Job Discussion Forums

[sheikh radlinrol]

I wouldn´t want to be in his place but the ball is now in his court. Come out Julian and face justice in one of the most civilized lands on our planet (Sweden). Maybe the Ecuadorians should tell Julian to sling his hook. This could run for years.

[gregory999]

[johnslat]

"Despite the US not having made an extradition request, US Attorney General Eric Holder has previously said American officials were pursuing a "very serious criminal investigation" into the matter.

Mr Assange has also pointed to the case of Chelsea Manning, an ex American soldier formerly known as Private Bradley Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison in the US for leaking classified material to Wikileaks.

However, legal experts have pointed out several obstacles any extradition and subsequent prosecution in the US would have to overcome.

Correspondents say that Sweden could apply a more stringent test than that used when an extradition is sought from the United Kingdom.

Also, even though the extradition would be according to Swedish law, the UK's approval would be needed.

Mr Assange's supporters have asked Sweden to guarantee that he would not be extradited to the US, which Swedish officials say they cannot legally do.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has however insisted that his country would not extradite a suspect to a country where they would face the death penalty."

" Highly doubtful. Sweden’s extradition agreement with the United States, signed in 1961 and updated in 1983, prohibits extradition on the basis of "a political offense" or "an offense connected with a political offense." The agreement does not specify what constitutes a "political offense." Whether the Swedish supreme court would rule to extradite Assange largely depends on what charges the secret U.S. grand jury brings against him.

If Assange is accused of espionage, Sweden most certainly would not comply, as its courts have consistently determined that espionage constitutes a political offense. For example, in 1992 Sweden refused to extradite Edward Lee Howard, the only CIA agent to defect to the Soviet Union, to the United States. Charged with espionage, Swedish courts ruled that those accusations amounted to the kind of "political offense" specified in the extradition agreement.

But that legal gray area also threatens Assange’s legal prospects. The U.S. Justice Department is surely aware of these restrictions and precedents and may instead slap Assange with a more creative set of charges — cyber crime or theft, perhaps.

He would still have some recourse under the Swedish legal system, however. When Assange first went into hiding, Foreign Policy discussed his case with UIf Wallentheim, the director of the division for criminal cases and international judicial cooperation at the Swedish Ministry of Justice. He said that Swedish courts tend to see through such ploys to circumvent Swedish extradition agreements’ exceptions. Swedish judges often examine a case’s underlying factors when making their determinations, he said."

Regards,
John

[gregory999]

[scot47]

Assange certainly knows how to p*** people off. Especially those dudes in Langley.

[plumpy nut]

[Dedicated]

Assange was arrested in London in 2010 under a European arrest warrant issued by Sweden over rape and sexual assault allegations. He claimed asylum in 2012 in London's Ecuadorean Embassy. Instead of cooperating with the Swedish authorities as he should have done, Assange has chosen to hole up in a foreign embassy, deliberately frustrating a serious criminal investigation.

The extradition warrant still stands and Britain and Sweden remain adamant that the UN report changes nothing. To describe his situation as ' arbitrary detention' is ludicrous. He can come out at any time he chooses but can be expected to be arrested.

Assange is now locked in a three nation war of words and it looks as if he is not going anywhere fast or soon. Assange is fearful of a potential future extradition to the US, where a secret grand jury has been looking into whether to prosecute him over Wiki Leak's publishing activities.

Now the call for compensation for Assange is particularly controversial when there is already public anger in London over the cost of policing his confinement at the embassy. From June 2012 to October 2015, it has already cost 12.6 million pounds. The British Foreign Secretary has described the UN findings as ' ridiculous' and Assange as ' a fugitive from justice'.

[gregory999]

[sheikh radlinrol]

[grahamb]

[gregory999]

[sheikh radlinrol]

[Dedicated]

Assange has NOT been detained. He is free to go. This is not detention, this is hiding.

Many Brit luvvies, such as Jemima Khan, deserted his cause after he skipped bail and fled to the embassy.

Three members of a UN panel - from those vibrant democracies South Korea, Mexico and Benin - decided that the UK had detained Assange wrongly and that he should be 'released' and paid compensation.

Why on earth should he receive compensation?

[gregory999]

[sheikh radlinrol]

Surely at some point the Ecuadorian ambassador must be told that he is abusing the privileges afforded to his country in London. The purpose of having an embassy is to promote his country´s interests in the UK and guarantee the well-being of Ecuadorian citizens there. Also, to foster good relations between the two nations.
The role of the embassy is not to shield fugitives sought by our European partners and allies. Let´s break off relations with Ecuador, tell their Embajador to f*** off back to Quito, close the embassy and hand Julian over to the Swedes.