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32 comments

  1. sadness

    well they should give him asylum (’cause Julia don’t want him in Oz)…..and then wave to those nice pommy tommies on the to the airport…..and stop by to pick up dear Bradley on a peace stop in the USofA because you obviously don’t want him there…..and….and…..but i’m dreaming Barry’s not there no more…..

    2. charles sereno

      Cardinal Mindszenty was holed up in the American Embassy in Hungary, not Poland. An interesting report, especially the bit about purposeful(?) British security.

  2. Synopticist

    Enough Assange already.
    There are lots of countries in the world where the the CIA could grab Assange from a jail, after a false rape allegation. Sweden is NOT one of them.

    He couldn’t be deported to the States under the terms of the European arrest warrant. Assange was trying to get Swedish residency status when he commited his alleged sex crimes. He WANTED to live there, in large part precisiely because it has an independant judiciary and a history of neutrality.

    He’s a wanted sex offender.

    1. reslez

      Last I checked he hasn’t been convicted or even charged with a crime. He’s wanted for questioning only at this point. Go read the Greenwald column and stop spreading libelous gossip.

      In general, small countries are more easily coerced and bullied by the U.S., and Sweden in particular has a demonstrated history of aceeding to U.S. demands when it comes to individuals accused of harming American national security. In December, 2001, Sweden handed over two asylum-seekers to the CIA, which then rendered them to be tortured in Egypt.

      And:

      The fact that Sweden has unusually oppressive pre-trial procedures — allowing for extreme levels of secrecy in its judicial proceedings — only heightens Assange’s concern about what will happen to him vis-a-vis the U.S. if he ends up in Swedish custody.

      1. ctct

        after seeing what they did to Manning- anyone with any sense would do absolutely ANYTHING in their power to ‘avoid the authorities'(LAO TSU advises) in the USA

    3. ran

      bullshit. if he gets extradited to Sweden he will end up in a US torture dungeon for life. book it.

      1. Synopticist

        We’re talking about f*cking SWEDEN here. One of the least corrupt societies on earth. With a highly robust, independent judiciary.
        If it was somewhere like Romania or Morroco, that would be one thing. Sweden is not like that, which is precisely why Assange was TRYING TO GET SWEDISH RESIDENCY when these allegations appeared.
        He hasn’t been “charged” with anything because under the Swedish system you’re formally interviewed, then charged.

        1. ggm

          Enough with the lies, already. Readers to this blog are not idiots as you would like to believe. Sweden allowed itself to be bullied by the US throughout the Bush years and participated in extraordinary renditions, handing prisoners over to the US to be TORTURED. Sweden’s justice system is very opaque.

          Assange is wise to want to stay out of the USA’s little puppet country.

          1. Synopticist

            The little puppet country that Assange was trying to get residency in, before he was accused of 4 sex crimes.

            Which involved 2 seperate women, within a few days of each other, who both say he forced himself on them while they slept, and had sex with them without using a condom, against their will.

        2. Nathanael

          Sweden’s a lot more corrupt than you might think. They caved to the international “intellectual property” mafia, to the point of running raids which were explicitly illegal in Sweden.

        3. ggm

          Assange naively sought residency in Sweden before he became fully aware of what a corrupt CIA outpost the country had become. A mistake he wouldn’t repeat, I’m sure.

          1. Dan

            It would take a special kind of moron to think that a highly intelligent activist, never convicted of any violent crimes, knowing full well that the shitty US government and its numerous shitty lapdogs were looking for any pretext to grab him, and with groupies queued up to bed him, would decide to go on a rape spree.

        4. Yata

          “We’re talking about f*cking SWEDEN here. One of the least corrupt societies on earth. With a highly robust, independent judiciary.

          Just to get you up to speed his own country, Australia, has been talked out of protecting his rights as a citizen.
          TPTB are making a point of directing his course into the arms of our derelict DOJ.

          There’s a large number of assumptions on your part concerning his character, guilt or innocense, and safety from extradition.
          Every effort has been made to close in around him, if you aren’t seeing this you’re wasting everyone’s time commenting here.
          It really only takes being wrong once, or making some bad assumptions to ruin a life.
          Witness the video Julian leaked of Reuters’ journalists being ripped apart by an American helicopter minigun in Iraq. Someone there also made some bad assumptions.

