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Assange Denied Swedish Residence On Confidential Reasons
MotorMachineMercenar writes "The Local reports that Julian Assange has been denied a residence permit in Sweden. The WikiLeaks spokesman and Australian citizen applied for residency in August, apparently to gain the freedom of speech protection offered by Swedish laws. When asked about the reasons for the denial, a Swedish official responsible replied, '...secrecy prevails in reference to the grounds for such a decision,' essentially meaning the reasons are confidential. Assange has been recently under investigation for sexual molestation charges, which were withdrawn and then re-instated. WikiLeaks is expected to release up to 400,000 confidential US military documents in the near future, which would be the largest such leak in US history."
When asked about the reasons for the denial, a Swedish official responsible replied, '...secrecy prevails in reference to the grounds for such a decision,' essentially meaning the reasons are confidential.
If only there was a website where we could learn about such things.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
secrecy prevails in reference to the grounds for such a decision
If only there were some site that could be used to leak that kind of information.
Man, I hate to say it but if you're going to release 400,000 stolen US military documents you had better be a freaking saint, or you will fry.
How does it feel to be a liar with pants constantly on fire?
judging by how well spam moguls and botnet kings are doing, he would be better of in Russia.
If you create a subversive organization it has to be led by someone no one knows except organization cell leaders.
If you are the "leader" of said organization and it's known externally, you are no longer the leader.
Otherwise, you are no longer able to do battle assymetrically, they know who you are and you know who they are.
And yes, the DoD has declared "Cyber" as a theater, meaning information is a weapon, so yes Assange is in every way a public "leader" of a subversive organization to those wikileaks wages war upon.
Sorry Julian, it's time to find a new job.
Because the US particularly cares whether Assange lives in Sweden? If the Swedish government is in the US's pocket like plenty of people seem to believe, you'd think that they would strongly favor Assange living there (all the better to trump up fake rape charges, of course.) Alternatively, you could go with the more mundane but rational-seeming explanation, which is that Sweden doesn't want Assange because he draws a lot of attention to himself and gets complaints from the local women.
WikiLeaks does not speak about upcoming releases dates, indeed, with very rare exceptions we do not communicate any specific information about upcoming releases
Julian Assange
Editor-in-chief
http://rixstep.com/1/1/20101018,00.shtml
You can't take the sky from me...
Lately it's all about the US government, and the wars. It's not the kind of information that most of us find interesting
You are speaking for yourself on that one.
There was a time when wikileaks would just dump any and all information onto the site and let us review it all.
That hasn't changed.
Julian Assange should have let someone else be the spokesperson.
Who and why?
It should have been designed so that there was not one point of failure.
You have fallen into the propaganda. One man doesn't a leaking organization make. Sure, in the eyes of people who buy into the character assassination, yes he may lost credibility, but honestly those folks don't matter in my opinion.
Game over for wikileaks, it was a naive idea that could never have worked in practice
It did work in practice. You say 'could have never' like the didn't successfully leak thousands of documents already.
What did he actually do wrong? Are you suggesting there would have been a better person to put their face on the leaks? He is the fucking messenger. The fucking messenger. Going celebrity was his exit plan. Your pessimism makes you THAT GUY.
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
The only difference between +5 Interesting and -1 Redundant is 2 minutes.
Between this, the Piratebay farce and the victories for far-right parties, it's now clear that Sweden is not the "neutral" political paradise it once was.
It's a shame that the current crop of politicians haven't got the guts to stand up the bullies of the world; their predecessors worked hard and bravely during the Cold War, risking total annihilation, and I'm sure they'd be ashamed to know that their spineless children are frightened by their own shadows.
-- Let's go Viridian.
I do have mod points, but I honestly don't know how to mod a post that parallels Wikileaks with Death Row Records.
Breakfast served all day!
Not if I was a Senator, Congressman, President, or other member of the government. It would be my job to keep my employer (the People) informed, not to hide things my boss would disapprove of.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
in no time these confidential reasons will be published on wikileaks
... Lately it's all about the US government, and the wars. It's not the kind of information that most of us find interesting
What shocks me to no end is that you're right. I suppose people don't care if it ain't happening on their own backyard. But the apathy of the populace with regards to a war waged for reasons that have so many holes that, to be honest, I think at this point the powers that be don't care if they get busted or not, it just never ceases to amaze me.
It's not practical because everybody knows the government was going to target everyone running the wikileaks server all the way up the chain to Assange. They will treat Wikileaks like a terrorist or mafia type organization.
What did he actually do wrong?
His planning and execution around pissing the largest organization on the planet off?
Going celebrity was his exit plan
Apparently he did not plan that one out very well or he would have applied for Swedish residence before he did got into this mess.
He's the face of an open challenge to the rulers of the land. They won't take kindly to that in Russia. Also, they won't beat around the bush and do character assassination. They'll just assassinate.
Fork now, go 100% anonymous, and every time you dump the data, immediately tip off at the same time the various news media contacts you have internationally, providing each with a redundant encrypted access avenue that is detached from the main 'body' of Wikileaks 2.0. No one person should ever be known by name. Cultural war is war, after all. Act like it.
