Earlier quoted context omitted.
From all accounts it's to do with Assange's behaviour. Helping to elect Trump and being an annoying guest is not something that helps people like you.
I'm honestly out of the loop. Is there concrete irrefutable evidence Assange helped electing Trump? Seems weird, even more so with them then turning around and pushing for his arrest. And being an annoying guest? Are you talking about the new rules introduced by the embassy only to be looked at later saying "you broke them"?
Julian Assange arrested in London
781–790 of 1001 posts
Re: Julian Assange arrested in London
#782It will be interesting to see if the US tries to extradite him. It's actually not 100% clear that he's broken any US laws in any ways that they aren't also routinely broken by newspapers. There's a few avenues: 1) Publishing classified information. Easy to show that he did this but a very difficult path to go down when American newspapers do this all the time. 2) Conspiracy to commit espionage. Probably the most like…
Breaking into government computers is a crime.
Re: Julian Assange arrested in London
#783Earlier quoted context omitted.
He is a dual national now, which only complicates any attempt, Australia's connection with Five-eyes and other military and political arrangements aside.
When has that complicated anything? Being a dual citizen is a huge benefit everywhere on Earth. For anyone with enough resources and time I'd encourage collecting citizenships like they were Pokemon.
Because usually you are treated as being a citizen of the country whose passport you are travelling on. If you flew to China and were arrested of a crime, you are much better off having used your US passport than the Malta passport you purchased, or worse, the Sudanese passport you bribed an official for.
Re: Julian Assange arrested in London
#784Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, moments before the arrest, many people in this thread were accusing him of paranoia/manipulative intents: >He claimed that his reason to do so was to avoid extradition to the US, but Sweden wasn't allowed to extradite him without UK's permission first [0]. He could've gone to Sweden and face the charges, and avoided this whole thing. But he had to make himself look like a victim of a conspiracy instead, and his…
The one about the CIA arresting or disappearing a man living in an Ecuadorian embassy in the center of London is interesting. Seems to imply the US can basically do anything anywhere and will if they want to, and really ignores the huge international fiasco from incredibly recently in the Khashoggi case. I like the think the people manning our intelligence agencies are a fair bit better than that personally. Although…
> The one about the CIA arresting or disappearing a man living in an Ecuadorian embassy in the center of London is interesting
Was arrested by local police and is currently sitting in UK Met Police jail.
Re: Julian Assange arrested in London
#785Earlier quoted context omitted.
The UK makes the US go through the legal extradition process, whereas Sweden has been happy to just let the CIA fly in and kidnap people completely outside the legal process. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repatriation_of_Ahmed_Agiza_an...
So why didn't they just do that while he was in Sweden? Having him under arrest in Sweden would make it more difficult, not easier.
Because as of leaving Sweden, they had only released the Collateral Murder video. The Iraq War documents and Cablegate happened while he was in the UK.
Re: Julian Assange arrested in London
#786Earlier quoted context omitted.
Australia is run by a bunch of corrupt neoliberal oligarchs burning the place to the ground on the way out the door They have "better" things to do than worry about some "peasant". Like their six figure pensions and lobbying deals
Is there a country who's citizens don't think their government is corrupt?
The Nordic countries, New Zealand, Switzerland and Singapore are perceived as least corrupt by experts and in opinion polls. Do the citizens agree?
Re: Julian Assange arrested in London
#787I just want to know, from the people who seemed to have turned against Assange, how do you know it's not a concerted disinformation / propaganda campaign to remove all his credibility and reduce public support? By my reckoning It's really hard to know what to even believe about a guy who might credibly be targeted by that.
Coordinating the releases of DNC emails with the Trump campaign is what did it for me. Wikileaks as a neutral outlet for leaking evidence of corruption is fine and in the past the worst anyone could say is that they were in way over their heads (remember the "insurance file"?). In 2016 Assange allowed politics to slip into the decision-making process, and gave up what credibility he and Wikileaks had.
Are you merely upset about the timing of the releases?
If so, when would have been a good time for them to release the evidence of DNC corruption?
Re: Julian Assange arrested in London
#788Being reported in The Guardian:
> Elisabeth Massi Fritz, lawyer for the Swedish woman whose case against Assange remains outstanding, has given the Guardian a longer statement:
> "My client and I have today received the news that Assange has been arrested in London. It did understandably come as a shock to my client that what we have been waiting and hoping for since 2012 has now finally happened. We are going to do everything we possibly can to get the Swedish police investigation re-opened so that Assange can be extradited to Sweden and prosecuted for rape. No rape victim should have to wait nine years to see justice be served.
> I have requested an urgent procedure [from the prosecutor to extradite Assange]."
https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2019/apr/11/wikileaks...
Re: Julian Assange arrested in London
#789It will be interesting to see if the US tries to extradite him. It's actually not 100% clear that he's broken any US laws in any ways that they aren't also routinely broken by newspapers. There's a few avenues: 1) Publishing classified information. Easy to show that he did this but a very difficult path to go down when American newspapers do this all the time. 2) Conspiracy to commit espionage. Probably the most like…
>It will be interesting to see if the US tries to extradite him. Scotland Yard has confirmed that Assange was arrested on behalf of the US after receiving a request for his extradition. https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2019/apr/11/wikileaks... Edit: Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charg...
This is why "breaking" news confuses as much as it informs.
Has he been arrested for skipping bail on a UK court warrant? Yes.
Has he been arrested on a US indictment for extradition? Also yes.
These are two separate arrests. It just happens that one was once he was already at a police station. http://news.met.police.uk/news/update-arrest-of-julian-assan...
Edit: apparently the Swedish extradition is spinning up as well.
Re: Julian Assange arrested in London
#790Free Julian Assange