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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."
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."
Assange knows that will never happen. Obama has trouble even treating Manning like a normal human being.
-- Cheers!
Back when Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers, there was an actual chance at fairness if you went to court, which is why Ellsberg is not in jail for the rest of his life.
Today? The possibility that anyone would get a fair shake in a courtroom is laughable.
Assange would do well to stay where he is, even if it feels confining. Because he would be disappeared like Chelsea They would bury him so deep in the system that death would be preferable.
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BMOME-163B
He is a fugitive from raping two women in Sweden, volunteering to go to jail in the US as long as the US lets go of someone who was in the military and admits releasing lots of military secrets?
Is this offer serious? To me it comes off as laughably weird. Why not volunteer to go to French jail if they pardon Carlos the Jackal?
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
It does not matter where I personally stand on any of this politically. That is torture and the authorities backing and authorizing it know it.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
He is just a paranoid nut who thinks just because he doesn't like the US that the US wants him captured.
In terms of US he just posted stolen information. Then the US news repeated it. Manning is the real criminal stealing the data to begin with.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
He's trying to get himself attention, and succeeding it would seem as here's a story on it.
Assange has acted rather oddly throughout this whole thing, at least if you take his rhetoric at face value. He happily went to Sweden and spent time there until these allegation came up, at which time he went to the UK. He then claimed that the reason was that the charges were BS and Sweden would just hand him over to the US because they were after him as soon as he went back. That of course makes one questions:
1) Why would he go to Sweden in the first place, if he knew it was a country that would hand him over to the US extra judicially?
2) Why would he flee to the UK and feel safe there, a country with such a special relationship with the US it is literally called the "special relationship"?
He then fought the extradition to Sweden in the UK courts and lost. They were ruling just on the validity of the extradition request, not on the validity of the charge behind it. He then fled to the Ecuadorian embassy, claiming that he'd be handed over to the US if he went to Sweden.
So there we are today. Now near as I know, the US has not sought his arrest. While they don't like him, it doesn't look like he's broken US law. Publishing classified US information isn't a crime if you weren't the one who had access to it. So a guy who has a security clearance and gets information and gives it to a paper, he's breaking the law. However the paper that then publishes it is not.
Now maybe he really does know something most don't, but it seems more likely this is just him trying to get in the news. He knows this is an empty offer since the US wouldn't agree to it as they don't have a valid charge to bring against him. This is all between him and Sweden and now him and the UK (even if Sweden dropped the charges, he still broke UK law be fleeing his bail). The US isn't involved.
Making himself the hero, while deflecting from the fact that he is holed up in the embassy because he is wanted for sexual misconduct in Sweden.
He is not a fugitive from rape, he is "wanted" for questioning regarding allegations of rape which were answered long ago. Read the case and it becomes clear that the case most likely a setup for what Assange claims. "To give the US the ability to extradite him for charges of espionage, and dozens of other charges that will land him in jail for life." You should really either find facts before speaking or be more cautious with your words. He was never put on trial, never convicted of a crime, and to give you a shortcut both women are ex-girlfriends who had consensual sex with him frequently long before any allegation. Allegations came out much later. Assange has offered to answer questions and face inquiry in safe space and that has been refused. Sweden has refused to guarantee him amnesty from extradition if he came in for questioning. You can dislike him for a whole lot of reasons, but making false accusations makes you worse than him releasing too much information.
There is a history here in the US of false rape allegations for political agendas. Duke got us Title 9, UNLV and at least a dozen other high profile allegations were completely fabricated yet hyped to continue to divide the country and used for political gain by our Progressive left. You don't have to like facts, but don't ignore the facts. There are plenty of articles and legal experts who defend Assange, and if you understand the media collusion with politics you will see why they are hidden from public view on your favorite TV show.
Your question can simply be answered as "no", but I think it's a good bluff. If the US accepts it pretty much demonstrates that the charges were fabricated and Sweden was colluding with the US to arrest someone they dislike.
Your second question demonstrates complete ignorance, or perhaps it was just buffoonery. France is not in the legal equation, at all.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
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.
You actually don't know that... there are "secret warrants" and sealed indictments...
He may well be wanted but the government just won't admit it...
Obama might even give it a metal (sic).
Manning is not an "it." That's the ultimate "objectification" of her.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Seriously??? WTF, are you mentally deficient? the "secrets" they are holding pertain to them breaking federal law and violating your constitutional rights.
Dumb-ass.
Thank you for that completely fucking irrelevant piece of information.
Given that Assange was questioned in Sweden prior to leaving the country and prosecutors deemed there to be no charge to answer, I think it's pretty fucking valid to point out that he hasn't been charged with anything.