Dude, where's my packet?
Anyway it need not be quite as cloak and dagger as suggested - the Swedish work permit requires employers to certify that they
As far I remember the newspaper that offered him employment didn't advertise the post to anyone else. A purely bureaucratic explanation.
That’s not to say that Sweden isn’t worried about international repercussions but there are other explanations available. Swedish citizenship includes an assessment of good conduct which I would assume applies in the initial residence application as well.
They could also be holding out until all the charges against him have been clarified.
I think it is the Boogieman.. Oh wait same thing. It could also be that he really did sexually molest someone in sweden and they just don't want him there.
I mean if the US really could control every other nation on the planet like people on slashdot think then he would have had a tragic car accident long ago.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
If Assange can't live in Sweden, it forces him to flee to some other location within the US' grasp... perhaps even the US itself.
That would be the worst place for him to go. So far he has been safe in Australia where he has the advantage of citizenship. I suspect he has too many ex girlfriends there to make it a happy place though.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Let me just use some flashy marketting material:
Land, Air, Sea, Space and Cyber.
From the USAA posture statement 2009:
Why is this important to the Army?
Cyber intrusions and attacks are a real and emerging threat to national security. The Nation faces a dangerous combination of known and unknown vulnerabilities, capable adversaries, and limited situational awareness. It is critical for the Army to grow its cyberspace operations to counter adversary targeting of both our information and our information infrastructure. To maintain our dominance in cyberspace the Army will continue to grow our abilities to better defend our own networks and have capabilities in place to conduct network warfare against adversary networks.
Guess what with just that basic research I can tell you: according to that philosophy Wikileaks is an adversary, and Jullian Assange likely qualifies as an enemy of the state.
The US doesn't particularly care about Assange living -- they've made it clear already.
It is sad that so many Americans are buying the official red herring and hate him. You should be questioning the US Army commanders -- it was they who let incriminating things happen under their watch; it is them who are so inept at managing information systems that one single disgruntled peon was able amass data about years of operations.
Not to mention US politicians from the last 50 years, who are as responsible for the rise of militant Islam (and especially terrorism) as the mullahs and the mujahedins - the US gave the crazy a powerful motive, some serious training and money and, finally, legitimacy by even declaring them worthy of a "war".
Is that an accident? Emmanuel Goldstein doesn't think so. I think his tinfoil is a bit too thick, but his argument isn't totally worthless.
Also, believe it or not, but the US satrap who bosses the embassy in any small European country, has enough clout to at least get on the phone with the head of state, deliver his request and have the head moving -- on the hour.
From what I've seen first hand while I was involved in politics -- the operation mode of the satrap is close to what you normally call "bullying", and he doesn't always feel the need to watch his language during those calls.
and have have much pull in Sweden. In the 1960's Swedish crypto machines where been exported to the world.
The NSA wanted to ensure a flaw to allow reading of messages on every new device shipped.
In 1957 a top NSA's cryptographer called William Friedman went on a tour of the UK and Sweden. Private arrangements where made for 'trap door' tech - the key floats out with the message. By the 1980's this was leaking, Congress knew and the US press talked of it in 1986. Talks where also held to ensure another huge Swedish telco did not work too hard on any new strong crypto.
More at "Rigging the Game" http://cryptome.org/jya/nsa-sun.htm
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
I mean if the US really could control every other nation on the planet like people on slashdot think then he would have had a tragic car accident long ago.
I have to agree. I know a former State Department official who was relatively far up the chain and he's told me the same thing: People tend to vastly overestimate the capabilities of the US, particularly on the intelligence and global influence fronts. I'm just surprised that so many people on /. seem to fall into the same trap of assuming that "The Government" can do these things while simultaneously going on about how stupid and inept various branches are.
Just thought I'd paste your own words back to you, so you'd have time to spot the inherent contradiction in your argument. Wikileaks' difficulties, which you attribute to outside parties, parties who you assert have blacklisted and actively sabotaged him, are somehow Assange's fault?
So he's being punished for receiving media attention, not for the leaks? How, pray tell, do you think one could release tens of thousands of documents which are embarrassing to the military establishment of the most powerful nation on the planet and not get a lot of media attention?
Has it occurred to you that he might have seen the attention coming and realised that it was better to run cover for the dozens or hundreds of others who contribute to the project? Did you think that maybe putting a single face on the organisation was a deliberate choice by Assange, so that he could take the bullet (and I hope I don't mean that literally) for his colleagues?
Mod me flamebait if you must. I could be wrong, but with the illogic that you've presented, you can't be right.
Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
I mean if the US really could control every other nation on the planet like people on slashdot think then he would have had a tragic car accident long ago.
'Accidents' like that breed martyrs and heroes. Sex scandals and related FUD breed contempt and disillusionment.
Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
It would be even more poetic if he never found out.
Why bother with a tragic car accident when diplomatic pressure will do? There's no need to kill Assange if all you want is to better be able to prosecute him should the need arise.
