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Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

bbc.com

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Re: Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

#391

Post by spacechild1 »

unknownus3r wrote: post #374
_xnmw wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not that he's an enemy of US government interests. Sure he is. The problem is the hypocrisy. The US claims moral superiority, advocates for the non-persecution of journalists, free speech, rule of law and judicial due process, "democracy" etc. in other countries, but it's all lies and hypocrisy. The US criticizes "authoritarian regimes" like Russia in cases like Navalny, whereas the US is no different…

Please show me any country on this earth that doesn’t have its share of hypocrisy. I cannot think of a single one. I know and agree that the US is hypocritical but abusing the law to get a guy who’s inciting American security personnel to break their oaths is not the same as poisoning a citizen of the same country for disagreeing over politics and it’s disingenuous of you to equate that. Just as many China boosters h…

There have been plans to kidnap and/or assissinate Assange: https://news.yahoo.com/kidnapping-assassination-and-a-london...

Re: Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

#392

Post by elif »

lenkite wrote: post #383
mrsuprawsm wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit of a sad sacrifice, though. Nothing (significant) has changed about the US's imperialism as a result of his disclosures, it's just mildly more acknowledged.

Most left journalists were dancing in joy when Assange got arrested. They never forgave him for exposing the Clinton emails and ensured he was heavily character assassinated over the next several years. He also became a victim of the #MeToo movement at its height. He was openly called evil/narcissist/etc in many "opinion" pieces. All the other important stuff he revealed never got the level of attention it deserved.

Yep. 100% this.

After 2016, i went from getting "oh you radical crazy commie" looks wearing a wikileaks shirt to immediately "oh you're a republican, let me guess you listen to alex jones and joe rogan?"

Re: Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

#393

Post by harry8 »

selectodude wrote: post #352
harry8 wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to nitpick right back at you, if Assange had not published his journalism and its source materials you'd never had heard of him and he would not qualify as famous. So that makes him a world famous journalist. The idea that Trump is famous for playing golf is risible is your point but it does not apply here. There is nothing else that gained Assange fame other than publishing more scoops than any other journalist…

Half-assed document dumps aren't journalism. He's a leaker, he didn't put any of the documents in context.

He leaked /nothing/. No really. Absolutely nothing.

He published documents leaked by others as supporting evidence for his journalism and to allow other journalists to use the source material. The documents were redacted in partnership with the Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, El Pais, Le Monde and various others who also linked the source documents.

As soon as you have a standard for what doesn't qualify as journalism because you don't like it you have state controlled media.

The sheer quantity of lies about what he did or didn't do is really quite mind-boggling - it's so easy to check.

Re: Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

#394

Post by Ensorceled »

mcv wrote: post #76
Ensorceled wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if I post something criticizing China's policies towards, say, Tiawan or the Uyghurs, I must include some criticism of a random terrible US policy or I'm a hypocrite? Do I need to also include a criticism of, say, Russia's policies towards the Ukraine or is it only the US?

You must criticise every single injustice on Earth at once, or we just cannot take you seriously. (I shouldn't have to point out that was sarcasm, but I fear I need to, these days.)

Yeah, whataboutism is pretty common on HN, unfortunately.

I know it's a pretty common troll tactic on Reddit and Twitter, it's a shame to see it here.

Re: Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

#395

Post by shadowgovt »

vanusa wrote: post #315
pydry wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect Assange doesn't regret this. I kind of get the impression that becoming a martyr was a sacrifice he was prepared to make if he managed to rip off the mask and expose the unbridled imperialist evil lurking underneath the "civilized press conference veneer" presented by the US government.

What matters here is rule of law (and the fact that we live in a time where it is being increasingly eroded) - not Assange's internal psychological machinations.

Rule of law is being followed. A lower court judge ruled that there was a risk that Assange's well-being could not be safeguarded in the American system. A higher court judge reversed that ruling on assurances from the US that his well-being would be guarded. Now they have an opportunity to an appeal to a still-higher UK Court.

What's inconvenient here is that the rule of law is operating in the context that the US and UK are allies and therefore take each other's statements on good faith. The United States assures he will be protected, they are not an enemy nation, and there are extradition treaties between the US and the UK. Unless the UK has some kind of carve-out for countries with bad track records of keeping their word, that might be sufficient to satisfy the rule of law.

Re: Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

#396

Post by elif »

RivieraKid wrote: post #309
kstenerud wrote: post #204

This should be a sobering view of how the world really works. Above a certain threshold, every veneer of civilization vanishes no matter what the country (some have a higher threshold than others). At this level, only power matters. And the first rule of power is: Don't embarrass the powerful unless you can call on a lot of power to defend yourself. Laws can't protect you; they can be thwarted and bent, and the legal…

But you're assuming that the UK court made a decision that is against their law. Why is extradition an incorrect decision?

UK extradition requires generally that it also be a crime to commit in the UK.

It is dubious that soliciting government documents and publishing them would be illegal in the UK.

Re: Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

#397

Post by kingcharles »

sschueller wrote: post #3

"But judges ruled the risk of suicide was removed by assurances from the US." Like Epstein? Let this be a point, there is no press freedom in the United States.

Having just recently got out of jail, I can tell you it is infinitely easy to kill yourself. You would not believe the ingenuity of some of those attempts and successes.

If the institution gets a hint that you are suicidal you will be placed in some sort of anti-suicide cell, which generally means that you are in solitary, you wear a paper or foam suit with no other clothing, you have no bed linen or any paper materials in your cell, and all your food comes on foam trays without any cutlery and has to be eaten with your fingers.

Re: Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

#399

Post by shadowgovt »

beebmam wrote: post #279
vbezhenar wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are countries which do not bend before others. Russia, China, Iran to name a few examples. They can protect those fleeing from the West. Just like West can protect people from those countries. World is not unipolar.

Is this a joke? The entirety of those countries citizens are subject to their own government's tyrannical rule

Edward Snowden is currently hiding from US power projection in Russia. He is of course beholden to Russian law; I assume if he were gay he'd be having a much worse time of it. But the specific point here is that it is possible to hide from the US in the territory of a country that does not answer to the US.

Re: Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

#400

Post by echopurity »

kstenerud wrote: post #204

This should be a sobering view of how the world really works. Above a certain threshold, every veneer of civilization vanishes no matter what the country (some have a higher threshold than others). At this level, only power matters. And the first rule of power is: Don't embarrass the powerful unless you can call on a lot of power to defend yourself. Laws can't protect you; they can be thwarted and bent, and the legal…

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