Slashdot Mirror
Spanish Superjudge To Represent Assange
First time accepted submitter ccguy writes "Spanish ex-judge Balsazar Garzón will represent wikileak's Julian Assange in his extradiction case. In the past 30 years Garzón has led the most important investigations in Spain: Against drug cartels, against terrorist groups (ETA), and against corruption. He's also famous for his attempt to extradite Chilean dictator Pinochet to Spain to judge him for crimes against humanity. In his last investigation Garzón ordered in-prison conversations between corrupt politicians and their lawyers to be monitored. This is legal in Spain if the goal is to prevent further crimes to be committed (such as the inmate telling his lawyer to destroy evidence, or offshore funds). This caused Garzón to be disbarred as a judge. The president of the Supreme Court that signed this disbarment (Carlos Dívar) was later on made to resign, after it was discovered that he used taxpayers' money for deluxe vacations."
Since he was removed from his judgeship, he'd be an ex-super-judge, no? Or perhaps a super-ex-judge?
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
I'm picturing a spanish dude with a bull-ship and a gavel...
Will our Talented Framed Swedish Honey-trap Victim and Hero escape? Tune into the next episode of Assange ...
The purpose of existence is to make money.
Superjudge
Superman
You be the... "judge".
It's Baltazar Garzón.
Does this character even have any legal standing in England or Sweden? He certainly doesn't in Spain.
No way would this get me out of that embassy.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
I think his name is Baltazar, not Balsazar.
"... ordered in-prison conversations between corrupt politicians and their lawyers to be monitored. This is legal in Spain if the goal is to prevent further crimes to be committed"
Is that so? Could you link to some proof of this assertion? We all have internet, you know.
This is becoming more and more media circus. Garzon has no credibility, as he acted as political activist, not a judge. But, perhaps, the best defense attorney for a mediawhore is another mediawhore - see also, fighting bullshit with bullshit, Michael Moore style.
In US, closest equivalent to Garzon would be Kenneth Starr or Spiro Agnew, or Lynne Stewart.
I live in Spain and they used to call him the "star judge", because he was always on the media, without getting nothing done, actually.
He made it again!
Because he is a megalomaniacal attention whore as well.
Why would the courageous and honourable man like Baltazar Garzon associate with a megalomaniacal, showboating, mentally ill (not to mention, traitorous) freak like Julian Assange?
Who are you saying Julian Assange is a traitor to? The US? To which he is not a citizen?
Curious what the /, groupthink thinks of his attempt to extradite a Chilean and try him for crimes in a separate country. We all know the opinion on the US doing it, but what about Spain?
If you ignore ACs because they are anonymous - you're an idiot.
The paragraph of this news is manipulated and tries to disinform.
"This is legal in Spain if the goal is to prevent further crimes to be committed" FALSE. Allowed JUST in case of terrorism charges. Not applicable to the case he wiretapped. As this judge is politically compromised and the "separation of powers" is against his politics-truffled-past, always has friends ready to write in his favour.
Assange is doomed with this guy.
Actually, it's Baltasar, neither Balsazar, nor Baltazar... (just like the 3rd King Mage that travelled with Melchor and Gaspar to meet Jesuschrist in the Holy Bible... :-))))
Traitorous to whom, exactly? If you're speaking of the US, he'd need to have been loyal to the US first. If an American started spilling North Korean state secrets, he wouldn't be a traitor to North Korea if he was never there and had never had loyalty.
I hope he can prevent Assange from being extradited to the united states. The united states government, which has offcourse 'nothing to hide' and is pro 'democracy', would like to 'have a word' with mr. Assange.
Didn't he lose his case and all the appeals?
Certainly to Australia and her friends, as well as the West at large.
You're probably too young to remember Tokyo Rose or Lord Haw Haw, and Assange's work with Press TV and other agents of our enemies marks him out as the absolute worst of the worst.
I would never do anything to him personally, but the rate he's going, he'd better pray that the Americans get to him before somebody takes matters into their own hands.
He's a goddamned traitor and war criminal, and deserves to be necklaced in public for his crimes.
When you represent an organization which is acting against american interests, attention whoring is probably a matter of survival. And from my point of view Julian assange tries to get attention for the ideals of governmental openness and transparency. Which basically seems like a good thing to me.
"we are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further."
