The diplomatic crisis surrounding Julian Assange's deportation

[The Monkey]

So I'm guessing most of you are aware of the pending deportation of Julian Assange from Britain to Sweden. Ecuador has now given political asylum to Assange, but he is trapped in the Ecuadorian embassy, with few chances to make it out of there and escape to Ecuador.

Here's an article to brush up on the latest: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19314618

I find it interesting how Assange on the past year has gone from seemingly being a protector of freedom of speech, to a paranoid conspiracy theorist. Ecador is at best a semi-democracy, where journalists are frequently imprisoned and where there are laws against criticizing the state , yet he would rather endorse and support that system than face the Swedish justice system. Seems to me he's nothing more than a coward and a hypocrite.

Thoughts?

 

[ríomhaire]

I wonder how likely the Swedish and British courts are to actually extradite him. I can't really blame him for his paranoia. If I'd pissed off the US government I'd probably be pretty paranoid myself. It's easy to say he should just face the Swedish police/courts for the crimes he's accused of (and well, he should) but I can see why he's worried enough to take drastic action.

 

[The Monkey]

The risk that he will be extradited from Sweden to the US are minimal. Firstly, the Americans haven't even got a warrant for his arrest at this point. Secondly, they can only extradite if the alleged crimes are also illegal in Sweden (and as far as I know, they aren't). Thirdly, they can't extradite him if there is any chance he will be given the death penalty, so if the Americans charge him with espionage (for example), it would be illegal for the Swedish justice system to deport him. But it is illegal (indeed unconstitutional) for any Swedish officials to make any guarantees in this matter, as that would count as "minister rule" (where a ministers interferes in the dealings of any single specific case, whether juridical or otherwise).

I am wondering where Australia stands on this matter, surely as Assange's home country they must give their approval before any deportations are made from Britain/Sweden?

 

[KoreBolteR]

The thing is.. Julian assange had consensual sex with two females without a condom and the mighty elite cry 'rape'. Its a vicious vendetta against a man who wants to pull the lid off the terrorist governments of the US and UK. The UK have done what their master (US) wants by keeping him here... Now they're preventing him from leaving! You say equador has a semi-democratic system... However the US and most of Europe have NO democracy...

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

 

[Stigmata]

The US State Department, speaking about this, has claimed that the US "does not recognise the concept of diplomatic asylum". So I'd say there's a pretty high chance of him being extradited.

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/p...ot_recognize_the_concept_of_diplomatic_asylum

 

[The Monkey]

The thing is.. Julian assange had consensual sex with two females without a condom and the mighty elite cry 'rape'. Its a vicious vendetta against a man who wants to pull the lid off the terrorist governments of the US and UK. The UK have done what their master (US) wants by keeping him here... Now they're preventing him from leaving! You say equador has a semi-democratic system... However the US and most of Europe have NO democracy...

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

It's not that simple, one of them said Assange had sex with her while she was sleeping, which is clearly an offence. I would however agree that's it's a bit strange. Keep in mind though that the Swedes haven't issued a warrant for his arrest, they simply want to bring him in for questioning, which I think would be standard procedure in a case like this. Might be they interrogate him for an hour and then drop the case.

 

[KoreBolteR]

It's not that simple, one of them said Assange had sex with her while she was sleeping, which is clearly an offence. I would however agree that's it's a bit strange. Keep in mind though that the Swedes haven't issued a warrant for his arrest, they simply want to bring him in for questioning, which I think would be standard procedure in a case like this. Might be they interrogate him for an hour and then drop the case.

do you think this would be happening if assange didnt expose the evil goverments though? I do not think so! The elite control the media and everything around us these days, its sickening! you see big world figures get killed after the elite tar them with the wrong brush.... and they pay the witnesses or indivuduals hefty sums to vouch for their interests. I used to watch mainstream media...... no more!

PS - Its nice to see you after all this time Monkey!

 

[ríomhaire]

Kore if you want people to take you seriously you might want to stop speaking exactly like a stereotypical conspiracy nut. I'm not saying you should stop saying the things that you think, but you could seriously put some work into your presentation.

 

[Russian Mafia]

assange lost his "credibility" when he started to work for that russian state owned tv channel

RT is state funded, not state owned, like Voice of America.

I thought that I read that Ecuador was willing to let Assange be extradited to Sweden if Sweden made a legal guarantee to not extradite him to a third country, which they refused.

 

[ríomhaire]

RT is state funded, not state owned, like Voice of America.

I thought that I read that Ecuador was willing to let Assange be extradited to Sweden if Sweden made a legal guarantee to not extradite him to a third country, which they refused.

They didn't refuse, they simply can't make such a promise. Extradition is a court matter and the Swedish government can't tell the courts what to decide.

 

[Stigmata]

But doesn't the extradition have nothing to do with the rape case? It happened (if it indeed happened at all) in Sweden. The extradition to America is about Wikileaks.

 

[KoreBolteR]

Kore if you want people to take you seriously you might want to stop speaking exactly like a stereotypical conspiracy nut. I'm not saying you should stop saying the things that you think, but you could seriously put some work into your presentation.

