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Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

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Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#761

I am going to hold the celebrations until we are sure there isn't anything else on the horizon. He isn't getting a pardon and being declared free and clear of charges in the US is very difficult. Who knows what state prosecutor might want to bring new state charges. He may also be wanted as a material witness. If I were him I wouldn't set foot outside Australia ever again.

My understanding is that a pardon cannot be granted without a conviction.

He is getting a conviction. This is a plea deal. He will be admitting to the crime of conspiracy after which he will be a convicted by the court. He will then be a convicted felon and could be pardoned, but I doubt that is really an option. (Not 100% on the felony thing, I haven't seen how this is being charged.)

Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#762

As a fellow aussie I'm proud of Assange. I am kind of surprised other Australians feel the same because we're kind of a nation of bootlickers. I'm curious what happens now though. If he returns to Australia. Is he actually going to have real freedom and privacy? Or is this going to be kind of superficial where everything he does is monitored by like 5 different agencies and he can't even use the Internet. Like, I've…

we arent bootlickers, thats just our politicians and business leaders.

How do the politicians get elected then? You're not (on average) bootlickers but do prefer to be ruled by bootlickers?

Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#763
post #647
post #45

JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREE Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stanstead airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK. This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators…

1901 days in prison, after all that time since 2012 holed up in a room in the Ecuadorian embassy first.

He was in isolation in a high security prison without having been convicted of any crimes since 22 September 2019. He was only released after 'admitting' that he was guilty...

I think the UK and US should abstain from criticising any countries' courts and justice system after that...

Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#764
This is almost bringing me to tears today. I am happy he's finally going to be free but I am still in deep sadness because this is not the world we are supposed to living in. With all of our knowledge and technology we are still doing horrible things as a civilization and we have lost control of our leadership. This scares me a lot because it is a growing problem and every day it seems like humanity is losing more and more of itself to evil and greedy powers that be. Assange did a great thing by exposing corrupt and criminal behavior at the highest levels and got such a inhumane treatment from the most powerful organizations on earth. He should not have been punished, he should have been protected and praised and his case should be a matter of study on every school on earth.

Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#765

The whole saga is an interesting lesson in how a noble cause can end up helping anti-democratic forces. Assange gave the public invaluable information that would not have been know otherwise, but he ended up playing right into the hands of the people who wanted to discredit Clinton. Politics is complicated.

Played into the hands? Didn't Assange personally hate the Clinton's, that seems less played into the hands of and more intentional?

If you actually read all the material on the Clintons, it's hard to imagine anyone not hating them. That's just evidence the man's got a soul.

Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#766
Reminder, for context, since news stations that should know better are parroting the narrative that he published unredacted stuff as soon as he got it, instead of What Actually Happened:

https://web.archive.org/web/20110901064746/https://wikileaks...

Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#767

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't want my government acting like my ex-girlfriend. When presented with evidence of her infidelity, her first and only reaction, "Who sent you those screenshots?! It was Sarah, wasn't it? You know she hates me. Why are you talking to her?!"

A better analogy would be if one of your friends had dirt on your whole friend group. One of those people then (allegedly) threatens your friend, and as a result they release information to harm everyone BUT the one who threatened them. "Sarah's" information might be accurate, but her choosing what information to reveal makes her actions suspicious.

This "fairness" angle (if true) is such an embarrassing reach.

IDGAF if Russia and China do the same things. I ASSUME they do them.

The west enjoys the "free world" moniker and the distinction it implies. It should be held to an accordingly higher standard.

Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#768

I'd encourage people to read this excellent piece in the London Review of Books by someone who was contracted to ghostwrite Assange's autobiography, and who initially felt very sympathetic towards the aims of Assange and Wikileaks: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v36/n05/andrew-o-hagan/ghost... I found it very insightful and nuanced when it comes to Assange and his motivations, presenting him as neither hero nor vill…

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Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#769

I am going to hold the celebrations until we are sure there isn't anything else on the horizon. He isn't getting a pardon and being declared free and clear of charges in the US is very difficult. Who knows what state prosecutor might want to bring new state charges. He may also be wanted as a material witness. If I were him I wouldn't set foot outside Australia ever again.

My understanding is that a pardon cannot be granted without a conviction.

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Re: Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free

#770
post #540

The whole saga is an interesting lesson in how a noble cause can end up helping anti-democratic forces. Assange gave the public invaluable information that would not have been know otherwise, but he ended up playing right into the hands of the people who wanted to discredit Clinton. Politics is complicated.

Clinton is not democracy. Anti-Clinton is not anti democracy. Being anti the US government is not anti democratic. And no, letting USA or any other nation for that matter commit war crimes quietly does not support democracy.

This has the same energy as labelling any critique of Israel anti-semitic
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