You believe it is a choice between prison in Sweden and exile in Ecuador.
Assange is not going to be found guilty of the crimes for which he is wanted for questioning. Even if he had committed these crimes, the nature of the crimes is such that there is not and cannot be enough evidence to prove it to the extent required by law in any civilised country. He’s already been questioned about them while he was in Sweden, offered to be questioned again without being extradited (for which there is precedent in Swedish law) and even to return to Sweden if he received a guarantee to not be handed over to the US.
I do not believe that Sweden and the United Kingdom are going to these lengths just because they want to talk to him in person again about a couple of one night stands he had two years ago, where the women found out about each other and then told the police they hadn’t really consented. At best, they are making an example out of him because they don’t want anyone - criminals or other countries - to think that you can just hop the border to escape justice.
That is an interesting issue - if Manning had not already taken copies of the information - but had contacted Assange with an offer to make such copies and thence to forward them - then Assange is very likely guilty of conspiracy. It puts a different slant of how the US would view him. However, and I think this is key, the US should (and I imagine, would) simply issue a warrant for his arrest on conspiracy charges. The UK would have probably shipped him over by now if they had. There is still no credible path by which the US is secretly conniving with Sweden to ship him off to Gitmo. Sweden certainly has nothing to gain by it, and a great deal to lose.
I doubt (but willing to be proved wrong) that such conspiracy charges would be viewed as political enough to directly get Assange protection as someone being politically persecuted. There is a difference between setting up Wikileaks as a haven for people up upload “leaked” information and actively soliciting for people to break the law. Then again, Assange has not been exactly razor sharp in his handling of many things.
This is something I’m wondering about myself. The US has a long, long history of conducting secret ops in Latin America. If the US really is after Assange, then he really would be far safer in a Swedish jail than walking around the streets of Quito. Or Caracas. Or Sao Paulo. The only Latin American country that stands a halfway-decent chance of protecting him is Cuba. And then, you have the problem that you’re living in fucking Cuba
Which suggests that perhaps he’s quite concerned about being found guilty of rape in Sweden, and is pursuing the asylum angle purely as a means of staying out of prison.
Which again suggests he is not thinking clearly, because there is a good chance that a year in jail in Sweden is much more comfortable than a life time in south America.
I do think this is it, Assange used to during interviews before this whole thing blew up brag about how he was a world citizen not beholden to any nation, and that his continual travel made it impossible to prosecute him and wikileaks. He made great effort to say the rules have changed and in the modern world nation states are powerless, turns out that might not be so true.
The USA has been detaining and harassing those who have been linked to Wikileaks.
Legal myths about the Assange extradition by David Allen Green a respected British lawyer and blogger writing for the left wing NewStatesman magazine. Long story short: the idea that Assange will be extradited from Sweden to the US to face the death penalty is completely retarded. He is much more likely to be extradited from the UK, but hasn’t been, and even then the death penalty is completely off the table due to the ECHR and overt government policy from every EU member in refusing to extradite somebody who would face the DP or torture.
Irrespective of what you think of Wikileaks, Assange cannot be allowed to escape justice or make a fool out of the English legal system. Prima facie he has a case to answer in Sweden and his alleged crimes would have constituted rape under English law as both the High and Supreme Courts in London have both attested. He is accused of penetrating a sleeping woman explicitly against her will and of raping another without a condom explicitly against her wishes whilst holding her arms down so she could not reach a condom to her obvious discomfort. If true, clearly rape in any Western legal jurisdiction.
Further, Assange cannot be allowed to make a mockery of the EAW system. The EAW was valid, it’s stood up to scrutiny in multiple English courts, including the highest in the land, as well as a Swedish court in Sweden. This is now something the EU as a whole has to take a stance on.
Finally, Ecuadorean diplomats have clearly interfered into a private matter between two EU states. The charges that Assange is facing political persecution are ridiculous. I’d support the British government rallying support for the entirety of the EU cutting off diplomatic contact with Ecuador if need be in retaliation.
Where has Assange been getting money from? Or is his family wealthy?
He married at 17 and had a son, and also has a daughter according to wikipedia. This is what they say for employment:
Ok most of these are free software projects, he is obviously bright and skilled but employment these are not. He is good at self promotion though. Why would someone as bright and skilled as him not need or not want a paying job?
The dude has spent years traveling the world and apparently living off female groupies, for real?
well, he burnt a lot of celebrities in Britain who put up funds for his bail money. Haven’t heard if the Crown is planning on applying for the money actually to be forfeited or not.
Assange was charged months after the biggest leaks had been released, I believe at a time when WikiLeaks was nearly bankrupt. Is it your contention once someone does something the U.S. government dislikes that we should default to assuming any crime they are accused of anywhere in the world for the rest of their lives is a frame job?
Consider this: Assange is basically a drifter, with no permanent home and no roots anywhere in Europe. I would suggest that someone with a drifter mindset is more likely to flout the law, because in the back of his mind he always figures that he can skip town if things get hot. Guys like him are the archetypal example of a flight risk.
Assange addressed the media sunday from the balcony of the embassy, several anonymous sources claim he has amenities provided by supporters like a sun lamp and treadmill and real bed which has replaced the air mattress. Most importantly he has a laptop and internet access, repeatedly it says that as long as he has that he is comfortable, so he is not uncomfortable at all.
I think that is what he really wants, he is happy to live off handouts and donations and as long as he has a computer and internet access he is cool. Being sensible and cooperating is not the way to get this, he doesn’t want to resolve his legal issues and fade from the spotlight. He wants to milk all this attention for as much free shit as possible, as long as it keeps him in laptops and internet he is cool.
