidence of WL heavily editing their output so witholding stuff that does not suit their agenda would seem to be a reasonable assumption, absent hard proof to the contrary (which they could easily provide!).

Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Him skipping bail is a UK crime he has committed and is wanted for.

How many other wanted criminals or bail-runners could the UK police have caught for 10M+£? The resource-usage is wasteful to the point of irresponsible.

> The resource-usage is wasteful to the point of irresponsible.

Agreed, but that's not how the law works. The law should prosecute everybody they have on their lists, regardless of the economics, it should be a matter of principle rather than one of cost-benefit analysis.

Not saying that this isn't how it often turns out to be, but that's how it should be.

Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop spreading FUD. Wikileaks has not actively participated in any attacks. Wikileaks has exposed some of the most horrific crimes committed by the Unites States and others yet we are still trying to kill the messenger.

Serious question, what crimes has Wikileaks exposed? I'm sure there are some, but off the top of my head the most serious crimes the US has committed in recent history have been exposed by Snowden or Congressional investigations.

They leaked the Baghdad airstrike video that got people mad for a few days before not doing anything about it.

They also released tons of military files relating to the Iraq / Afghan war and Gitmo that confirmed a lot of popular theory about the goings on over there - torture, Geneva violations, etc.

Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#129
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question, what crimes has Wikileaks exposed? I'm sure there are some, but off the top of my head the most serious crimes the US has committed in recent history have been exposed by Snowden or Congressional investigations.

They leaked the Baghdad airstrike video that got people mad for a few days before not doing anything about it. They also released tons of military files relating to the Iraq / Afghan war and Gitmo that confirmed a lot of popular theory about the goings on over there - torture, Geneva violations, etc.

Sure, but torture in Guantanamo Bay was also the subject of a lot of coverage, including the results of an extremely detailed and exhaustingly documented Congressional inquiry, that I found to be of much greater value. I consider that inquiry to be much more valuable because, not only did it go into great detail when and why torture took place, but also demonstrated that torture resulted in no useful intelligence data.

Re: Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition in 2013

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Him skipping bail is a UK crime he has committed and is wanted for.

How many other wanted criminals or bail-runners could the UK police have caught for 10M+£? The resource-usage is wasteful to the point of irresponsible.

This[0] from 2016 shows 13,500 outstanding cases of those "who skipped court bail while facing charges including murder, child sex offences and rape" in the UK.

It appears that Assange can be tried for "Bail, failure to surrender"[1][2]. (Maximum 3 months sentence unless sent for trial.) I'm not aware that he's be charged with anything else, so, on the face of it, the money could have been more usefully dispersed to protect the public.

[0] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36024690

[1] https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/item/bail-fail...

[2] https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/bail

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