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Julian Assange Still Faces Legal Jeopardy In Three Countries (chicagotribune.com)
Though Sweden dropped an investigation into rape allegations against Julian Assange, "I can conclude, based on the evidence, that probable cause for this crime still exists," chief prosecutor Marianne Ny told reporters in Stockholm. An anonymous reader quotes Newsweek:
Ny stressed in her statement Friday that the investigation could be reopened before the statute of limitations on the case expires in 2020. If Assange "went into British custody, then the Swedes may well revisit their decision ⦠as extradition is suddenly easier", tweeted legal expert David Allen Green. Assange failed to answer a bail hearing when he took refuge in the embassy, resulting in an active warrant for his arrest by London's Metropolitan Police, punishable by up to a year in prison. Foremost of Assange's concerns is possible extradition to the U.S., where he he could be detained on espionage charges... Ecuador has offered Assange asylum should he be able to leave Britain.
Meanwhile, The Chicago Tribune reports that "a federal inquiry is widely assumed to be underway by prosecutors in Virginia." According to a former senior Justice Department official, who requested anonymity to discuss the Assange case, American authorities are now presented with a "cat and mouse game." "The decision on whether to indict him rests largely on whether they can get their hands on him," the former official said. Indicting the head of an organization such as WikiLeaks presents a huge number of First Amendment issues, but the Trump White House has indicated such issues may be less of a hurdle than during previous administrations. Prosecutors could seek a sealed indictment -- or may have one already -- to be unveiled if and when Assange strays within reach of American law enforcement, the former official said.
Meanwhile, The Chicago Tribune reports that "a federal inquiry is widely assumed to be underway by prosecutors in Virginia." According to a former senior Justice Department official, who requested anonymity to discuss the Assange case, American authorities are now presented with a "cat and mouse game." "The decision on whether to indict him rests largely on whether they can get their hands on him," the former official said. Indicting the head of an organization such as WikiLeaks presents a huge number of First Amendment issues, but the Trump White House has indicated such issues may be less of a hurdle than during previous administrations. Prosecutors could seek a sealed indictment -- or may have one already -- to be unveiled if and when Assange strays within reach of American law enforcement, the former official said.
The US secret justice system, with secret orders, inquiries, etc is really a beautiful mark of democracy...
It sounds like Ny playing politics.
Ny: "Dropping the investigation is not a result of deciding he is not guilty, Ny added -- it's because there's no practical way to continue it. "
The woman only pressed charges when he refused an aids test, and she cannot remove consent AFTER THE FACT, which is what her and Ny tried to do. She cannot change it to conditional consent either, after the fact. i.e. its OK to have sex without a condom as long as you have an aid test afterwards, made no sense.
Ny should be more professional and less political.
As for Assange, he evaded the extradition and will face charges from that. In the USA, he's simply a conduit for Russian propaganda leakers, if he wasn't the conduit, some other conduit would be used. If it was PasteBin, would PasteBin be prosecuted? Nothing to see there.
So after Trump is elected, Sweden hates Trump and drops the charges. They don't want to do anything to help Trump. Their behavior is unrelated to the nominal charges, it's all about their political position.
They have chosen this path to save face and to keep their options open. It still might be useful for Sweden to do something on the behalf of the US, so they are still keeping Asange as a possible target.
So much time has passed since Assange was originally charged that the situation has completely changed. Wikileaks is now allied with Russia and wants payback against the US. They are no longer a neutral 3rd party trying to uncover the truth. They have a pro-Russian agenda.
Given that Putin wants to destabilize Western democracies it is hard to see Assange as a victim. He has chosen the dark side and even though it is easy to see why, he has lost all moral authority.
Why is Snark Required?
US prosecution is a bit laughable. Assange did not steal any documents - they were given to him. As a non-US citizen, not resident in the US, all of whose actions took place outside of the US: he is clearly not subject to US jurisdiction.
I'm sure the US would love to prosecute him, but doing so would be a mockery of justice.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
The US is no longer a nation of laws but of men with power.
Hm. Tell that to the judge who smacked down Trump's muslim ban.
There's no doubt Trump would love to implement something similar to Putin's kleptocracy, but he's stupid. So there's that.
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
It took Putin a while to beat down dissent. The sad part about Russia is that even though it was corrupt, they had a functional democracy and a free press for a few years. All murdered/imprisoned, now.
Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
Yes, here you actually need reason to believe a crime has been committed in order to incarcerate someone. That seems superior to me.
You need that in Sweden too. The difference is that Sweden does not have a conveyor belt system of trial court judges that rubberstamps arraignments and arrest orders for cases they have no background knowledge about.
Because the arrest charges can differ from the trial charges, there's less of the American practice of tossing everything you can on the wall in the hope that enough sticks.
There's also a safeguard in that can sue for restitution for the time spent jailed if the case doesn't go to court. So it's not done lightly. In fact, that it isn't done lightly is what allowed Assange to leave the country.
Theoretically communism and democracy isn't mutually exclusive. Theoretically.
And there isn't any country currently that are pure democracies .... maybe Switzerland is close but not even theoretically pure.
The truth is that we talk about these stuff with purist fervour, but the real question should be "what is the best mix?".
Approach this thinking with a clear and open mind instead of blindly defending a religion.
Democracy isn't a religion. It hasn't worked out for a whole bunch of African states because of corruption. Democracy alone doesn't address corruption by itself.... how do you implement safe guards to make sure your democracies work properly? How did democracy work out for Iraq?
It would probably be better if we ruled Iraq like a colony and develop/exploit them until they are sufficiently stable. Thinking everyone would love and welcome freedom is just naive.... it's a culture than need to be developed.
You are writing as if the rule of law would be followed. Consider "extraordinary rendition" - Assange is considered to be in the same domain as the people who were subjected to that and not in the legal domain. The silly case that's never going to trial despite evidence being gathered was just a pretext, because the evidence is still not even enough to lay charges. He was going to be extradited for questioning about something that is not even a crime where you live and not for trial remember.