Assange diplomatic row spreads as he prepares to face media

World Aug. 19, 2012 - 06:15AM JST ( 16 )

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16 Comments

10

SimondBAug. 19, 2012 - 08:51AM JST

So, Assange could face the death penalty for exposing the truth about a country that went to war on a pack of lies. Somebody needs a moral compass here.
2

bkawamuraAug. 19, 2012 - 09:53AM JST

spot on SimondB !
0

AlternateUniverseAug. 19, 2012 - 10:22AM JST

All this just because the Swedes want to question him about a case for the SECOND time? This is nuts! It would all go away if the Swedish authorities would just drop it. If they thought it was so important, they should have moved faster instead waiting a month to decide to question him AGAIN, and then being all surprised that a man with no home in Sweden left the country.

Not that the British are looking much sharper putting all this effort into the most stupid extradition request ever! They are actually considering destroying diplomatic relations with another country because the Swedish authorities are slow as Moses?
0

il babuinoAug. 19, 2012 - 11:36AM JST

Read, SimonB

“The chances of him being extradited to the US from Sweden are non-existent. If the Americans really want him, they would have asked us (Britain) for him,” he told AFP..
0

oldsannoAug. 19, 2012 - 11:42AM JST

Britain has angered Ecuador by suggesting it could invoke the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act of 1987,

Brits are so clever. In 1984 a police officer, Yvonne Fletcher, was shot and killed by someone in the Libyan embassy in London. Britain let the murderer walk away because they couldn't enter the embassy. So they passed a law in case something really serious happens at an embassy like this, a wiki wacko seeks asylum.
0

basroilAug. 19, 2012 - 11:48AM JST

SimondBAug. 19, 2012 - 08:51AM JST

Assange could face the death penalty for exposing the truth

No, he would be facing legal action for illegally obtaining classified documents and distributing them for financial gain. What he did was beyond stupid, in the realm of information terrorism, and permanently ruined relationships with several countries that had been built up over decades.
1

AlternateUniverseAug. 19, 2012 - 12:01PM JST

and permanently ruined relationships with several countries that had been built up over decades.

Man, some of you get so emotional about this stuff. Permanently ruined? Spare us the hatchet job hyperbole please. You speak like war is in the air!

I am surprised you did not trot out the old litany about placing troops in danger. Maybe its because you realized that as years have gone by, nothing Wikileaks released got any of them hurt? You know, unlike sending them to create war zones, which has gotten so many of them killed and crippled?

No, he would be facing legal action for illegally obtaining classified documents

Yeah, and never mind that some of those documents proved the U.S. government was lying to the American people, the people they are supposed to represent. And never mind that there was no legal way to obtain the documents. And never mind the illegalities of the cover-ups in the first place.
2

AlternateUniverseAug. 19, 2012 - 12:05PM JST

“The chances of him being extradited to the US from Sweden are non-existent. If the Americans really want him, they would have asked us (Britain) for him,” he told AFP..

Getting Britain to do American dirty work directly would be a public relations nightmare. If the Swedes do it, more people will assume it was justice rather than an act of America's lapdog. But it won't be justice. And Britain is America's lapdog, and is proving it by going overboard after Assange in this nutty case!
-2

il babuinoAug. 19, 2012 - 12:13PM JST

Getting Britain to do American dirty work directly would be a public relations nightmare. If the Swedes do it, more people will assume it was justice rather than an act of America's lapdog. But it won't be justice. And Britain is America's lapdog, and is proving it by going overboard after Assange in this nutty case!

And for an encore, AlternateUniverse will explain that Assange's date rape victim in Sweden 'had it coming' or 'shouldn't have left the bar with him if she is that naive.'
0

AlternateUniverseAug. 19, 2012 - 12:30PM JST

And for an encore, AlternateUniverse will explain that Assange's date rape victim in Sweden 'had it coming' or 'shouldn't have left the bar with him if she is that naive.'

Changing the subject and putting words in my mouth. Pretty lame strategies sir.

Neither of these women are claiming rape or date rape anyway either. You didn't come out of left field as much as you staggered out of left field and fell down with a plop!
-2

LowlyAug. 19, 2012 - 01:09PM JST

The sex charges in Sweden sounded like either a) a bunch of jealous women getting lied to and cheated on who knew about it and later decided to try and get back at the guy or b) some kind of wikileaks-targetting set-up.

I forgot but I think one of them didn't come forward until being contacted by someone related to the wikileaks investigation.

And wasn't one of these charges (or both?) due to him not using a condom or something? If you don't use a condom but you said you would, it is assault in Sweden. Something like that.

But this guy is definitely grandstanding and enjoying the attention.
1

MadvertsAug. 19, 2012 - 03:11PM JST

This farce is out of control. All sides have left the boundaries of common sense.
-5

just-a-bigguyAug. 19, 2012 - 04:24PM JST

@madverts: Mr Obama is desperated, he need a scapegoat!
1

MadvertsAug. 19, 2012 - 05:33PM JST

"Mr Obama is desperated"

Love it :)
-1

SuperLibAug. 19, 2012 - 06:36PM JST

Reality: “The chances of him being extradited to the US from Sweden are non-existent."

Assange Supporters: "So, Assange could face the death penalty for exposing the truth about a country that went to war on a pack of lies."

About par for the course.
-2

AlternateUniverseAug. 19, 2012 - 07:36PM JST

Assange Supporters:

I did not realize that SimonB were Assange Supporters. Its strange because I support Assange, but I know next to nothing about SimonB.

I gave SimonB a thumbs up for the spirit of his post mostly. And I have not seen any reason why extradition to the U.S. is not a possibility. One could have just as easily said these charges in Sweden did not make extradition a possibility. I sure did not think it would come to this.

As for death, yeah that won't happen. But one detail is not enough to judge a post negatively.

But my main point is that he will not face justice in Sweden. That it has gotten to this point proves that justice is not what is on their minds.