Ecuador Grants Asylum To Julian Assange

Several readers have submitted news that as expected, Ecuador is formally accepting Julian Assange's request for political asylum. paulmac84 writes "The Guardian are live blogging the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister's announcement that Ecuador is to grant asylum to Julian Assange. In the announcement Minister Patino said, 'We can state that there is a risk that he will be persecuted politically... We trust the UK will offer the necessary guarantees so that both governments can act adequately and properly respect international rights and the right of asylum. We also trust the excellent relationship the two countries have will continue.' The Guardian also carries a translated copy of the letter the UK sent to Ecuador regarding the threat to 'storm' the Ecuadorian embassy." Also at Reuters.

Comments

Oh, the delicious irony!

[daveschroeder]

Ecuador's free speech record at odds with Julian Assange's bid for openness
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/19/ecuador-free-speech-julian-assange

Ecuador, a country with a tenuous respect for international human rights law, is counter-intuitive refuge for the free speech and transparency crusader.

Ecuador's justice system and record on free speech have been called into question by Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Amnesty International.

"I think this is ironic that you have a journalist, or an activist, seeking political asylum from a government that has – after Cuba – the poorest record of free speech in the region, and the practice of persecuting local journalists when the government is upset by their opinions or their research," José Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch's Americas division, told the Guardian.

Vivanco points out that in April of 2011, Ecuador expelled the US ambassador Heather Hodges over diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks alleging widespread corruption within the Ecuadorian police.

Ecuador’s Assault on Free Speech
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/opinion/ecuadors-assault-on-free-speech.html

Ecuador’s highest court has delivered a staggering, shameful blow to the country’s democracy, siding with President Rafael Correa’s campaign to silence and bankrupt El Universo, Ecuador’s largest newspaper.

Ecuador's Rafael Correa under fire for media laws
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16806224

[...] the president ought to be known for "the most comprehensive and ruthless assault on free media under way in the Western Hemisphere".

According to various international rights organisations, 2011 was a bad year for freedom of speech in Ecuador, and 2012 does not bode well.

Following a change to the current electoral law, which comes into effect on 4 February, journalists will face restrictions when reporting on the forthcoming campaign for the 2013 presidential election.

The new article prohibits media from "either directly or indirectly promoting any given candidate, proposal, options, electoral preferences or political thesis, through articles, specials or any other form of message".

Also, to preempt this ridiculousness:

The UK didn't say it was going to "storm" Ecuador's embassy. (The origin of that claim? None other than Ecuador.) What the UK said is that Ecuador's embassy may be stripped of its diplomatic status (a move which would have serious diplomatic fallout), and police may arrest Assange.

People who think this is "good news" for Assange and/or Ecuador and/or the world at large are certainly showing their true colors: not only a disregard and lack of respect for freedom (including that of speech), but a celebration of anything that attacks the US and the West -- institutions which, for all their many imperfections, actually promote ideals of freedom and liberal democracy. Indeed, as Steven Aftergood, veteran crusader against excessive US government secrecy and director of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy: "WikiLeaks must be counted among the enemies of open society because it does not respect the rule of law nor does it honor the rights of individuals."

Re:Oh, the delicious irony!

[daveschroeder]

Someone who puts forth a point-of-view you disagree with is a "scandal"?

Indeed...

Re:Oh, the delicious irony!

[daveschroeder]

Yes, Hatta, I "believe what I'm saying". Curious though what you think in my post is "disinformation", given that the articles I chose were sourced from the NYT, the Guardian (2), and the BBC. Steven Aftergood's quote wasn't out-of-context, and I don't see how anything else remaining in the post that could be construed as a personal opinion is "disinformation".

Does Ecuador really have a stellar record on human rights and free speech, and I just missed it? Did WikiLeaks' mission not change when Assange essentially became WikiLeaks and turned — by his own admission — to almost exclusively targeting the US?

Also, Ecuador's free speech record is highly relevant:

First, it's highly ironic, at the very least.

