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Julian Assange Will Not Hand Himself In Because Chelsea Manning's Release Won't Happen Immediately, Lawyer Says (independent.co.uk)
President Obama commuted Chelsea Manning's prison sentence yesterday, reducing her time required to serve behind bars from 35 years to just over seven years. Prior to the commutation, WikiLeaks' Julian Assange pledged to surrender himself to U.S. authorities if Manning was pardoned. Roughly 24 hours have passed since the news broke and it appears that Assange will not hand himself in to the Department of Justice. The Independent reports: Mr Assange's lawyers initially seemed to suggest that promise would be carried through -- telling reporters that he stood by his earlier comments -- but it appears now that Mr Assange will stay inside the embassy. The commitment to accept extradition to the U.S. was based on Ms Manning being released immediately, Mr Assange's lawyer told The Hill. Ms Manning won't actually be released until May -- to allow for a standard 120-day transition period, which gives people time to prepare and find somewhere to live, an official told The New York Times for its original report about Ms Manning's clemency. "Mr. Assange welcomes the announcement that Ms. Manning's sentence will be reduced and she will be released in May, but this is well short of what he sought," Barry Pollack, Assange's U.S.-based attorney, told the site. "Mr. Assange had called for Chelsea Manning to receive clemency and be released immediately."
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/819630102787059713
If Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case
Can you tell me where it says pardon?
And what pray tell is Hillary going to be pardoned for? She's been investigated more than any candidate in US history, and if there was something to bring charges against her over, it would have happened by now. And if you think Trump is going to pursue charges, then you're nuts, because if Trump does that, then it would invite his successor, should that successor be a Democrat, to do the same to him, and so on and so forth. ]
You can safely abandon the Clinton criminal syndicate rhetoric now. She's not going to be President, Trump has won, so can we all just please move on..
And yes, Assange is a weasel. This has nothing to do with the US, which has never put out an arrest warrant for him and has never shown any actual desire to bring him into custody. Demanding clemency from people who have no obvious intention of even laying charges against him is ludicrous. His legal problems are with Swedish and British authorities.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
There is a difference between a pardon and commutation.
...which doesn't matter, of course, because the Wikipedia specifically said "clemency" (which is explicitly defined as including commutation). There is also a difference between jeans and grapefruit, but that's also irrelevant to the topic at hand.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
> So far there's no evidence that anyone was persecuting Assange.
You forget about this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident
Uh, the page you linked to says they were trying to get Snowden, not Assange.
Everyone knows who wants Snowden.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Actually, he WAS owed for his contributions to the war then bypassed by nepotism then accused of stealing when he actually used his own personal funds. Benedict did had genuine grievances and reason to flee his sleazy enemies. It's not hard to research either.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."
My thoughts exactly. I once supported Wikileaks seeing it as a potentially powerful weapon against the high and mighty; Bankers, corrupt politicians, lobbyists, police states...
But for some reason Wikileaks decided to target almost exclusively the United States, now even helping a political liability like Trump into power, playing into the hands of countries like Russia and China - enemies of freedoms and human rights.
Fuck Wikileaks and Assange.
Hahaha.
Admit it, morons. You loved it when it embarrassed Bush and hated it when it embarrassed Hillary, because you're partisan hacks who don't actually give a shit about corruption. You're just cheerleaders.
Everyone's all "he's such a weasel, yeah like we didn't see this coming" ... c'mon, you can't see in his case why it would be critical whether Manning was pardoned vs. just let out early?? C'mon, use those brains God gave you to see through your personal prejudices on the issue.
You could also READ what Assange said and see that he asked for "clemency" which does NOT mean a pardon. It can include a pardon, but it is not limited to a pardon. So who is failing to use the brains that God gave them? What we see here is Assange moving the goalpost and it suggests that even if Manning had received a pardon Assange would have still made an excuse as to why he couldn't turn himself over to Swedish (and not US) authorities.
you can't see in his case why it would be critical whether Manning was pardoned
I know you know what that word means, but did you know Assange never used it?
My personal prejudice is that Assange is every bit the man he has just proven to be. He demanded Clemency, Manning got Clemency, and his criticism is well deserved.
Having your sentence commuted and being pardoned are very different. A pardon pretty much wipes the slate clean and restores voting rights - it's basically a "yeah, you shouldn't be punished for this at all". Commuting a sentence just shortens it, but does not restore rights lost due to felony charges.
Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.