Julian Assange loses extradition appeal at Supreme Court

[Murph7355]

Colonial said:

It is not rape as recognised under any laws except for Sweden.

If someone was alleged to have committed rape here (or in Australia, Colonel ), and absconded to a country that did not hold the same view of what rape is, would we (the public) not want them back here plus haste to answer the questions (and/or charges)?

If the Swedish want one of their nationals back, they should have him. We'd expect the same in return and Sweden is hardly some tin pot corrupt country. Whether this leads to further trouble for him or not is tough st. One might have assumed that someone putting themselves in the firing line as he has done might have been a LOT more careful with his potential liberty...

Anyway, if the US want him, hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy isn't going to help him long term...He might actually be better off and being held somewhere secure!

[Carfolio]

TTwiggy said:

In many ways, I think it would be a good thing for the USA to get their hands on him (not from his point of view perhaps), as it would be intriguing to see what 'the land of the free' would charge him with.

It would be hard for them to maintain their 'world police' stance, if they were essentially trying a non-national for a capital offence, just because he revealed some 'truths'. Because surely that would be the action of a despotic regime?

They do far more despotic things every day. This would be relatively civilised by their standards.

[AJS-]

Very Soviet to all this. Just as he started releasing the juicy stuff, he got accused of rape in a country that has never refused an extradition to the US. The only thing I'm not sure about is why he couldn't be extradited directly from the UK - we seem to have ready enough extradition to the US, and surely Sweden is bound by the same (ECHR?) requirement not to extradite people who will face the death penalty.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Marf said:

So to reiterate I believe the accusations are false.

I'm sure your "belief" will be highly persuasive in court. No wonder Assange is trying to run away and hide!

[Finlandia]

AJS- said:

Very Soviet to all this. Just as he started releasing the juicy stuff, he got accused of rape in a country that has never refused an extradition to the US. The only thing I'm not sure about is why he couldn't be extradited directly from the UK - we seem to have ready enough extradition to the US, and surely Sweden is bound by the same (ECHR?) requirement not to extradite people who will face the death penalty.

Read about Swedish history, especially events during the WW2 and straight after, maybe you will find something about Baltic extraditions. Assange wouldn't be the first extradition with less than favourable odds.

[Halb]

TTwiggy said:

In many ways, I think it would be a good thing for the USA to get their hands on him (not from his point of view perhaps), as it would be intriguing to see what 'the land of the free' would charge him with.

Also, it might mean wikileaks release everything they have, if they haven't already.

[Marf]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Marf said:

So to reiterate I believe the accusations are false.

I'm sure your "belief" will be highly persuasive in court. No wonder Assange is trying to run away and hide!

Of course it will Comrade Ozzie, I am god and the Swedish legal system bows before me.

[Halb]

Marf said:

Of course it will Comrade Ozzie, I am god and the Swedish legal system bows before me.

That's a nice to know.

[Marf]

Halb said:

Marf said:

Of course it will Comrade Ozzie, I am god and the Swedish legal system bows before me.

That's a nice to know.

You've gone all Italian on us Halb.

[williamp]

AJS- said:

Very Soviet to all this. Just as he started releasing the juicy stuff, he got accused of rape in a country that has never refused an extradition to the US. The only thing I'm not sure about is why he couldn't be extradited directly from the UK - we seem to have ready enough extradition to the US, and surely Sweden is bound by the same (ECHR?) requirement not to extradite people who will face the death penalty.

or, he is in somehting up to his neck and blackmails governments with his "secrets" unless he is let off. They call his bluff, so we releases the "secrets" and does the poor me, whole governemts are after me etc...

[AJS-]

williamp said:

AJS- said:

Very Soviet to all this. Just as he started releasing the juicy stuff, he got accused of rape in a country that has never refused an extradition to the US. The only thing I'm not sure about is why he couldn't be extradited directly from the UK - we seem to have ready enough extradition to the US, and surely Sweden is bound by the same (ECHR?) requirement not to extradite people who will face the death penalty.

or, he is in somehting up to his neck and blackmails governments with his "secrets" unless he is let off. They call his bluff, so we releases the "secrets" and does the poor me, whole governemts are after me etc...

So why not prosecute him for what he's done, where he's done it? Rather than trumping up some rape charges in Sweden?

To a casual observer, events unfolded like this:

Governments doing quite a lot of shady things with our money, in our name and keeping them secret from us.

Someone in their organisations releases these secrets to an investigative journalist.

Investigative journalist then gets a bunch of unrelated charges laid against him by a country with very easy extradition to the US.


Is he self-aggrandizing, sympathy seeking and looking after number one first? Probably. Not sure about blackmailing governments. Any reason to think so? It doesn't anyway change things. Hearing the sanctimonious talk of him putting people's lives at risk, from the architects of a 10 year military folly in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a bit rich.

[Murph7355]

AJS- said:

So why not prosecute him for what he's done, where he's done it? Rather than trumping up some rape charges in Sweden?

To a casual observer, events unfolded like this:

Governments doing quite a lot of shady things with our money, in our name and keeping them secret from us.

Someone in their organisations releases these secrets to an investigative journalist.

Investigative journalist then gets a bunch of unrelated charges laid against him by a country with very easy extradition to the US.


