Assange

[Quizmonster]

His appeal against extradition to Sweden has been lost after nine months of consideration of it. Time for him to face the music at least and, if proven innocent, be released...otherwise, appropriately punished.
I've no doubt but that our own Supreme Court and those in Europe will drag this on for many more months yet, however.

[jake-the-peg]

Our own supreme court is the end of the road for appeals.

However this isn't really the point. His case is that this extradition request is effectively a subterfuge to force him to the US.

If he is extradited to Sweden and does end up getting sent to the US by some legal or illegal manoevering it will be an outrage and the protests will be long and vociferous in a way that they would not have been if he'd just gone volentarilly.

Hopefully he's made enough noise in resisting this to discourage the Americans from trying any dirty tricks - however their leaning on US financial institutions to make them boycott Wikileaks' bank accounts suggests not.

[Davethedog]

Jake ate you saying hes innocent? Have you read the full judgement?

http://www.newstatesm...ourt-european-warrant

[Zeuhl]

<<ate you saying hes innocent?>>

well he hasn't even been charged with anything let alone found innocent or guilty.

at present he is just wanted in Sweden to answer questions

[ichkeria]

Assange's claim that this is a backdoor way of getting him extradited to the US has always struck me as very unconvincing.
I'd have thought if anyone was going to accede to any such US demands it would be the UK and certainly not Sweden.
Personally I have no time for the bloke, whether guilty or innocent of any crime in Sweden. I enjoyed reading some of the leaks, but the whole moral premise of wikileaks is spurious to begin with. It's not even a wiki, for a start.
That said I certainly wouldn't support his being extradited to the US.

[joggerjayne]

He's being stitched up monumentally.

He publishes stuff that embarrasses the authorities.

Suddenly, the authorities "find" stuff suggesting he's a baddie.

Funny that.

Quelle coincidence.

[sandyRoe]

I can't believe that there's any country in the world where it would be easier to extradite someone to the USA than from here in the UK.
Am I wrong? Is Sweden that country?

[Zeuhl]

The americans already own Volvo and Saab.

If the swedes don't play ball the yanks will snatch Ikea.

That'll leave them just Bjorn and Benny.

[ichkeria]

Like many conspiracy theories, it starts to lose a bit of its credibility when you stop to think just how "round the houses" it is.
If the US want Assange why not just try to extradite him as quickly as possible. Why bother with all this nonsense of trumped up charges in Sweden etc etc and endless other extradition processes and appeals.
However, like all conspiracy theories you'll never convince anyone they're wrong - denial merely beomes part of the conspiracy (!)
In any case it wasn't Assange who did the "leaking". He just published what he was given and made a huge, and totally bogus, moral crusade out of it.
I'm all in favour of whistle blowing if there's something genuinely dodgy going on, but the vast majority of the leaks are diplomatic papers - fascinating to read, but they should not be public property - otherwise no one would ever have the confidence to make any confidential assessments about anyone ever anywhere.
Meanwhile, divulge what colour Assange's Y-fronts are and he'll sue the a** off you. Hypocrite.

[Quizmonster]

I'm surprised, but delighted, to see you in agreement with me, Ichkeria. Assange is a self-aggrandising con-man who uses others as cat's-paws and - catlike - tries to remain out of harm's way himself. The notion of extraordinary rendition from Sweden to the USA is a nonsensical smokescreen. Having said that, I rather wish it WAS America that had requested his extradition...and got it!

As I've said here before, "He's not the messiah; he's a very naughty boy!"

[ichkeria]

"As I've said here before, "He's not the messiah; he's a very naughty boy!"
Quizmonster:
Couldn't have put it better myself.
(Why are you surprised that I agree with you by the way (!))
I only disagree about the extradition to the US bit. Mich as I dislike Assange I also dislike the idea of the Americans pursuing him and making him into some sort of hero. I actually support his right to publish, provided he uses his discretion as to what he publishes (which I agree he las not beeen doing it seems). It's the people actually leaking from source who ought to be pursued.

[jake-the-peg]

The US has performed extraordinary renditions from Sweden before

Guess who blew the whistle on that?

http://www.swedishwir...d-by-swedish-military

[bazwillrun]

he hasnt been charged with anything yet he is extradited because of a European arrest warrant.

No charges made, no evidence needs to be heard here in the UK to see if the order is justified, just the orders of the EU.
Smart bit of work signing up to that.

They bark we wag....as usual

if only Hitler had been a bit more subtle and as insidious as the EU who knows
perhaps he would have succeeded in taking us over.

we can hand Assange over, but can we get rid of the muslim traitors...can we hell

[joeluke]

If he's not guilty of what he's accused of then he should man up and face the music

Claiming it's a thinly veiled plot to get him to the US smacks of a guilty man desperate to avoid extradition

[ichkeria]

"if only Hitler had been a bit more subtle and as insidious as the EU who knows
perhaps he would have succeeded in taking us over.

we can hand Assange over, but can we get rid of the muslim traitors..."

Wahayy! Godwin's Law+! Nazi Germany and Moslem traitors in one post! There must be a special term for that? AOGodwin's Law perhaps lol...

[DrFilth]

keep the people uninformed and to feed them rubbish answers. it comes from the best conditions in which mushrooms flourish "You keep them in the dark and feed them sh.t".

next stop america after sweden

[Quizmonster]

Jake, your link-article seems far more supportive of my view than of yours! Throughout, the information is that the Swedish government, military intelligence, police, newspapers and TV programme-makers all reacted strongly AGAINST the reported rendition, including the award of substantial financial restitution to the victim. Whatever makes you - or Assange - suppose these same people might now be all FOR such action?

Jayne, imagine you yourself believed you had been raped here in Britain by a visitor from South Africa, say. Further imagine that you reported your complaint to the authorities here and that they decided there was a case to answer. Would you consider it perfectly acceptable for the suspected assailant to skulk in Denmark, for example, and take vigorous steps to prevent his extradition back here? I doubt it, so what is the difference between that imaginary scenario and the real one involving Assange?

Ichkeria, I seem to recall an occasion on which our views were diametrically opposed. Silly of me, really, to imagine they always would be.

[Clanad]

News relative to this situation here in the U.S. seems to center more on the possible source for Assange's information, Q. An article a few months ago stated "...Assange said that he had "no information" when asked whether his organization had supplied Army Specialist Bradley Manning with software the would have allowed him to download classified documents."

Manning is the focal point here, at least. Obviously, if Assange had assisted Manning in using sophisticated electronics to download the leaked information, Assange could be charged with some form of espionage. Additional news sources also suppose accomplices of Manning's that are also 'persons of interest'...

[Quizmonster]

Hi, C. Having spent a sizeable proportion of my life in military service, as you know, I find treachery by military personnel one of the worst kinds of wickedness. Manning is where he belongs; I only wish that - if evidence is found that Assange was party to Manning's crime in some way - he should one day find himself in the dock, too.
Meantime, I'll settle for Stockholm!