Julian Assange? Who's that?

[Tangled Metal]

Did you read about the state he left his rooms in at the Ecuadorian building? The little Sh1t!

If you haven't read about it I've heard it's been reported in the Grauniad so it is obviously true!

BTW the septics are being clever over the charges I heard. Nothing about leaking the stuff because freedom of the press is so precious over there. They're going after him for the actual hacking. That's a crime here so equivalency means it's more likely to succeed extradition. Plus back in America it gets around the press freedom issue by making it about a simple crime. He have Ms Manning the tools to crack the high security codes without leaving an easy trail. Conspiracy I believe.

Anyone know if that's true? Any papers been filed anywhere? I heard another person's court papers filed by prosecution mistakenly had Assange's name in it and it was for hacking. Someone copied and pasted from sealed papers was the the theory.

So do you think extradition or not? If extradition to which country for which crime? At least his case isn't like that aspergers hacker who's extradition was denied on human rights grounds. That guy assisted the authorities and didn't skip bail and really had a condition that us jail would make worse. Assange only has narcissistic tendencies.

[Oldjohnw]

I supect that the UK government would be only too pleased to have one less probem to worry about.

Of course, it is for the independent judiciary to decide but government ministers have not been slow to express views.

[bovlomov]

I supect that the UK government would be only too pleased to have one less probem to worry about.

Of course, it is for the independent judiciary to decide but government ministers have not been slow to express views.

....on Twitter. Yeurrgh!

[Tangled Metal]

I supect that the UK government would be only too pleased to have one less probem to worry about.

Of course, it is for the independent judiciary to decide but government ministers have not been slow to express views.

....on Twitter. Yeurrgh!

And the opposition on radio 4. Seems politicians can't help themselves. They have to give their opinion at every opportunity.

[Psamathe]

I note that the Trump made over a hundred favourable references to Wikileaks during his election campaign but yesterday claimed he didn't really know anything about it.

Does Trump know anything about anything. And even if he claimed to know something, what is the likelihood that his claims have any similarity to reality?

Ian

[thirdcrank]

I think it's easy to underestimate the effect this has had on his health, especially his mental health. His confinement was arguably self-imposed but it's lasted seven years and it's been indeterminate. AIUI, for most prisoners on a determinate sentence their earliest release date is the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's sometimes a long tunnel. It's reported that the change of régime in Ecuador led to his internet being cut off, which must have been a significant blow. It doesn't surprise me if he has left things in a mess.

It cannot have helped that not many people seemed bothered about him. No big crowds, in spite of attempts to drum them up on social media and definitely no intrusion into the embassy. Hard to tell from the tight media shots - typical when there's not much to see - but had there been no photographers hoping to catch a bit of drama, there'd not have been many people there to see his removal. Any hope that a big crowd of supporters would frustrate his arrest and removal has been cruelly dashed.

Whenever politicians etc., are sent down, Jonathan Aitken seems to be on the box being quizzed about what it's like and what advice he would offer. Summed up as "keep a low profile." Nobody at Wormwood Scrubs or wherever, inmates or staff, is interested in the rights and wrongs.

AFAIK, the policy of not deporting anybody to the risk of capital punishment doesn't apply willy-nilly to countries that retain it. Also AFAIK, we have a very simple - albeit one-sided - extradition treaty with the US, which isn't often refused. AIUI, the final decision rests with the UK government so his best hope is a change there.

[Psamathe]

.....
Of course, it is for the independent judiciary to decide but government ministers have not been slow to express views.

One must assume that e.g. members of the Privy Council, leaders of the opposition, etc. have access to information not in the public domain. And as such I would hope that, given their position, their statements are based on proper legal assessment of the real situation. If this is not the case, if e.g. Corbyn is just expressing a personal opinion, why should his opinion hold any more weight or be of any more interest than that expressed by anybody anywhere?

Ian

[kwackers]

Living inside all that time hasn't done him much good.

When I saw the footage I thought they'd arrested the embassies 'house elf' by mistake.

[Psamathe]

Re: The prospect of the Swedish Authorities re-opening their case

Sven-Erik Alhem, a retired prosecutor and chairman of the NGO Victim Support Sweden, expressed doubts a refreshed investigation could bring about a successful prosecution.

“I’d think it would be fairly uphill to reopen the investigation [in Sweden], mainly because testimonies usually weaken with time and it's now been 10 years,” he said. “On top of that, the statute of limitation is drawing near, and Assange would need to come here.”

Ian

[Lance Dopestrong]

Oh dear. Just when things were going badly enough for Mr Assange, then Jeremy Corbyn decides to speak up in his defence.

On the plus side, Guinness have today confirmed that Mr Assange now holds the World Hide and Seek record.

[thirdcrank]

... And the opposition on radio 4. Seems politicians can't help themselves. They have to give their opinion at every opportunity.

To be fair, it's generally as the result of a question from the interviewer who is often quick to introduce something different but topical to unsettle the person being interviewed and get them off their prepared answer.

His appearance when leaving the embassy seemed reminiscent of Saddam Hussein being arrested.

[Lance Dopestrong]

This has just been on the news (again) and Mrs Dopestrong made an adroit observation.

The charges laid against Mr Assange in the US carry a maximum of 5 years in the chokey, if indeed he were convicted at all. This being the case, doesn't voluntarily imprisoning oneself for 7 years to avoid a paltry 5 year maximum sentence seem a bit daft?

From here on in the 2 likely scenarios are even more mad. If he's not extradited or does go to trial and somehow found not guilty then he'll have spent 7 years in self imposed imprisonment for nothing.

If he is found guilty and gets the maximum 5 years, then all he's succeeded in doing is more than doubling the time he would otherwise have spent in confinement. Either way, there's no logic whatsoever behind his actions.

[Psamathe]

.....
The charges laid against Mr Assange in the US carry a maximum of 5 years in the chokey, if indeed he were convicted at all. This being the case, doesn't voluntarily imprisoning oneself for 7 years to avoid a paltry 5 year maximum sentence seem a bit daft?
....

I think it's the current charges that carry the max 5 years sentence. But it is also reported that the US are considering bringing further charges. At the moment they are probably just going for the minimum necessary to get extradition and once they've got hold of him they'll decide what they can do.

Assange faces a maximum five year sentence if convicted of “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion” but officials are said to be considering bringing further charges.

If I were Assange, I'd soon start asking (very publicly) to talk to US official to do a deal to talk about what happened re: Trump/e-mails release/coordination/etc. I.e. "to spill the beans on his dealings with Trump Campaign" to the world press ... I wonder if the Republicans might then start trying to placate him (doesn't really matter if he actually knows anything, just the risk he might start saying stuff would scare Trump & his mates).

Ian

[pete75]

Why all this fuss and news reporting about a relatively insignificant individual. He's accused of rape in Sweden. This, to my mind, is a far more serious crime than embarrassing the US Government or armed forces so to Sweden he should be sent.

[Cyril Haearn]

Is he a goody or a baddy? Is the whole thing just to divert attention from b****t?

Surely seven years incarceration means he has served the possible five-year sentence