I take precisely the opposite anti-Assange stance as you. I support his work with Wikileaks and think it's as a whole been a good thing, and think if he was tried in the US, that'd be a major abuse of process. But I also think he shouldn't get a free pass on rape charges, and that the argument that a high-profile extradition to Sweden (wherein a second extradition would require a UK signature) is somehow more dangerous than simply being in the UK (the US's lapdog on foreign policy issues) is patently absurd.
Either way, he's got serious problems if he plans to spend the rest of his life in an embassy. Even assuming Ecuador approves his request, there's nor realistic way for him to get from the embassy to the country. And there's several legal options being explored to force the embassy to eject him. And the very least, sooner or later, he's going to get sick.
"... Sean Hannity, whose surgery to remove those bolts from his neck was apparently successful,
You're probably too old to think, though.
So what if he gets sick? I'm sure many people have been sick and still be fine recovering where they live.
Baltasar Garzón
I'm not talking about a little stomach bug. I'm talking about the reason we have hospitals - serious stuff. Everyone ends up in the hospital sooner or later. We all hope for "later", but we can't control that. Is the Ecuadorian embassy supposed to transform itself into a surgical theatre and have a medical team waiting on standby for him?
"... Sean Hannity, whose surgery to remove those bolts from his neck was apparently successful,
(i am a spaniard) ....mmmm many things to make me wonder if this is the only lawyer assange should have.
Sorry for assange he better get more lawyers or at least ones with better work history.
Garzon directly asked for money to the owner of the bank he was judging for his conferences in the US (http://diariorc.com/?p=6950)
Garzon is accused by one spanish counter terrorist (whichever trust this might have) of hiding the real person in charge of spanish inmoral and illegal war against terrorism , by this time he became for some time a politician affiliated to the political party who was accused of supporting this death squadron.
Garzon was accused of not investigating a possible crime commited by the army and police minister or someone close of aborting a terrorist raid agains them
Dayum it's on now! Da game is ON!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Cool! He'll make a great cellmate for Assange at Gitmo.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Is he charged with rape?
You've been watching too much Fox News...
No sig today...
Not everybody ends up in hospital.
Doctors can go to the embassy, yes.
No sig today...
There's nothing to represent. Assanage has lost his case, and all appeals. He is to be deported. Hence why he jumped bail (which means he screwed all his supporters who posted it, they don't get their money back) and is hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy. This judge isn't going to accomplish shit. Either Ecuador will decide to grant him asylum or not, and if they do he'll either successfully get out of Britain or not. If the answer in either case is "not" he'll be deported to Sweden.
This judge is just pulling a stunt. Had he wanted to help fight extradition, that time was months ago. This guy is just trying to get his name in lights, something that it would seem he's succeeded at.
Will he be borrowing the cape and goggles from Cory Doctrow, for this latest exploit?
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Assange has already lost the extradition case and violated his bail conditions, there is nothing this guy can do.
For those who didn't get it right the first time.
You're probably too young to remember Tokyo Rose or Lord Haw Haw, and Assange's work with Press TV and other agents of our enemies marks him out as the absolute worst of the worst.
Unless a lot of the /. readership is in their late 70's-early 80's or older, no one here is going to remember Tokyo Rose or Lord Haw-Haw, outside of historical references.
That aside, it's a specious comparison. Both Tokyo Rose and Lord Haw-Haw were propagandists working for specific governments in an attempt to demoralize soldiers and citizens. Assange is a free agent ostensibly working to create a method of exposure where governments and multi-national companies can no longer operate in the shadows. And really, "agents of our enemies?" In the words of Walt Kelly, "we have met the enemy and he is us."
How is he going to do that when Julian has fled his bail? Isn't Julian technically in another country right now since he is holed up in the embassy? Honestly, I think Julian has painted himself into a very small corner.
Words like "traitor" and "loyal" only have meaning in the minds of people who believe in "nations".
If you think an embassy is equipped to save lives in remotely the same way as a hospital, you're sadly mistaken. And do you think doctors are just going to abandon a hospital and loot it's equipment to haul it down to the Ecuadorian embassy because some guy inside got sick? Even if a team of paramedics comes in - i.e., the best "mobile" medical care you can get - well, there's a reason paramedics take sick people to the hospital instead of trying to treat them themselves.
