Abuses show Assange case was never about law • Hacker News Board

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#81

Post by JudgeWapner » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:47 PM UTC

NelsonMinar wrote: post #71

YUMad wrote: post #63

The guy ran and seeked asylum because he feared he will 'be made an example of' by USA. He sat in that tiny room for 6 years while US actors were working hard to smear him as a rapist and Russian puppet, while insinuating that everyone who claims USA is targeting Assange, or that there are indictments just waiting for his arrest is a conspiracy theorist. The moment he was removed from the embassy protection (again, a…

The Russian puppet claims only started after Wikileaks started acting like a Russian puppet.

it's not like he sold them uranium or something.

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#82

Post by JudgeWapner » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:50 PM UTC

wbhart wrote: post #79

NelsonMinar wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Russian puppet claims only started after Wikileaks started acting like a Russian puppet.

Is there verifiable intelligence to support this? I recall the Roger Stone story which didn't look like it had much depth to me. And I know Assange had a show on RT for a while. But has any evidence surfaced of an actual conspiracy involving Wikileaks and the Russians? I did notice a big uptick in what I thought was right wing, pro-Trump statements on their twitter feed, and especially on Assange's twitter feed, shor…

> especially on Assange's twitter feed, shortly after Trump was elected.

which was just a couple months after Assange stopped signing anything with his PGP key.

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#83

Post by cheeseomlit » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:51 PM UTC

nutjob2 wrote: post #80

cheeseomlit wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How's that? Leaking info about corruption in a political party doesn't make them Russian puppets just because you happen to be a member of that party.

Doing the Russians' bidding by enabling their interference in the US presidential election and openly stating his preference as to the result destroyed any possible credibility as a "journalist" and made him look very much like a Russian puppet. He dug his own grave.

>Doing the Russians' bidding by enabling their interference in the US presidential election

How specifically did he do this? Publishing 'Collateral Murder' embarrassed a lot of people in Washington and probably affected elections afterwards, yet I never heard anyone make these accusations back then. And this hysteria about Russia over 40k worth of Facebook ads and some twitter bots is outrageous, Facebook/Twitters policy of censoring conservatives likely has a much more significant effect on elections than those ads and bots ever could.

>openly stating his preference as to the result destroyed any possible credibility as a "journalist" and made him look very much like a Russian puppet.

The entirety of the corporate media openly stated their preference during the election as well, to put it lightly.

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#84

Post by wbhart » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:53 PM UTC

JudgeWapner wrote: post #82

wbhart wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there verifiable intelligence to support this? I recall the Roger Stone story which didn't look like it had much depth to me. And I know Assange had a show on RT for a while. But has any evidence surfaced of an actual conspiracy involving Wikileaks and the Russians? I did notice a big uptick in what I thought was right wing, pro-Trump statements on their twitter feed, and especially on Assange's twitter feed, shor…

> especially on Assange's twitter feed, shortly after Trump was elected. which was just a couple months after Assange stopped signing anything with his PGP key.

Interesting observation. I didn't know Assange signed his tweets with a PGP key. What I find odd though is that he hadn't got a message out of the embassy through supporters such as Pamela Anderson that his twitter feed was compromised.

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#85

Post by Tomte » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:54 PM UTC

wbhart wrote: post #67

According to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, who just visited Assange [1], he has fallen gravely ill and shows all the signs of prolonged psychological torture. Apparently at first he assumed Assange was just a good actor, but after visiting him it had become clear to him and the medical experts with him that this is a case of treatment amounting to psychological torture, the likes of which (psychological, not…

> that this is a case of treatment amounting to psychological torture

I don't deny his symptoms, but I strongly deny that "his treatment" by others led to those symptoms.

His own decisions and actions, namely, to live in a cramped room for years, and not going to see a doctor, led to those.

Now, you may argue that he was right to do so. But it was by his own volition. Sweden would have given him first-class medical treatment and much better living conditions, even if he would have been put in a prison cell (which isn't too likely).

