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Assange Requests Asylum In Ecuador
david.emery writes "Julian Assange, his appeals in the United Kingdom having run out, today went to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to request asylum from his pending extradition to Sweden to face questioning for 'unlawful coercion and sexual misconduct including rape.'"
Is he really that afraid that he won't get a fair trial - in Sweden?!?
No, he's not *afraid* of it. He *knows* it. This whole thing was such an obvious setup from the get-go that I'm surprised the CIA had the balls to even try it. Shit, even Dominique Strauss-Kahn was less obvious than this mess.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Is he really that afraid that he won't get a fair trial - in Sweden?!?
The charges were dropped, then mysteriously the investigation was reopened. If you had sent copies of the secrets of the world's most powerful government to everyone else, would you not be a little nervous about unusual criminal proceedings?
Palm trees and 8
Who died because of his actions? Name a single person who died. Link to a single story in a reputable newspaper that details how someone lost their life as a result of leaks he published.
Hello someone that doesn't understand that the system of justice in one country isn't the same in another country.
In Sweden, it has been established over and over in these debates, one cannot be charged with a crime unless they have been questioned in person.
He left the country before he could be questioned in person. Yes, one prosecutor decided there wasn't enough evidence at the time...and another said there was enough to question him. Even in the US, this happens all the time. And it is rarely politically motivated...
I wouldn't be surprised if the US had a part in this...however, I think that Assange had a MUCH bigger part...and I believe Sweden may just be following their own rules, even if the US likes that they are. if someone pisses me off and I see them jaywalking while a cop had his back to my enemy...I might just walk over to the cop and mention how dangerous it is for that guy to be endangering the cars going by and encourage them to follow the laws already there, if nothing more than to piss the guy off a little.
I don't think it takes any conspiracy to note the US is probably enjoying this as they know it is destroying Wikileaks. However, I don't think there is any nefarious plan to extradite him...especially as we have extradition treaties with the UK as well and could just as easily asked to bring him over with the caveat that we'd have to promise not to kill him...that's the only thing the UK asks...and I don't think the US could do this legally...much easier to kill him right where he was in the first place and even if everyone knew it was the US, we'd still have plausible deniability. That's the problem with you conspiracy theorists...you don't think of the simplest solutions. Occam's Razor...