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Assange Agrees to US Prison If Obama Pardons Chelsea Manning (theverge.com)

"If Obama grants Manning clemency, Assange will agree to U.S. prison in exchange -- despite its clear unlawfulness," Wikileaks announced on Twitter Thursday. An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes The Verge: WikiLeaks' statement was released one day before a Swedish appeals court decided to maintain a warrant for Assange's arrest over a 2010 rape charge. Assange has said that extradition to Sweden would lead to his eventual extradition to the US, where he could face charges related to WikiLeaks' publication of secret government documents... Assange has been living in political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012...

Chelsea Manning, a former US Army private, was convicted in 2013 for providing a trove of documents and videos to WikiLeaks, and is currently serving a 35-year sentence at the US Disciplinary Barracks in Leavenworth, Kansas. She was hospitalized after a reported suicide attempt in July, and this month went on a hunger strike to seek treatment for her gender dysphoria. Manning ended her hunger strike this week after the military agreed to allow her to have gender reassignment surgery. She still faces indefinite solitary confinement due to administrative charges related to her suicide attempt.

The tweet also included a link to a letter from Assange's attorney, Barry Pollack, calling on the Justice Department to be more transparent about its investigation into WikiLeaks -- and citing the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information. "Director Comey made it clear his conclusion was based on the necessity of proving criminal intent [and] noted that responsible prosecutors consider the context of a person's actions... Criminal prosecution is appropriate only when a person...was intending to aid enemies of the United States or was attempting to obstruct justice."

6 of 401 comments (clear)

  1. Not indicted by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is completely bizarre. Assange is not currently wanted in the US. There is no indictment against him, there isn't a warrant for his arrest, and there is no request for extradition. I'm not sure how he can "agree to go to prison" when he hasn't been charged with a crime. The U.S. doesn't actually let people go to prison just because they want to; they have to be found guilty of a crime.

    Assange is wanted in Sweden (although so far he's only wanted for questioning.)

    Assange is wanted in Britain-- for jumping bail.

    But he's not wanted for a crime in the U.S. He could agree to go to prison in Sweden or Britain-- why doesn't he volunteer to do that?

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    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  2. Re:You Mispelled "Bradley Manning" by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 5, Informative

    A Leavenworth judge disagrees with you. Her legal name has been Chelsea Elizabeth Manning since 2014. Do try to keep up. Does it bother you that much that someone else can take control of their life? This sort of thing has been going on since the early 20th century. Time to get over it, don't you think? Or did you think this was the Flat Earth Society Discussion Group / Luddite Support Forum?

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    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  3. Re:Does the US even want him? by AHuxley · · Score: 4, Informative

    AC nobody expects a secret US grand jury investigation.
    "EPIC Partially Prevails in FOIA Case, Wikileaks Investigation Ongoing"
    https://epic.org/foia/doj/wiki...
    US government still hunting WikiLeaks as Obama targets whistleblowers (6 March 2015)
    https://www.theguardian.com/me...
    more at http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj...
    "The FBI's "still active and ongoing" probe of WikiLeaks" (March 06, 2015)
    http://www.courthousenews.com/...
    from https://epic.org/foia/doj/wiki...
    i.e. "... the Department of Justice and FBI’s multi-subject investigation into the unauthorised disclosure of classified information published on WikiLeaks, which is “still active and ongoing” and remains in the investigative stage."

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    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  4. Re:OMG! No one was talking about Assange for five by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...a 2010 rape charge

    a) He hasn't been charged with anything
    b) It isn't "rape" he's wanted for questioning over.

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    No sig today...
  5. Re:Never by dwillden · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Rosenbergs were executed for Treason. We were not in a state of declared war with the Soviet Union whom they committed their act of treason on behalf of. Your argument has no basis in reality.

    Posting AC to preserve Moderations.

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    I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
  6. Re:OMG! No one was talking about Assange for five by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sweden doesn't charge you unless you are present to defend yourself.

    Why can't idiots learn that?

    And they've been given ample opportunity to question him before deciding whether or not lay charges, which they should be doing as part of their investigation, but aren't, because this is politically motivated.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.