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#86

Post by mistersquid » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:57 PM UTC

YUMad wrote: post #63

The guy ran and seeked asylum because he feared he will 'be made an example of' by USA. He sat in that tiny room for 6 years while US actors were working hard to smear him as a rapist and Russian puppet, while insinuating that everyone who claims USA is targeting Assange, or that there are indictments just waiting for his arrest is a conspiracy theorist. The moment he was removed from the embassy protection (again, a…

If the USA does in fact seek to make an example of him, it's important to answer whether Assange should stand trial for the crimes the USA alleges he has committed.

I think the answer to that question is yes. Assange should stand trial and, more importantly, the verdict rendered should be fair and just.

The verdict will have implications for journalism and the First Amendment, and insofar as Assange has acted under the auspices of free speech and journalistic integrity, I believe he should be found not guilty.

Insofar as he has acted as an enemy of the United States and outside the jurisdictional domain of journalism, such a verdict may be more difficult to justify.

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#87

Post by [deleted] » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:57 PM UTC

nutjob2 wrote: post #80

cheeseomlit wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How's that? Leaking info about corruption in a political party doesn't make them Russian puppets just because you happen to be a member of that party.

Doing the Russians' bidding by enabling their interference in the US presidential election and openly stating his preference as to the result destroyed any possible credibility as a "journalist" and made him look very much like a Russian puppet. He dug his own grave.

[deleted]

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#88

Post by nutjob2 » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:58 PM UTC

cheeseomlit wrote: post #83

nutjob2 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doing the Russians' bidding by enabling their interference in the US presidential election and openly stating his preference as to the result destroyed any possible credibility as a "journalist" and made him look very much like a Russian puppet. He dug his own grave.

>Doing the Russians' bidding by enabling their interference in the US presidential election How specifically did he do this? Publishing 'Collateral Murder' embarrassed a lot of people in Washington and probably affected elections afterwards, yet I never heard anyone make these accusations back then. And this hysteria about Russia over 40k worth of Facebook ads and some twitter bots is outrageous, Facebook/Twitters po…

Releasing emails from the DNC is one thing, but releasing them with timing especially to have maximum political impact against one candidate is another thing entirely.

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#89

Post by wbhart » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:58 PM UTC

Tomte wrote: post #85

wbhart wrote: post #67

According to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, who just visited Assange [1], he has fallen gravely ill and shows all the signs of prolonged psychological torture. Apparently at first he assumed Assange was just a good actor, but after visiting him it had become clear to him and the medical experts with him that this is a case of treatment amounting to psychological torture, the likes of which (psychological, not…

> that this is a case of treatment amounting to psychological torture I don't deny his symptoms, but I strongly deny that "his treatment" by others led to those symptoms. His own decisions and actions, namely, to live in a cramped room for years, and not going to see a doctor, led to those. Now, you may argue that he was right to do so. But it was by his own volition. Sweden would have given him first-class medical t…

I agree with you. I believe he even offered to present himself to Sweden if he could be guaranteed that he would not be extradited to the US. A Swedish prison would be a country club in comparison. But I think the concern of the UN here is that the circumstances were prolonged due to the refusal of all states to abide by a more or less binding UN ruling.

Re: Abuses show Assange case was never about law

#90

Post by Tomte » Fri, May 31, 2019, 5:01 PM UTC

wbhart wrote: post #89

Tomte wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that this is a case of treatment amounting to psychological torture I don't deny his symptoms, but I strongly deny that "his treatment" by others led to those symptoms. His own decisions and actions, namely, to live in a cramped room for years, and not going to see a doctor, led to those. Now, you may argue that he was right to do so. But it was by his own volition. Sweden would have given him first-class medical t…

I agree with you. I believe he even offered to present himself to Sweden if he could be guaranteed that he would not be extradited to the US. A Swedish prison would be a country club in comparison. But I think the concern of the UN here is that the circumstances were prolonged due to the refusal of all states to abide by a more or less binding UN ruling.

> more or less binding UN ruling

Less. As in "not at all binding".