Julian Assange arrested in London • Hacker News Board

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#521

Post by codedokode » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:57 PM UTC

criley2 wrote: post #476

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #274

and considering the public mood after a several year campaign to demonize Wikileaks and Assange by the US media, chances are pretty high that he will rot in a US prison for life or have his ashes thrown into the sea the same way as they did with Osama bin Laden. The US is a terror state that uses torture and secret prisons. I hope that EU countries will stop extradition asap.

It's pretty shocking here to see pro-fascist comments like this which reward the Russian Intelligence operation called "Wikileaks" and its constant war against democracy, liberty and free elections in not just the U.S., but also Europe. Sometimes you have to wonder why folks this guy truly hate the U.S. and the West and side openly with mediocre spies involved in intelligence operations against his own home. But this…

Calling a mere website "a weapon of war" is a little overstated I think.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#522

Post by lucozade » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:57 PM UTC

patrickaljord wrote: post #348

lucozade wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He hasn't been arrested for seeking asylum. He's been arrested for jumping bail. He was on bail facing extradition for rape and sexual molestation charges. He sought asylum the moment he knew he would have to face those charges. So you're correct. Seeking asylum isn't the same as being above the law. It's the same as avoiding being subject to the law. I can't say I see the distinction as being especially material.

> He was on bail facing extradition for rape and sexual molestation charges Just to be precise the actual charge is that he was accused of having sex without a condom without telling his partner.

From Wikipedia.

> On 18 November 2010, Marianne Ny ordered the detention of Julian Assange on suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual molestation and unlawful coercion.

Are you saying that that's not true? I don't speak Swedish so I can't go back to the actual documentation to check myself.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#523

Post by scotchmi_st » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:57 PM UTC

belorn wrote: post #487

I would like to locate all HN comments which said he never would get arrested on behalf of the US, and that Assange objections was all just pretense for trying to escape justice from the UK/Swedish legal system.

The second statement doesn't follow from the first. He was both wanted for questioning in a rape investigation _and_ wanted for extradition to the US.

You can both want him to face charges for rape, and also not want him to be extradited to the US.

The lack of regard for a rape case against him (mostly by male commenters, it has to be said) is very troubling.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#524

Post by injb » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:59 PM UTC

envy2 wrote: post #506

Salamat wrote: post #481

Any possible relation to the arrest of Assange? IMF board approves $4.2 bln financing deal with Ecuador March 11 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved the $4.2 billion financing deal with Ecuador https://www.reuters.com/article/ecuador-imf/imf-board-approv...

That article is a month old——so, unlikely.

I don't see how that makes it unlikely. This has probably been months in the making.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#525

Post by shawnz » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:59 PM UTC

criley2 wrote: post #476

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #274

and considering the public mood after a several year campaign to demonize Wikileaks and Assange by the US media, chances are pretty high that he will rot in a US prison for life or have his ashes thrown into the sea the same way as they did with Osama bin Laden. The US is a terror state that uses torture and secret prisons. I hope that EU countries will stop extradition asap.

It's pretty shocking here to see pro-fascist comments like this which reward the Russian Intelligence operation called "Wikileaks" and its constant war against democracy, liberty and free elections in not just the U.S., but also Europe. Sometimes you have to wonder why folks this guy truly hate the U.S. and the West and side openly with mediocre spies involved in intelligence operations against his own home. But this…

Have you considered that Assange's supporters don't think he is pro-fascist or that he hates the US? Why don't you try justifying those points instead of just calling everyone here pro-fascist like it's so obvious?

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#526

Post by hallihax » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 1:00 PM UTC

fixermark wrote: post #429

hallihax wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt anybody involved in targeting and suppressing Wikileaks post-2016 is leaking their plans to Wikileaks itself.

Why? Every organization has whistleblowers. By the same token that Chelsea Manning leaked the state department cables, one can imagine a middle-tier operative with differing political ideology dropping a hint.

Sure, it's definitely a possibility - but not a likely one. The people in charge of any such operation against Wikileaks would be particularly mindful of their own operatives leaking to WL itself.

There's no reason whatsoever to assume WL has any information about anything at any given time, unless they've publicly suggested that they have.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#527

Post by foldr » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 1:01 PM UTC

throwawaylolx wrote: post #500

belorn wrote: post #487

I would like to locate all HN comments which said he never would get arrested on behalf of the US, and that Assange objections was all just pretense for trying to escape justice from the UK/Swedish legal system.

Yeah, moments before the arrest, many people in this thread were accusing him of paranoia/manipulative intents: >He claimed that his reason to do so was to avoid extradition to the US, but Sweden wasn't allowed to extradite him without UK's permission first [0]. He could've gone to Sweden and face the charges, and avoided this whole thing. But he had to make himself look like a victim of a conspiracy instead, and his…

Hmm? This just goes to show that the USA didn't need to manufacture rape allegations in Sweden just in order to get Assange extradited, since their best chance of doing so was to extradite him from the UK.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#528

Post by vinceguidry » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 1:01 PM UTC

ehrtt wrote: post #111

tramtrist wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also feel the same way. He may have committed some heinous crimes outside of the actual hacking/leaking but to say we all didn't benefit from what we learned regarding how our government spies on us would just be flat out wrong..

> He may have committed some heinous crimes outside of the actual hacking/leaking Pretty serious throwaway comment without stating what "heinous crimes" were apparently committed..

If they were heinous then a) they wouldn't have needed a sealed indictment, and b) the US couldn't possibly claim jurisdiction, surely the country he committed them in would have laws covering it. So we can dismiss the possibility.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#529

Post by ben_w » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 1:02 PM UTC

belorn wrote: post #487

I would like to locate all HN comments which said he never would get arrested on behalf of the US, and that Assange objections was all just pretense for trying to escape justice from the UK/Swedish legal system.

The ease by which the US can extradite him from the UK is precisely why I thought poorly of the claim that he felt his life was endangered by going to Sweden.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#530

Post by hu3 » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 1:02 PM UTC

Crosseye_Jack wrote: post #383

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #274

and considering the public mood after a several year campaign to demonize Wikileaks and Assange by the US media, chances are pretty high that he will rot in a US prison for life or have his ashes thrown into the sea the same way as they did with Osama bin Laden. The US is a terror state that uses torture and secret prisons. I hope that EU countries will stop extradition asap.

> or have his ashes thrown into the sea the same way as they did with Osama bin Laden. The UK won't extradite if the death penality is on the cards. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/41/section/94

They might just let him rot in Guantanamo instead of executting. I don't know which one is worse.