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Julian Assange May Surrender To British Police On Friday (twitter.com)
bestweasel writes: As reported by The Guardian and others, Julian Assange has announced via Wikileaks that: "Should the UN announce tomorrow that I have lost my case against the United Kingdom and Sweden, I shall exit the embassy at noon on Friday to accept arrest by British police as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal. ... However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me."
Officer: Sir, your car tyre is over the line meaning that you have parked illegally. You will now be transferred to Guantanamo Bay for 12 years of interrogation and torture. We take parking tickets very seriously around here.
Maybe he shouldn't have legal issues? Just keep his head down?
That's a fantastic idea! No one should ever make waves, or make things uncomfortable for The Powers That Be(tm)!
Everybody wins! [If they happen to be one of The Powers That Be(tm); otherwise they lose...]
While we are at it, let's put the final nails in the coffin of all investigative, yet inconvenient, reporting!
Also: I want a pony...
Seems like Ecuador finally got sick of him.
I disagree. Investigative reporting is good, but it can be sensationalized and it's really done for profit. In many cases, investigative reports don't release the documents and interviews that form the basis of the stories. There isn't a lot of transparency, and reports don't actually want the transparency. See this article complaining that once an FOIA request is made for a document, the documents are made freely available to anyone, which would be damaging to investigative reporters. In short, they want access to the documents requested under the FOIA but don't want others to have access because it would cut into their profits from reporting. Although Wikileaks can't be fully trusted because they are (necessarily) selective about what they release, it's not biased out of desire for profit and it's transparent enough in that you see the original documents.
I hate all anonymous shitbags. Log in, you filthy bastards.
How is the UK acting "shitty" here? He was allowed legal representation, allowed to appeal his case to the highest court in the land, lost at each level with each judge giving a detailed reasoning to each of his legal teams arguments, and he still went on to commit a crime in the UK. Regardless of how Swedens case is ruled on, there is no way the UKs actions can be considered unlawful in this instance - Assange jumped bail. His bail sponsors already lost their case to have the money back, so Assange is facing an open and shut case should he surrender to the UK authorities.
> How is the UK acting "shitty" here?
Remember: acting shitty and acting legally are, alas, not mutually exclusive.
While the "state of law" is a huge advance wrt tyranny, law (especially this hypercomplex law shaped by many interest groups we have these days) bends more readily to those in (financial, political) power.
Sometimes the only (meaningful, I don't believe violence cuts it long term) weapon we have is calling foul: they may have good attorneys, but they still are assholes.
At the same time, the purpose of FOIA isn't to help journalists, it is to ensure that data collected and held by public bodies has a way of becoming publicly available to the general public. If that suits journalists then great, if not, well, it wasn't specifically intended for them anyway and supporting their particular needs is not FOIAs purpose.
Who's a spy for which enemy exactly? The only enemy here are western governments, including the US, who will engage in any activity at all to promote their multinational corporations, protect their overseas assets at taxpayer expense, and suppress by any means necessary anybody who tries to tell the truth about that, especially when they have proof.
The US has always had a problem with being full of idiots who think their country can do no wrong anywhere. A disturbing number of our population (radical conservatives) have a proven psychological issue where showing them proof of something that contradicts their beliefs actually makes those beliefs stronger. It's a mental problem that constantly gets exploited for the gain of large economic interests.
Asssnge and Snowden are guilty of one thing: exposing the dirty dealings of the US and its allies, and the extent to which governments try to control the population lest they actually decide to do something about it.
There's a reason why Sweden has one of the highest rape rates in the world and it's not because there are that many actual rapes going on.
The Swedes will be glad to hear that. Of course you realize there are different views about that.
But it is somewhat amusing to watch the racists and the feminists fight over it,...
I suppose it would be a shame for nobody to get a benefit from the situation.
But it is somewhat amusing to watch the racists and the feminists fight over it,
If it turns out the "racists" are correct in some fashion, does that make them "racists"?
But yes, if you read the original police documents, the purpose of going to the police was to force an STD test.
Traumatized people don't always think right.
That the US was involved I rather doubt
In absence of evidence that is a good thing.
as any borderline chargeable offense will automatically be pushed by the police and prosecution whether the supposed victim wants it or not
See my first comment.
it's quite enough that an activist prosecutor like Marianne Ny smells some publicity and the opportunity to 'send a message' to start that chain of events and completely screw up the victims life far beyond the original issue.
Interesting rhetoric, but I don't recall hearing that it was the prosecutor that "screwed up" anyone's life. I would think Assange might have played a roll in that.
Hopefully Ny's utter incompetence in this has put a permanent black mark on her career.
That is probably what happened to the first prosecutor.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
I don'; know about not leaking, but not having sex with woman you have to start "holding her arms and bending her legs open and trying to penetrate her" would be a pretty good start at avoiding legal problems.
Victims of domestic abuse often have a 'normal' relationship with their abuser before and after thoses episodes.
By your logic that would mean that no abuse did happen...
Not all feminists believe the way you seem to think they do. That says more about you than them, unfortunately, and it's not good for you.
But it is somewhat amusing to watch the racists and the feminists fight over it,
If it turns out the "racists" are correct in some fashion [gatestoneinstitute.org], does that make them "racists"?
Fortunately for everyone but the racists, their claims are not even close to true. For example, the very prominent claim of a 300% increase in violent crime since 1975, does not seem to be born out by actual data, which seems to show a modest decrease in crime over that time period.
Fanatically anti-fanatical