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Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

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Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#311
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Surreptitiously removing a condom would be in character." You provide zero evidence for that naked assertion. > it's not all propaganda. If it has no evidnce and no substance as it seems no to, the rationale behind it is of academic interest alone. Maybe it's pure malice? Maybe it's jealous rage? Maybe it's delusional? Maybe it's propaganda? Maybe it's just not interesting what caused it - it shouldn't be to the le…

> If it has no evidnce and no substance as it seems no to, the rationale behind it is of academic interest alone. Maybe it's pure malice? Maybe it's jealous rage? Maybe it's delusional? Maybe it's propaganda? Maybe it's just not interesting what caused it - it shouldn't be to the legal process. Substance is everything. What seems like a strong lack of it here, stinks. What I'm doing is what you're doing and what ever…

I disagree on the strongest possible way with your characterisation of what you are doing based on reading of it. Information. The lack of it are key. Let us leave it at that.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

waking up with sex isnt the same as unconscious sex. and its apparent from the description in the article that it was consensual

The allegation is there was no consent. From the arrest warrant: > 4. Rape > On 17 August 2010, in the home of the injured party [SW] in Enkoping, Assange deliberately consummated sexual intercourse with her by improperly exploiting that she, due to sleep was in a helpless state.

sure he s accused of it. not the worst form of rape but still rape accusation. he should under normal circumstances go to court. but obviously the case is a part of a much bigger tangle here

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#313
post #102

By the way, Chelsea Manning (the actual leaker) has been in jail for just over 6 months - again - for refusing to testify in the Assange extradition case. If you're so inclined, send something to her legal defense fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/chelsea-manning-needs-...

Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years, but her sentence was commuted by Obama in part because she was transgender. She deserves to be in prison. https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/17/politics/chelsea-manning-sent... President Barack Obama on Tuesday overruled his secretary of defense to commute the sentence of former Army soldier Chelsea Manning, who was convicted of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents…

[deleted]

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it will prevent some of those attacks that the intelligence community precipitated. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack-drones...

This is exactly how terrorists are created. Some poor farmer is going to care more about feeding his family than commit suicide missions. People who lost their whole family from an American drone attack however...

> . People who lost their whole family from an American drone attack however...

Will continue to care about more about feeding their family.

There is no connection between being victim and becoming a terrorist or we in Italy should be all terrorists, because in the 70s a lot of people have been killed by state terrorists.

Lookup Giorgiana Masi, for example, or Stefano Cucchi.

Their families didn't kill anybody.

They just asked for justice.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. If Assange were betting a Trump administration would pardon him, he didn't do his homework on Trump.

I assume he did his homework on Clinton. Whatever else one thinks of Assange, he must have known what skeletons were in her closet.

We're off in speculation territory, but I think it's unlikely the situation would have been worse for him than it is now (unless one buys into the ridiculous "The Clintons have people killed" conspiracy theory, in which case I have the basement of a pizza parlor to sell if anyone's buying. ;) ).

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He did not rape anyone nor did anyone accused him of rape. He is being accused of a very specific thing which at best might be classified as sexual misconduct.

> He did not rape anyone nor did anyone accused him of rape That's false. > He is being accused of a very specific thing which at best might be classified as sexual misconduct. it's rape in Sweden. I don't know why you split hairs on this simple fact.

I will quote Stallman on that: "I think it is morally absurd to define “rape” in a way that depends on minor details such as which country it was in"

What he did does not fall within the definition of rape, please do not accuse him of doing a much worse thing than he did.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#318
post #35

Worth mentioning that Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, visited Assange and described his treatment as psychological torture: > “It was obvious that Mr. Assange’s health has been seriously affected by the extremely hostile and arbitrary environment he has been exposed to for many years,” the expert said. “Most importantly, in addition to physical ailments, Mr. Assange showed all symptoms typical for…

You quote:

> “Mr. Assange has been deliberately exposed, for a period of several years, to progressively severe forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the cumulative effects of which can only be described as psychological torture.“

That quote lacked information on who was exposing him and what that exposure actually was, so I followed your source. That source elaborates as follows:

> “In the course of the past nine years, Mr. Assange has been exposed to persistent, progressively severe abuse ranging from systematic judicial persecution and arbitrary confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy, to his oppressive isolation, harassment and surveillance inside the embassy, and from deliberate collective ridicule, insults and humiliation, to open instigation of violence and even repeated calls for his assassination.”

Apart from the last item, that all sounds either like hyberbole ("systematic judicial persecution" -- unless he is above the justice system, that's the system at work), or self-inflicted.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. If Assange were betting a Trump administration would pardon him, he didn't do his homework on Trump.

I assume he did his homework on Clinton. Whatever else one thinks of Assange, he must have known what skeletons were in her closet.

and yet all his worst fear have materialized now.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#320
post #134
post #35

Worth mentioning that Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, visited Assange and described his treatment as psychological torture: > “It was obvious that Mr. Assange’s health has been seriously affected by the extremely hostile and arbitrary environment he has been exposed to for many years,” the expert said. “Most importantly, in addition to physical ailments, Mr. Assange showed all symptoms typical for…

I find the idea of the threat of prosecution in a free country as a form of "torture" a bit questionable. It's something, but i'm not sure I agree with calling that torture.

> I find the idea of the threat of prosecution in a free country as a form of "torture" a bit questionable.

Yeah, it's funny how HN typically goes evidence-free where pet politics is concerned.

I'll eat my hat if someone on here can name a single precedent of someone being tortured in the U.S. before being tried for a crime similar to what Assange would be accused of.

Edit: and citations, please!

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