    4. sunny129

      @Synopticist

      OMG!

      Are you from the Bureau of Disinformation under the Ministry of TRUTHINESS?

  3. ctct

    not saying i believe this, but if you wanted to get conspiratorial.. (haha) a lot of people think assange is a cia asset or something equivalent… wouldn’t this be a way of messing with Correa? The man has a decent amount of credibility in Latin America as a leader…He sure talks a good game and he seems to be delivering on genuinely nationalist policies that benefit Ecuador.

    On the other hand, after watching Assange’s interview with Correa.. I think Assange might be a little star struck.

    1. Synopticist

      You’re a big fan of rapists with a messiah complex then?

      Wikileaks was brilliant. Assange is a deeply flawed individual, who’s destroyed what he helped others create, and betrayed his closest supporters.

        1. Synopticist

          Seriously, Sweden is suddenly a US lapdog, while Britain isn’t?
          That sound right to you?

          1. watercarrier4diogenes

            Actually, yes. Britain, post-Tony Blair, has a distaste for how they were conned into war with Iraq. If you look at WHAT Assange got from Manning, you’ll have a far harder time being bombastic about sexual behavior, especially behavior that is contested by Assange.

      2. Yves Smith Post author

        You really aren’t even remotely up on this, are you?

        First. Assange has only been accused, not found guilty. Second, Sweden defines rape so broadly as to include not using a condom. What Assange is accused of having done does not qualify as rape in the US. And his accuser was initially bragging about bedding him on Twitter.

        1. Synopticist

          I don’t know about the US, but what he’s accused of qualifies as a criminal offence in the UK. Thats the opinion of the UK Supreme court, not my own.

          Have you guys considered the possibility that he did what he’s actually accused of? Just because he hates hates “the Empire”, doesn’t mean he’s not a sexually agressive egomaniac.

          Which rapist doesn’t try and claim the whole things a stitch-up?

          1. Capo Regime

            Ever tried dealing with facts? Read what Ives posted above. Have you read anything about the circumstances and particulars under which he was accused? I does not appear you have. Any person with a pulse and the cognitive abiities of a salamander could tell it was a honey pot operation much like Spitzer and good ol DSH, both perhaps indulgent but both like Assange threatening to the oligarchy.

          2. Synopticist

            I have no idea who Spitser is, or DSH, but I do know a little about European Arrest warrents and what Assange has been accused of.

            It would be legally impossible for Sweden to extradite him to the US under the terms of the EAW. Again, Britian would be able to veto it, which they have already stated they would.

            If the CIA were planning an extradition honeytrap, Sweden would be a very bad place to do it. If it was some dodgy regime in Eastern Europe, or the middle East, or somewhere in central Asia, then I’d be as suspicious as you are. But Sweden is a confident, strong, wealthy, independent democracy, with a history of neutrality.
            It also has some fairly suprising laws around sexual assault, which seem pretty excessive to many observors. But Swedish law is what it is, and they were like that before assange turned up.

  5. Enraged

    I hope Assange remains free and keeps uncovering everything there is to uncover. Because whether we like it or not, no one will be free in this world until the WHOLE truth comes out. As far as I am concerned, he is one of the most courageous people on earth.

  6. sunny129

    There is NO ‘TINA’ for Wikileaks or their kind in this World ruled by Kleptocracy!We need more like him to keep the TRUTH flowing!

    1. Synopticist

      We do need more people who set up things like Wikileaks, but that doesn’t mean Assange isn’t a pervert.

      1. different clue

        It also doesn’t mean that he is. If there is enough evidence to get him charged and then tried in Sweden, that would clear things up.

        Unless this is indeed part of a plan to drop-kick him over to the US.

    2. Capo Regime

      I hope and pray the Ecuadorians do grant him asylum. Their president is quite plucky and certainly up to now has shown the inclination to support the interests of his people. I did love his rope a dope with the U.S.–sure you can have a base in Ecuador if Ecuador can have a base in the U.S. That alone is gold. Who is this Synopcicist? Does his IP adddress hail from Foggy Botton or some other .gov?

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