"In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
Assange has not been declared an enemy of the state, nor is he being sought by the US government. Right now he's just an annoying gnat to those in power, but it could be worse. It's really the "could be worse" part that really concerns the US government.
"In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
AFAIK their servers are still going quite nicely. Every government has had plenty of time to try and take them down, yet they are still there.
Assange instead chose to use the information as a weapon to advance his personal views about the wars.
War is bad. THIS SHOULDN'T BE CONTROVERSIAL, fuck.
In so doing, the wikileaks concept has lost much of its credibility with a large part of the public
Yes, the warmongers, and those receptive to the propaganda of the warmongers.
You can't take the sky from me...
Wow. Around half of the comments in this thread are for "lynching" Assange and Wikileaks. Now, I am all for secrecy where it is warranted. For example, the launch codes for nukes should be kept a secret. However, atrocities and war crimes should not. Governments may try to cover it up but exposing such atrocities is not only a right but a responsibility of a human being. If you come from a country where governments are elected, then you are responsible for what your government did, unlike people from dictatorships. By not caring or worse, supporting efforts to cover up atrocities by your military and character assassinate Assange, you too have blood on your hands. Show me and the rest of the world, that the Unites States deserves its "Leader of the Free World" moniker.
I'm just surprised that so many people on /. seem to fall into the same trap of assuming that "The Government" can do these things while simultaneously going on about how stupid and inept various branches are.
Incompetent tyrannical governments are a lot more common than competent tyrannical ones. For every Hitler, there are a hundred Mussolinis. Which is lucky for the rest of the world, I guess, but doesn't make things any less miserable for the people who have to live under them.
Note: I am not comparing the US to either Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy. Just pointing out that a belief that the government is evil, and a belief that it is stupid and inept, are not necessarily contradictory. Actually I think the US government is, like most very large organizations, home to a few very good people, a few very bad ones, and a whole bunch in the middle doing their best to get through their day.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
I have to agree. I know a former State Department official who was relatively far up the chain and he's told me the same thing: People tend to vastly overestimate the capabilities of the US, particularly on the intelligence and global influence fronts.
I know a Secretary of State who told the UN Security Council that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
He lied.
Is this more of the "why doesn't he present both sides" bullshit that Micheal Moore gets hit with? On one side you have the U.S. government and a media that loves to parrot it's claims, and on the other you have a few people dumping documents on a web site. Where is your Concern for a media that refuses to call torture, torture when the U.S. does it?
So your selective poutrage is duly noted.
"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." -- Hermann Goering
I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article548380.ece
It's not different, so that part is actually a non-story.
These decisions are always secret here, no matter how benign, but if Assange want to speak up, it's up to him.
I think it's just there to protect his privacy. Like if he had been subject to a medical operation or something.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
The problem with this view is that what they're doing over there isn't making us safer, if anything it's doing the opposite. The US government seems to have this idea that the Geneva convention cannot apply to 21st century warfare, because we've got all these insurgents now. I've actually seen US government officials spouting the line that because the insurgents surround themselves with children when they know it's against the Geneva conventions to do so that it's ok for us to violate them.
When we violate our own values, the terrorists win. If you kill a terrorist with a drone and in doing so take out a dozen innocents, you turn the friends and relatives of those innocents into terrorists. You give them just cause to hate us and to want to give their lives to fight against us. When you lock people up and torture them with no just cause for suspicion and with no appeal or trial of any kind, you create terrorists. Hell the reason for all of those rules about the treatment of prisoners in the first place was to protect your own troops from that sort of treatment when they get captured.
People need to see what our governments are doing, we need to understand it and we need to stop it before it is too late. We cannot fight extremists by descending to their level. We cannot prevent the murder of innocents by murdering innocents. We cannot become that which we are fighting against or we have already lost. The US government along with the governments of many western nations have committed crimes not only against the Geneva convention, but against human decency. Their guilt carries over to those who they represent and we need to know.
Assange is an ass, and there have obviously been and will continue to be consequences from the release of these documents. You could even argue that they should have been filtered in some way, but the reality is that the military has been doing a lot of really awful things in relative secret, and considering that we're the ones who are paying and will continue to pay for their actions we ought to know what we're buying.
You seem to have some insecurity complex about your country such that you feel the need to remain in denial about it's ability to ever do anything wrong. I didn't say our government is free of blame- of course they are, if not only for trusting US military intelligence more than they should. The fact our government screwed up royally doesn't change the fact the US fed false intelligence to us and hence doesn't change the fact a supposed ally - the US - manipulated us in a way that was a major factor in what turned out to be an illegal war.
You're more than welcome to blame our government too, I do, but the blame isn't mutually exclusive, it's not one or the other, the US is still very much to blame as well, very much in the wrong, and most certainly did influence our decision to go to war based on false evidence. It's sad that you're only capable of seeing things in such a binary manner by assuming that if someone blames the US for something then they're inherently inable to see fault in their own country, that's a rediculous viewpoint, but it's apparently one you have all the same.
Just because our government deserves some blame, doesn't mean your government deserves none.