Second, why are Western governments "persecuting" Assange (ignoring for a moment that if ANY Western government wanted Assange out of the picture, he would have been dead long ago) to whatever extent they are? Could it be that in free and open societies governed by the rule of law we don't allow individuals to unilaterally decide, on their own, what secrets of their own governments should be released? Intelligence operations and diplomatic work demand secrecy even in free societies. We allow for that as a people.

The irony, I suppose — irony being a common thread here — is that all the leaked cables showed is that the US has a thoughtful and dedicated foreign service. Unless, of course, you're one of those people who hates the US and believes that they revealed some dark and sinister secrets by taking a handful of cables out-of-context out of hundreds of thousands and using them to invent some kind of imagined scandal.

This absolutely smears Assange. I realize that he's simply pragmatically seeking refuge wherever he can find it, but do you really believe Correa and Assange are some kind of kindred spirits? They sure acted like it on the "interview" which Kremlin-backed Russian state media outlet RT aired. But I suppose you find things like RT beyond reproach, and nothing hypocritical about someone who claims to champion free speech and free press seeking asylum with one of the worst offenders on both counts.

Re:Oh, the delicious irony!

[atriusofbricia]

It's not his opinion, he works in information warfare aka he's a paid troll. It's not about disagreeing with his position it's about the fact that we once again have an official propaganda office which is targeting American citizens.

You say propaganda, but did you read any of the links posted or did you just switch to groupthink mode and decide that anything that is pro-Assange is good and anything that is anti-him is bad?

In the end, the douchebag Assange requested asylum purely to avoid his day in court. If the US wanted to nail him so bad and this was all just a conspiracy against more little Julian, don't you think they would have come up with a far less complicated method? Car wreck? Mugging gone wrong?

Given his extremely strong egotistical tendencies plus his reported disregard for women, what is more likely: That he may have done exactly what he's been accused of or that it is all a giant US government plot to get him to US soil to put him on trial for X.

But, it's cool. Many in the slashdot ground and others will continue to worship this attention seeking douchebag and hold him up as the champion of free speech.

Re:Oh, the delicious irony!

[daveschroeder]

I'm following this thread, too, and have posted numerous times in it. I don't post as AC.

I'm transparent about my identity and affiliations. Are you? Is any (semi-)anonymous person or AC on slashdot?

Was my post really that controversial? Ecuador has a terrible record on free speech and freedom of the press, two key things Assange claims to champion. The Kremlin-backed Russian state media outlet RT is the one to air the interview between Correa and Assange. It is ironic, is it not? How did we get to a place where states like Russia, Venezuela, and Ecuador are — explicitly or implicitly — thought to be more "free" by ANY measure than the US, UK, and Sweden?

That's the kind of bizarre thinking my post is highlighting, and it seems to hit close to home for many...

I don't think so

[Viol8]

It proves our country is governed by the rule of law, not by the rule of Assange fanbois who would probably cheer him on no matter what.

Lets not forget Hans Reiser and all the moronic fanboi cheerleaders claiming he was a victim of [insert paranoid delusion here] even when he was finally convicted. Eventually they all STFU when he led police to his wifes body. I see the same thing going on here - Assange being treated as some sort of 2nd coming who can do no wrong.

Lets get something straight - Assange is a narcissistic egomaniac who doesn't give a stuff about rights. All he cares about is getting getting one over on a western system he doesn't like. Fine - he's off to a country where western democracy and rights are a pipe dream. Bon Voyage Jules!

Re:the moral to the story

[Anonymous Coward]

Having sex in Sweden can get complicated

Unless you're Muslim or gay, in which case the government doesn't care who you have sex with, consensual or not.

Re:America.

[nomadic]

"Other then the crazy comments our Representatives and Senators spew out every once in a while (But they say something stupid, or threatening every freaking day)."

Sadly, the crazy comments from our Representatives and Senators sound sober and sane compared to the paranoid shrieking from much of the slashdot contingent.

The two women in Sweden . . .

[MarkvW]

Assange is seeking asylum to avoid investigation of a sex offense.

Assange SAYS that he fears extradition from Sweden to the US. That's just BS from a suspected rapist. If there were a real extradition threat, the US would have gone for Assange when he was available in the UK for chrissake.

The guy is just a pig.