"... Sean Hannity, whose surgery to remove those bolts from his neck was apparently successful,
No, and nor can he be under Swedish law until he sets foot on Swedish soil again. Which is why the Swedes put in an extradition request and why the UK lower court - after examining the evidence and finding that not only did Assange probably violate Swedish law but would have violated UK law as well if the alleged acts occurred in the UK - approved his extradition warrant. And then the high court upheld it, finding no fault with the lower court's ruling. This is all proceeding as necessary for him to stand trial for what he's accused of in accordance with the laws of the respective countries.
I don't get Fox News, and nor would I watch it, but you clearly get your information from the Assange-fanboy echo chamber.
"... Sean Hannity, whose surgery to remove those bolts from his neck was apparently successful,
How do you become a traitor by exposing inconvenient facts?
If that's the case, arguably, the governments which had their dirty laundry exposes were the traitors, since they're "free" and as such are not supposed to be doing all those things.
Or are you seriously arguing that, say, Blackwater supplying preteen boys for sexual slaves to Afghan warlords is somehow in the interest of the West at large, and anyone who exposes that scheme or complains about it is a "traitor"?
It was a rape so subtle that it took the incredible acumen of Swedish police prosecutors to detect it: the women themselves went to police to find out how to contact Assange after learning they both had sex unprotected, and after listening to their story the police told them "hey, you know what ? you've been raped". The prosecutor on the case is a man-hating feminist that once had a article about how to get back at and ruin the life of your former boyfriend that dumped you.
What evidence do you have to support your rather strange claims about Scandinavian law? Your claims are not in line with books or scholars on the subject. What are your credentials?
As a Scandinavian lawyer I have to disagree with your frankly unfounded claims on the basis of our legal history. Our law is built on the foundations of both Roman (Code Civil) and German (BGB) law. If that's not solid and strong then nothing is! Most countries in the world have similar foundations - with the exception of the former British colonies and some Muslim countries (mixed).
In modern times our laws have absolutely been constantly maintained and expanded with new laws from both national, regional and European sources. You do realize all the Scandinavian countries are subject to both the Council of Europe and EU law (either directly or indirectly)? According to most ratings, reviews and analysis human rights are better protected in Scandinavia than in the UK or US.
You are either ignorant or lying when you claim that Sweden or any other Scandinavian country would extradite a person to the US more easily. The US has been denied their own citizens on the basis that even US prisons are not satisfactory in terms of human rights according to our courts! The threat of the death penalty means a whole lot more to civilized countries where it's already illegal. It's also illegal under our laws to extradite if there's even the slightest chance that he could receive capital punishment! I can refer you to countless cases and verdicts.
Or are you seriously arguing that, say, Blackwater supplying preteen boys for sexual slaves to Afghan warlords is somehow in the interest of the West at large, and anyone who exposes that scheme or complains about it is a "traitor"?
Yes, he is, and lots of Americans (most notably evangelical Christians) vocally believe this too.
You don't have to be against the idea of "nations" to believe Assange is not a traitor. To think he's a "traitor", you just have to be a stupid American who thinks US law and policy applies globally.
cable/2005/02/05MADRID572
so umm we (the USA) used this judge for umm extraditions and ummm 9/11 stuff. and umm he does the USA circuit(guess teacher/lecture) often on the US tax payers dime. and ummmm.. he representing assage?
I smell bullshit.
"This is legal in Spain if the goal is to prevent further crimes to be committed (such as the inmate telling his lawyer to destroy evidence, or offshore funds)"
Not true. It is legal in Spain to prevent further crimes ONLY for terrorism cases (that communication was used in the past by terrorist to indicate to their accomplices what witnesses to kill to make their trials impossible or more difficult), so the statement in parentheses does not apply. Garzon knew very well that the wiretaps were illegal in any case since the charges where not of terrorism. Also, it is important to point that he tried to incriminate through the illegal wiretaps members of the then 2nd voted party in Spain (PP), and Garzón was previously in the nineties elected for parliament as a member of Spains then 1st voted party (PSOE), so there were some obvious conflicts of interest there.
Compromising the accused right to defend themselves is a very serious attack to the legal system.
Also, since he was disbarred previously, he was not judged for another case: asking for "donations" of thousands of $ to sponsor some conference courses (in which he where the only speaker) to some big companies and banks. The "donations" where paid, he received the lion share of those for the courses and a few months later he judged and put free the CEOs of some of those companies who had previously "donated" money that enden in his pockets. That sounds like bribes/extorsion to me.
So, IMO we could talk about a "super-corrupt ex-judge".
Why does the quoted part not appear in the linked Guardian article?