Is he self-aggrandizing, sympathy seeking and looking after number one first? Probably. Not sure about blackmailing governments. Any reason to think so? It doesn't anyway change things. Hearing the sanctimonious talk of him putting people's lives at risk, from the architects of a 10 year military folly in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a bit rich.

Don't speak for all casual observers.

To this one it's more:

Bloke decides to leak info he knows will cause trouble to create st storm and generate publicity and cash for own good.

Bloke dips wick where he shouldn't in home nation. Chickens out on facing his accuser.

Bloke legs it to supposed soft touch country and starts coming up with all manner of reasons why he shouldn't be sent home.

Etc

Personally I don't think wiki leaks has or will change anything. It's mildly amusing at times to see people in power hoisted by their own petard. But this has always happened over time, and for the truly "powerful" the outcome is always the same, with the odd exception dotted about (e.g. Nixon. Though he hardly died poor now did he).

Bearing in mind the guy's profile I can't see him facing the death penalty, though a serious prison sentence will probably ensue. He knew the risks when he set out on his futile mission though.

[Guybrush]

samwilliams said:

Guybrush said:

Also odd (not?), that the media did not show anything of what he said at the Leveson enquiry.

As far as I'm aware, he didn't appear at the Leveson Enquiry, so it would have been more concerning had the media fabricated something to suggest he did! He submitted a statement, which was reported in the media and is available for anyone to read on the Leveson website.

If you're going to have conspiracy theories, at least make them harder to refute.

I was referring to his Leveson Enquiry statement, not that he was there (looking again at what I wrote, it does look as if I impled that) - I maintain it's odd that what he said was not reported in the (ok, mainstream) media. I feel sure the charge is fabricated.

[RichyBoy]

What is he worried about? We've got this muslim terrorist in wembley that we haven't been able to get rid of for years, on top of all the other criminals that have managed to stay here. He should get a cat or start a family.

[singlecoil]

Murph7355 said:

Personally I don't think wiki leaks has or will change anything. It's mildly amusing at times to see people in power hoisted by their own petard. But this has always happened over time, and for the truly "powerful" the outcome is always the same, with the odd exception dotted about (e.g. Nixon. Though he hardly died poor now did he).

[samwilliams]

Guybrush said:

I was referring to his Leveson Enquiry statement, not that he was there (looking again at what I wrote, it does look as if I impled that) - I maintain it's odd that what he said was not reported in the (ok, mainstream) media.

How about these?

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/medianews/artic...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/apr/05/wikile...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/leve...

(sorry - I don't have anything to do at work at the moment so thought I'd have a look!)

[AJS-]

Murph7355 said:

AJS- said:

So why not prosecute him for what he's done, where he's done it? Rather than trumping up some rape charges in Sweden?

To a casual observer, events unfolded like this:

Governments doing quite a lot of shady things with our money, in our name and keeping them secret from us.

Someone in their organisations releases these secrets to an investigative journalist.

Investigative journalist then gets a bunch of unrelated charges laid against him by a country with very easy extradition to the US.


Is he self-aggrandizing, sympathy seeking and looking after number one first? Probably. Not sure about blackmailing governments. Any reason to think so? It doesn't anyway change things. Hearing the sanctimonious talk of him putting people's lives at risk, from the architects of a 10 year military folly in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a bit rich.

Don't speak for all casual observers.

To this one it's more:

Bloke decides to leak info he knows will cause trouble to create st storm and generate publicity and cash for own good.

Bloke dips wick where he shouldn't in home nation. Chickens out on facing his accuser.

Bloke legs it to supposed soft touch country and starts coming up with all manner of reasons why he shouldn't be sent home.

Etc

Personally I don't think wiki leaks has or will change anything. It's mildly amusing at times to see people in power hoisted by their own petard. But this has always happened over time, and for the truly "powerful" the outcome is always the same, with the odd exception dotted about (e.g. Nixon. Though he hardly died poor now did he).

Bearing in mind the guy's profile I can't see him facing the death penalty, though a serious prison sentence will probably ensue. He knew the risks when he set out on his futile mission though.

His accuser. Interesting, not to say significant that it's one of the few crimes where she isn't expected to put a name to it.

His homeland.
As far as I know he is Australian, and the Australian government have no charges against him.

Agree that wikileaks in and of itself will not change the world, but if it goes along with Chernobyl and Tiananmen Square in showing that an autocratic elite doesn't have all the answers, then it serves a useful purpose. And I'm on the side of the student protesters and the radioactive dust that defies current political will.

[Ozzie Osmond]

RichyBoy said:

He should get a cat or start a family.

Not sure about that; it seems to be the pussy which got him into trouble.

[AndrewW-G]

samwilliams said:

How about these?

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/medianews/artic...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/apr/05/wikile...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/leve...

(sorry - I don't have anything to do at work at the moment so thought I'd have a look!)

All the articles have the same slant . . . . .Assange thinks people are libeling him and he's being treated as badly as the McAnns . . . .which is a tad ironic given the gross inaccuracies of a large chunk of his website!

[samwilliams]

AndrewW-G said:

All the articles have the same slant . . . . .Assange thinks people are libeling him and he's being treated as badly as the McAnns . . . .which is a tad ironic given the gross inaccuracies of a large chunk of his website!

Well, that is exactly what he claimed in his statement to the Leveson Inquiry. It's quite an entertaining insight into his mind if you've got a few minutes to kill.