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Justice Department Is Preparing To Prosecute WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange (wsj.com)
According to the Wall Street Journal, "the Justice Department is preparing to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Warning: source paywalled; alternative source) and is increasingly optimistic it will be able to get him into a U.S. courtroom." From the report: Over the past year, U.S. prosecutors have discussed several types of charges they could potentially bring against Mr. Assange, the people said. Mr. Assange has lived in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since receiving political asylum from the South American country in 2012. The people familiar with the case wouldn't describe whether discussions were under way with the U.K. or Ecuador about Mr. Assange, but said they were encouraged by recent developments.
Prosecutors have considered publicly indicting Mr. Assange to try to trigger his removal from the embassy, the people said, because a detailed explanation of the evidence against Mr. Assange could give Ecuadorean authorities a reason to turn him over. The exact charges Justice Department might pursue remain unclear, but they may involve the Espionage Act, which criminalizes the disclosure of national defense-related information.
Prosecutors have considered publicly indicting Mr. Assange to try to trigger his removal from the embassy, the people said, because a detailed explanation of the evidence against Mr. Assange could give Ecuadorean authorities a reason to turn him over. The exact charges Justice Department might pursue remain unclear, but they may involve the Espionage Act, which criminalizes the disclosure of national defense-related information.
Julian offered to turn himself over in exchange for the release of Manning, They released him but Obama nullified Julians offer. The rape allegations turned out to be nothing.
While I don’t support the idea of charging Asshole-Assange with a crime in the US, the two statements above are misleading.
Firstly, if you’re accused of a crime, you don’t get to decide under what conditions you’ll turn yourself in. It’s an arrest, not a negotiation.
Secondly, the rape allegations did not “turn out to be nothing.” The prosecutor realized that they were going to be unable to prosecute within sweden’s legal time limit and therefore made the choice to stop wasting state resources that could be better spent elsewhere. Who knows what might have come of it had he been available for arrest? While the result is similar to “turned out to be nothing” the reason is essential - and the same as the reason I don’t support extraditing that worthless, self-absorbed fuck to the US. The rule of law matters.