Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison • Hacker News Board

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#31

Post by DaiPlusPlus » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:23 PM UTC

nabla9 wrote: post #18

moksly wrote: post #10

Why is the WikiLeaks foundation responsible for the content posted on their platform, when Google and Facebook aren’t? I haven’t really been following this a whole lot, but as I understand it, the US wants him extradited because his platform was used to leak sensible information that put American soldiers in danger. But why is that a thing when it isn’t for other platforms? I mean, twitter, Facebook and YouTube have…

WikiLeaks is journalistic organization. (Some claim that they are shitty journalistic organization, but that is not a good argument for removing their status as journalistic organization) The question you should be asking is why Assange and not journalists in NYT, Guardian etc. who published what Assange provided? The answer is that charges against Assange are not about publishing secret information. Charges are Assa…

> Journalist should never get actively involved getting the secret information.

That's a problem given the importance of investigative journalism - which by its very nature may require breaking laws to get the goods. For example, the "ag-gag" laws in states with strong farm lobbies that make it effectively illegal to report on animal welfare issues because any honest attempt at investigating reports will necessarily mean breaking farmers' recent "privacy" laws.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#32

Post by pharke » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:24 PM UTC

flurdy wrote: post #15

I thought he would be released from remand when the Swedish charges were dropped. And then expected the UK gov to keep him at a psychiatric ward as he seems a little unstable which they could embellish. Did not expect him to still be in Belmarsh.

A morally responsible and ethical individual would do that. A government is no such thing.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#33

Post by sneak » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:25 PM UTC

foldr wrote: post #28

amelius wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the Russian government wants to leak information, why do they need WikiLeaks? Also, I'm curious, where is the line between investigative journalism and criminal disclosure of information?

The main issue here is criminal acquisition of information, not disclosure.

I am pretty sure the main issue here is that someone who has not been put on trial yet is being tortured to death.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#34

Post by sp332 » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:25 PM UTC

Angostura wrote: post #7

Are there any other sources on this?

Not sure which facts you're looking to have corroborated, but does this help? https://rsf.org/en/news/two-months-assanges-extradition-hear...

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#35

Post by kspacewalk2 » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:29 PM UTC

moksly wrote: post #10

Why is the WikiLeaks foundation responsible for the content posted on their platform, when Google and Facebook aren’t? I haven’t really been following this a whole lot, but as I understand it, the US wants him extradited because his platform was used to leak sensible information that put American soldiers in danger. But why is that a thing when it isn’t for other platforms? I mean, twitter, Facebook and YouTube have…

The US is accusing him of being more than just a passive receiving end for previously exfiltrated classified info. The allegation is that he actively encouraged Manning to obtain the diplomatic cables after he sent the helicopter video, and that Manning then downloaded them. That's a whole lot more than just being a leak host.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#36

Post by sp332 » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:29 PM UTC

jpz wrote: post #25

flurdy wrote: post #15

I thought he would be released from remand when the Swedish charges were dropped. And then expected the UK gov to keep him at a psychiatric ward as he seems a little unstable which they could embellish. Did not expect him to still be in Belmarsh.

He is in jail for the offence of jumping bail. That Sweden dropped the charges doesn’t dismiss that offence. The UK spent 10s of millions on policing costs monitoring abscondment. It is entirely right that he is serving a sentence as for reasons of deterrence.

He is not currently serving the sentence for jumping bail. Right now he is just being held waiting for a hearing.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#37

Post by sp332 » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:29 PM UTC

jpz wrote: post #27

kome wrote: post #16

uk, usa and aus are basically killing this man, with no fair trial.

He had a fair trial for the crime of jumping bail, and has been jailed for it.

Ok but he was not sentenced to this.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#38

Post by rcMgD2BwE72F » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:29 PM UTC

threeseed wrote: post #13

moksly wrote: post #10

Why is the WikiLeaks foundation responsible for the content posted on their platform, when Google and Facebook aren’t? I haven’t really been following this a whole lot, but as I understand it, the US wants him extradited because his platform was used to leak sensible information that put American soldiers in danger. But why is that a thing when it isn’t for other platforms? I mean, twitter, Facebook and YouTube have…

It is alleged that Assange coordinated with Chelsea Manning and the Russian government to obtain information for Wikileaks. This would make him an active conspirator in breaking the law. Completely different from Facebook, Google, Twitter etc where they merely provide a platform for others to upload content and aren't actively involved in sourcing illegal content.

Sure, but the Barton Gellman, from the Washington Post, coordinated with Ed Snowden to publish his leaks, too. Breaking the law in such a way is just not sufficient to explain why he ends up in prison.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#39

Post by rapsey » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:33 PM UTC

chmod775 wrote: post #6

sixQuarks wrote: post #2

I'm surprised Julian Assange doesn’t have a kill switch in place, where sensitive info which has been held up to this point will be released upon his death or conviction. At least none that we know of.

I'll read that as "[I'd be] surprised if Julian Assange doesn't have a [dead man's switch] in place". And indeed he does. Some time ago Wikileaks/Assange distributed an encrypted insurance file. The torrent is about 90GB: https://file.wikileaks.org/torrent/2016-06-03_insurance.aes2... There was actually multiple versions fo this file, each larger than the previous one. This is the most recent version afaik. It's like…

Yeah but that could also just as well be random data.

Re: Julian Assange “slowly dying” and “often sedated” in Belmarsh prison

#40

Post by glogla » Sat, Dec 28, 2019, 2:36 PM UTC

jpz wrote: post #25

flurdy wrote: post #15

I thought he would be released from remand when the Swedish charges were dropped. And then expected the UK gov to keep him at a psychiatric ward as he seems a little unstable which they could embellish. Did not expect him to still be in Belmarsh.

He is in jail for the offence of jumping bail. That Sweden dropped the charges doesn’t dismiss that offence. The UK spent 10s of millions on policing costs monitoring abscondment. It is entirely right that he is serving a sentence as for reasons of deterrence.

> The UK spent 10s of millions on policing costs monitoring abscondment.

They didn't have to. The fact they chose to throw ridiculous amount of money away besieging some guy because US dislikes him, is on them, not on Assange.