He looks really crook in the pics of him being evicted from the embassy. Now maybe that was intentional (growing the beard and appearing weird), but if not, then my take is that Julian is actually suffering from a mental illness that needs addressing.
The whole business about keeping his bathroom clean and taking better care of his cat fits with that.
The de facto house arrest combined with not knowing what the future holds would likely extract a heavy emotional toll.
I don’t say that out of any sympathy. He brought it on himself.
This is an important question! Apparently he gave it away to a friend last year.
From the NYT,
:: purrs ::
The DOJ under Obama never brought charges against Assange for publishing stuff, because of the “NYT problem.” Sessions came in and said fuck that.
If someone dumps a package on Assange’s porch and he publishes it, he’s protected (or should be) under the first amendment
If he knowingly agrees to act as a foreign agent, he’s not (or shouldn’t be).
And there’s a gray area in between those, where a lot of “legit” journalists operate.
Apparently they’re not charging him for publishing, but for hacking. Obviously not protected.
Literally, it seems!
And suddenly, Labour MPs and Lords have discovered that it’s really important that Asante be extradited to Sweden to face the sex assault charges, which should take priority over the US hacking charge, and all the emphasis being given to the hacking charge shows that sexual assaults are not taken seriously.
Remind me - were there any similar letters from Labour politicians when Sweden was trying to get him extradited a few years ago, urging the Britis government to extradite him?
Julian Asante must face Swedish justice first - MPs and peers
I am shocked - shocked! - to learn that there may be hypocrisy among some British politicians.
Now on to the extradition hearing:
The legal battle against extradition is likely to be hard-fought, with several appeals, and may take up to a couple of years.
Sweden has re-opened the rape investigation, and will likely bring another extradition request.
So, several developments over the past week.
- Assange has been charged by the US with spying. This is a serious development, since the Justice Department under Obama had taken the view that since Assange was acting as a journalist, so 1st Amendment would apply to protect him, just like other news outlets. The DOJ now appears to be arguing that he wasn’t a “true journalist”. The US has or will apply for extradition.
WikiLeaks founder indicted on Espionage Act charges, raising issue of press freedoms
- Assange will not face charges for leaking information about the CIA’s “Vault 7” - technical problems with bringing charges under US law, plus the traditional concern of spooks that to prove the case, they would have to reveal more information about their spy craft than they are willing to allow.
Assange won’t face charges over role in devastating CIA leak
- Alan Dershowitz predicts that Assange will not be extradited. He thought that the single charge of counselling/abetting Manning to break into a computer would have warranted extradition, but as soon as the DOJ added the charges for publishing documents, they made extradition much more unlikely. Time will tell.
Dershowitz predicts Assange won’t be extradited, face U.S. charges
- UN rapporteur on torture has released report that Assange shows symptoms of psychological torture, and would risk having his human rights violated if extradited to the US.
Julian Assange shows symptoms of psychological torture, UN expert says
Torture by whom?
The cat.
The UN press release does not get down to the specifics. I would very much like to see the special rapporteur’ full report. Specifically, to what degree is Assange limited in access to documents and time with his lawyers, what indicates that Assange would not have a fair trial in the USA, and what indicates that freedom of the press in the USA will be harmed if the matter proceeds.
Based on my own bias, would I trust the USA to give Assange a fair trial? No.
Based on my own bias, would I expect the USA to move against freedom of the press? Yes.
But that is just my bias. Without the full details having been made public, I have to wonder if the Special Rapporteur is also going on bias.
What I like is that the Special Rapporteur is not concerned about mission creep beyond torture, and gets into the very important underlying issue of freedom of the press.
Sorry, missed edit (got distracted by Buddy the World’s Friendliest Cat). Posted “freedom of the press” when I should have posted “freedom of expression, which in this matter implies freedom of the press.”
The UN HR Committee report that I mentioned way back at the start of this thread said that he was arbitrarily detained by the British by not allowing him to leave the Embassy and the UK. The fact that he had a charge pending for breaching bail conditions apparently did not justify the lengthy attempt by the British to arrest him.
I guess that’s now been elevated to torture. 
Seven-Eleven was out of Coke Zero today. Certainly that qualifies.
What does he think we happen after the Swedes get him? Is there any future where he doesn’t eventually arrive in the US for trial?
AIUI, The Swedish arrest warrant was to get him formally interviewed on one of the remaining charges still outstanding; whether that would lead to a trial and imprisonment on that charge is another issue; how they would respond to a US extradition request (particularly on charges beyond actually hacking) is yet another.