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Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

bbc.com

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Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#171

Post by objektif »

homonculus1 wrote: post #112
trpc wrote: post #74

There were, not long ago, times when Assange was considered a saint of freedom after he exposed the corrupt Bush administration, the liberals everywhere were defending him and his case everywhere, they even made a Hollywood film about him. But he then made the mistake of his life, he exposed the corruption of the Clintons and got implicated in the Russia gate meme because Trump somehow won. Now he is totally on his o…

In fairness to the ultra liberals of HN, there is still plenty of support for Assange around here so your brush may be a touch broad.

Well he still has a valid point about spineless partizans.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#172

Post by jimbokun »

colejohnson66 wrote: post #88
pjc50 wrote: post #38

It's not torture if you can leave at any time. He wasn't being held in the embassy, he was hiding there.

Ah, the old “he was free to leave anytime” argument. No. He wasn’t. Yes, technically, he was free to leave, but arguing that is ignoring the fact that leaving would mean jail. It’s victim blaming. Would you say a victim of Stockholm Syndrome is “free to leave at any time”? No, because that’s a ridiculous argument. Would you say Snowden is “free to leave [Russia] at any time”? No! So why is it an acceptable argument w…

"Yes, technically, he was free to leave, but arguing that is ignoring the fact that leaving would mean jail."

Didn't it mean he would be free to stand trial for the rape allegations?

Do those women not have a right to have their case heard?

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#173

Post by lucozade »

authoritarian wrote: post #141
solipsism wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Either there's a rule of law or there's not. You can't hide from the police and then claim that the very act of hiding is an act of torture enacted on you by the police.

[flagged]

Please don't.

Assange jumped bail after a multi stage judicial process on charges of rape and sexual molestation.

Ms Frank was hiding to avoid genocidal extermination by an occupying force during war.

They're not equivalent.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#174

Post by duxup »

maze-le wrote: post #154
duxup wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"free country"... oxymoron of the century by now...

What would you define a "free country" as?

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#175

Post by chungus_khan »

black_puppydog wrote: post #128
sambe wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He could leave the embassy at any time, which is where the purported damage was done. He is now in prison, where he cannot leave it any time. Melzer visited him recently in prison, thus your quote. It seems pretty clear. The parent may be lacking in nuance for his situation, but it is correct.

They were waiting in front of the embassy 24/7. We can now see that he was exactly right in his prediction of what would happen if he left, and how. He's been held in solitary confinement, itself already widely regarded as torture. Saying "he could have left" in this situation, after being shown exactly how that would have/did go down, is like camping out in front of your ex-girlfriend's house with a baseball bat, th…

In addition, he didn't even know if it would be a real arrest and just solitary confinement considering the CIA's reputation.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#177

Post by happytoexplain »

BigJ1211 wrote: post #89
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"didn't really want to participate" is basically the definition of sexual assault.

If we go by that definition then everytime your partner is horny and you're not, but you have sex with them regardless you're "sexually assaulted". As you didn't really want to participate.

True, but I think the parent's absolutism is closer to reality than your absolutism. I.e. it's essentially a pointless semantic argument - "didn't really want to" doesn't have enough context to decide in either direction.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#178

Post by femiagbabiaka »

Bostonian wrote: post #160
geofft wrote: 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…

Whistleblowers do not deserve to be in prison. Exposing war crimes is good.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#179

Post by DiogenesKynikos »

turtlesdown11 wrote: post #100

He is an odious figure who has been improperly deified. I'm not sure why folks love his self-aggrandizing, reckless behavior. The guy helped Russia destabilize the globe, resulting in our current geopolitical situation, for his own selfish goals rather than any other. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate released information exposing bad behavior by governments (Snowden, etc). Just not this guys selfishness and cooperati…

A lot of people liked Assange back when he had only yet published information about corrupt politicians in the Third World. Some people abandoned Assange when he published information about US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some people abandoned him when he published information about the back-room dealing of US diplomacy. Some people abandoned him when he published embarrassing information about a Democratic Presidential candidate.

As for destabilizing the globe: some would say the people Assange has exposed are the ones destabilizing the world.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#180

Post by goerz »

k1m wrote: 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…

> Mr. Assange’s health has been seriously affected by the extremely hostile and arbitrary environment he has been exposed to for many years

Let me correct that: Mr Assange’s health has been seriously affected by the environment that he exposed himself to

(Edit: I’m talking about the embassy episode here, not his more recent incarceration)

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