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."

Comments

Re:WHat I said on ars:

[MightyMartian]

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.

Re:You saying that makes me rethink BA

[Nephandus]

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.