Scuttle...scuttle!

[Quizmonster]

So Assange has gone to seek refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy, much to the surprise of high-profile suppporters such as Jemima Khan and Vaughan Smith, in whose Norfolk mansion he was 'sheltered' for many months.
José Miguel Vivanco, director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, found it an astonishing choice given that - apart from Cuba - Ecuador has the worst record in the region of protecting its OWN crusading journalists and activists.
Ms Khan apparently commented on Twitter, "I had expeected him to face the allegations."
I think he should, too...what about you?

[doctordb]

It's a good job not all accusations of rape are dismissed so easily.

[MoonRocker]

Read NOX's post, it's not dismissed "easily"

[doctordb]

I have. Nothing in nox's post mentions the two women and their side of the story. I don't know if he's guilty or not, that is for a court to decide. How do you know he is innocent? Are your views based on knowledge of the case, assange, or your opinion of US policy.

[doctordb]

Apologies. hands up i read the wrong post.

[jno]

In what way is Mr Assange innocent of such a crime under American law?

in the until-proven-guilty kind of way, I suppose. His concern seems to be whether the procedure in place would actually allow his innocence to be demonstrated.

[whiskeryron]

// About time he got his cumuppence. Hiding wont help him in the long run.//

So what has this guy actually done ? He has allowed the world to see articles that are considered so secret that the general public are banned from seeing them, & was this in Russia or China or North Korea Or any other closed communist country ? No this was in the United States the land of the free where some are free-er than others. Forget the rape charge which is simply a trumped up idea because they couldn't think of anything else to get him on.

[FredPuli43]

Why the "charade" with Sweden ? How is it easier to get him from Sweden to the US than from here to the US ?

If it isn't easier, then the "charade" is pointless. Or, the charade is not, in fact, a charade but some prosecutor enthusiastically going for a result, in good faith, on what Swedish people regard as a crime.

The US hasn't, apparently, applied for his extradition yet. How are they going to get him out of Sweden without doing that?

[sandyRoe]

Why hasn't whoever leaked details of 'duck house refurbishments', flipping homes, and other parliamentary dodges, had his collar felt? He leaked some very embarrassing stuff.
I think we'd all like to see Assange have his day in court. I'm not so sure many would like to see him have another day in an American court facing charges related to Wikileaks.

[NOX]

Fred please read my response regarding how and why it is easier to extradite him from Sweden- I don't feel there is a need to repeat myself as my first answers cover it if you read them.

[FredPuli43]

"Temporary surrender" is incorporated in the EU-US Extradition and Mutual Legal Agreements of 2010 nox, for the whole EU. What is said to be unique now about Sweden having it, therefore?

[Quizmonster]

I'm pleased to see, Fred, that you are on much the same 'side' as I am in this matter. The authorities in Sweden appear to believe Assange has an accusation - even if not an actual charge - to answer within THEIR jurisdiction in the matter of his sexual activities. Similarly, some in authority in the USA appear to believe he has an accusation to answer within THEIR jurisdiction in the matter of the traitorously-gotten material he then published.

I believe he should answer BOTH in the two appropriate places. I trust, therefore, that the Americans have a well-founded and legal application for his extradition already prepared, whether here or in Sweden.

[NOX]

Fred for the hundredth time the UK’s extradition treaty does not have the temporary surrender clause- nothing to do with the 2010 EU- US treaty whatsoever- just google it if you don't believe me- and historically Sweden has NEVER refused an extradition request from the US, wheras of course the UK often does so vehemently. In addition the conditional release regime has previously been used in an identical way to the way that Mr Assange is afraid it might be. the Us and Panama set up a similar scheme to enable the swift dispatch of drug lords etc and this is the contents of a cable relating to the way the US likes to extradite people who have got up it's nose.

''use of Conditional Release, under which the GOP [Government of Panama] releases to the US a suspect already under arrest in Panama on other charges. Under this procedure, the suspect is "lent" to the US for prosecution on the condition that they will be returned for prosecution in Panama at the end of their sentence. This procedure is much faster than a formal extradition, and has proven so successful, that DEA sometimes designs operations to bring suspects to Panama on a pretence so they can be arrested in Panama and turned over to US authorities quickly. - US Embassy Panama Cable, 2008.

Would you seriously surrender yourself to that lot, Fred, I mean would you?

The legal adviser to US State Department and National Security Council in the US has also said that before they consider requesting extradition from the UK or Sweden they would
' judge the political and social 'atmosphere' of both countries'- meaning take their pick of which one they feel might be more ready to hand him over without a small riot starting.
Now let's think about this- would that be the UK, which for all it's many faults has a healthy amount of people who are yelling long and loud about what is clearly a huge set up, or would that be Sweden where they have orchestrated allegations of the most unpleasant kind- no-one likes either a rapist or a child molester- it's a guarantee that the public will be against him and not give a toss what happens to him just in case it's true however unlikely it seems.

Quizmonster I find your naivete in this matter to be nothing short of astounding in a man who clearly has an otherwise sharp intellect

[Quizmonster]

Thanks for the compliment, but "naivete", Nox? Is it naive to hope that someone suspected of crimes should face up to the accusations? If your sister felt she had been raped, would you find it acceptable that the suspect simply hung around in a stately home in France (say) and then scuttled to the Zambian embassy (say) rather than coming to Britain to face questioning?
As I've said on AnswerBank several times previously, I clearly have no idea whatsoever - and nor do you - whether Assange is guilty or not re the Swedish accusations. However, if - as seems to be the case - he is interested only in bleating from abroad and scuttling for shelter, then we are never going to find out, are we?
I'm in my mid-70s and have not yet descended into a second childhood, so my days of naivete are long since gone!