This is the typical response. People cannot get it into their heads and simply brush it off with ''your conspiracy nuts''. of course i'm not stupid, i dont believe everything I watch... at least I dont watch mainstream media which is utter bullshit. I urge those who don't take me seriously to do some research online! Riomhaire, I can see why you say conspiracy nut, because it is so hard to believe. Explain what you believe the term 'conspiracy nut' means to me. Thanks mate

But doesn't the extradition have nothing to do with the rape case? It happened (if it indeed happened at all) in Sweden. The extradition to America is about Wikileaks.

Sweden should guarantee no extradition to the USA, as it has no link to the Swedish case at all

 

[The Monkey]

Sweden should guarantee no extradition to the USA, as it has no link to the Swedish case at all

No one has talked about Assange being extradited to the US because of the rape charge. What Assange fears is that once he's in Sweden, the US will file a separate charge, to do with his works in Wikileaks, and the Swedes would then hand him over. His reasoning is a bit odd though, as Britain has far more developed extradition treaty with the US than Sweden does, so if the Americans do want him, they would be better served to demand his extradition while he is in Britain.

 

[ríomhaire]

Sweden should guarantee no extradition to the USA, as it has no link to the Swedish case at all

They cannot. It is against their constitution. For the Swedish government to guarantee such a thing they would have to alter the constitution. It would be like Barrack Obama telling someone they won't be tried for murder. The Swedish government do not have control over the decisions of the Swedish courts. I think you'd agree that if they did that would be a very bad thing. If Swedish government officials were arranging it so that any extradition case against Assange would ne throuwn out that would be a conspiracy.

 

[kineaesth]

This is the typical response. People cannot get it into their heads and simply brush it off with ''your conspiracy nuts''. of course i'm not stupid, i dont believe everything I watch... at least I dont watch mainstream media which is utter bullshit. I urge those who don't take me seriously to do some research online! Riomhaire, I can see why you say conspiracy nut, because it is so hard to believe. Explain what you believe the term 'conspiracy nut' means to me. Thanks mate

I think he just means the way you write your posts

 

[Krynn72]

i dont believe everything I watch... at least I dont watch mainstream media which is utter bullshit. I urge those who don't take me seriously to do some research online!

This made me laugh. "Dont believe what you watch on TV, believe what you read on the internet!!!"

As for what this thread is about, I dont really have much of an opinion. In any other case I'd agree that he should turn himself in to face the allegations, but in his circumstance, I can't really blame him for not wanting to do so. I certainly wouldn't put it past any government to do all sorts of shady and/or illegal shit to bury him once they get their hands on him (and it wouldnt surprise me in the least if the Swedish government was talking with the US about him). Even if he is completely innocent, he could be royally ****ed with no way to defend himself. Thats not to say it WOULD happen, but were I in his position, I'd be seriously contemplating on the odds.

Seriously, if you were considered an enemy to pretty much every major superpower government in the world, would you trust any of their justice systems to act righteously? Gitmo is evidence enough for me to decide how I'd answer that question.

 

[Stigmata]

This made me laugh. "Dont believe what you watch on TV, believe what you read on the internet!!!"

Keep in mind that the American "mainstream media" is all of about 6 companies who are practically in bed with both each other and the government. And it's not like we just take the internet at face value either; you cross-reference with the understanding that no story is ever the whole story.

 

[V-Man339]

Sweden has gone on record saying they would not say whether Assange would be deported to the U.S.
I don't support rape, and that's what he did, but the fact that they held off on actually filing suite until interest was this high in getting him to the U.S. combined with Sweden's statements say it all; the only reason the lawsuit truly exists is to get him to the United States.
In addition, you can take note of the fact that an Australian is stuck in the United Kingdom running from the United States through Ecuador under the pretenses of a lawsuit in Sweden.
What's really remarkable, if anything, is that this many parties are
A. Willing to deminish the meaning of rape even further (really, though, that's nothing on what the U.S. is dealing with on a native level right now...)
B. Ignoring the fact that for the first time in history someone is fleeing the United States instead of going to it over matters of political persecution.
This is less one group going after another, more the symptom of a massive paradigm shift in the long run.

 

[The Monkey]

Sweden has gone on record saying they would not say whether Assange would be deported to the U.S.
I don't support rape, and that's what he did, but the fact that they held off on actually filing suite until interest was this high in getting him to the U.S. combined with Sweden's statements say it all; the only reason the lawsuit truly exists is to get him to the United States.
In addition, you can take note of the fact that an Australian is stuck in the United Kingdom running from the United States through Ecuador under the pretenses of a lawsuit in Sweden.
What's really remarkable, if anything, is that this many parties are
A. Willing to deminish the meaning of rape even further (really, though, that's nothing on what the U.S. is dealing with on a native level right now...)
B. Ignoring the fact that for the first time in history someone is fleeing the United States instead of going to it over matters of political persecution.
This is less one group going after another, more the symptom of a massive paradigm shift in the long run.

Read the thread, it wound be unconstitutional for a Swedish official to make any guarantees regarding Assange's possible deportation to American. A Swedish minister cannot interfere in the handling of a specific case.