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Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules

bbc.com

341–350 of 792 posts

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

#341
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The jury will be sequestered to avoid media influence. This is common practice in high-profile cases. The judge will set firm boundaries for what the jury can and cannot consider in their deliberations and while the jury is actually free to use any criteria they want, it will be very heavily implied that they cannot. The court will do everything in their power to make the jury believe they must convict based on the e…

The media work starts before the trial starts.

... and anybody who's been exposed to it is excluded from the jury.

Yes, that means juries are usually composed of uninformed idiots. Lawyers mostly like it that way.

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

#342

I’m from the US and from my perspective he’s certainly an enemy of my country and working to undermine it. A country cannot function if nameless underlings do not carry out the agenda set forth by the elected and appointed people in charge. There are many problems with entrenched bureaucracy but having secrets leaked weakens American power and our government’s ability to handle the problems we face. If you see mudge’…

If you love America then why would you allow brazen warmongers to put us trillions in debt, profiting immensely while doing so? Do you have any idea how far America's international reputation has fallen? Do you have any conception of the debt that has been incurred in the name of the American taxpayer? Do the lives of millions of dead and tens of millions of displaced people around the world mean nothing to you?

Assange showed America necessary truth, and even as you admit this you argue Americans would be better left ignorant, digesting whatever shit the billionaire class decide to feed them. That's not just short sighted, my friend, it's fucking evil. That's not hyperbole - that's evil by about every definition ever invented.

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

#343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most infuriating among all of them has been our media - specifically mainstream media. They have played the entire saga down and in many cases many mainstream media pundits actively espoused for Assanges punishment [1]. I no longer hold the view that our media deserves the first amendment protection that it does. Mainstream media right now has no other purpose other than being active vehicle of the powerful and b…

> I no longer hold the view that our media deserves the first amendment protection that it does. That, uh, might be a bit of an overcorrection.

Well can you elaborate why you think it is? Because the way I see it, it gives unwavering and constitutionally guaranteed way for billionaires to control the narratives - in addition to the power they already have been wielding through owning politicians using lobbyists and having protection through section 230 in all the stakes they own in the social media companies.

That’s what has been happening in the media space - Murdochs, Turners and Bezos now own vast sum of media sphere. And social medias just use them as proxy for “fact checks”.

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

#344

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…

This is in micro scale, so perhaps this is why the power imbalance is so painfully clear. This is one guy against the whole might of the US.

Of course events like this have been happening for centuries, recent decades included. The people in various countries caught up in wars had their lives ruined or lost. At best, this was despite all efforts to safeguard them and a price to pay for some greater good, at worst footnote to some uncaring Grand Plan. The end result is the same though.

The machine of Western Democracy devours those who cross it hard enough. Maybe to protect those inside the bubble, or maybe because it's still floating in the same Big Bad World as the less democratic counterparts around the world.

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

#345
post #164

And this is why I find all the posts around China and why people/company should be ostracised for dealing with them hypocritical.

The hearings would've concluded far more quickly if they we're held in China, that's for certain.

Hearings? lol, he’d have vanished in the middle of the night and that’s it

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

#346
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assange is more of an editor / publisher. This is akin to the Washington Post publishing the Pentagon Papers. As a reminder, this is why the US wants to punish Assange: > Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians > https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-a...

If you think that is the information that he is being punished for is that video, you clearly did not look at what he leaked closely enough. Likewise, if you think leaking the pentagon papers is the same as leaking all diplomatic cables and operational communications from a period of time is the same thing, not sure I can say much to change your opinion.

I am sorry but you are confused here. The irresponsible leak of all the unredacted cables was not done by Wikileaks but by a Guardian journalist. https://wikileaks.org/Guardian-journalist-negligently.html

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

#347
post #288
post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to nitpick on your logic a little. Your first two statements might be true without the statement that he is a world famous journalist is. Trump is world famous, and he's a golfer. But he's not a world famous golfer, at least not in the usual sense of the word.

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…

I knew him as the founder and director of Wikileaks, and that Wikileaks collaborates with a number of publications to get the content of some classified information known to the general public. I didn't know that Julian Assange wrote much himself and in similar fashion worked directly as a journalist. So I'd say that at least one person (me) knew about him without knowing him as a journalist.

Your last sentence make it sound like understood the complete opposite of what I said.

Anyway, I'm not interested in having a discussion about Julian Assange, where I think we probably are on the same side. I just wanted to make a the small side remark about the fault in the logic.

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

#348
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.

I suspect Assange does not want to be tortured and murdered and thus does not want this. Are you insane ?

I doubt the US intends to murder him.

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

#349

I’m from the US and from my perspective he’s certainly an enemy of my country and working to undermine it. A country cannot function if nameless underlings do not carry out the agenda set forth by the elected and appointed people in charge. There are many problems with entrenched bureaucracy but having secrets leaked weakens American power and our government’s ability to handle the problems we face. If you see mudge’…

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 in treating those it deems to be enemies of the state.

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

#350
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.

I suspect Assange does not want to be tortured and murdered and thus does not want this. Are you insane ?

Not wanting what’s coming, and regretting his choices are not the same thing. He fought the good fight, I hope that’s worth something to him.
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