
Ecuador says it has granted nationality to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange - orjan
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ecuador-granted-nationality-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-living-52283700
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jsgo
I saw a more detailed article a bit ago on it and it said that Ecuador gave
him citizenship on December 12th and then sent a request on December 20th for
the UK to treat Assange as an Ecuadorian diplomat and all of the protections
that entails. UK rejected that a day later.

edit: article in question - [https://www.yahoo.com/news/ecuador-grants-
citizenship-wikile...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ecuador-grants-citizenship-
wikileaks-founder-assange-foreign-minister-170743866.html)

~~~
toomuchtodo
How does the UK deny a sovereign nation’s determination?

~~~
clort
Well, I guess nations do that all the time. Certainly I've heard of it in the
last year or so.

    
    
      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkey-erdogan-president-us-ambassador-visa-latest-a7993116.html
      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/11527987/Pope-Francis-refuses-gay-French-ambassador.html
      https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/254049/israel-won%27t-recognise-nz-ambassador
    

In a legal manner (and not because I'm a UK citizen) I presume the host nation
can decline and then the proposing nation can find another one or send them
anyway but risk that he falls foul of the law and the host country does not
recognise any diplomatic immunity. In this case though, if the UK declines
then he is still stuck in there with no way out.

I think its kind of strange really that we have spent all this money pursuing
this guy for what was a minor warrant (that they wanted to speak to him) which
has since been cancelled and think that we (the UK) should just say enough
already and turn a blind eye to him leaving on a jet plane. Oh yeah, but the
strange part is that it really seems as if its _important_ to somebody that
that doesn't happen.

~~~
blibble
the warrant was revoked, but prior to that he skipped bail, which is contempt
of court

at worst it's a year in prison

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kiddico
I know there's not much more to say, but I think it's pretty funny that the
title is also the contents of the 'article'. Is this someones tweet that was
published as an article?

~~~
DyslexicAtheist
it is this tweet
[https://twitter.com/AP/status/951486396618956802](https://twitter.com/AP/status/951486396618956802)

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mkempe
How much longer can the UK threaten him with arrest for breach of bail
triggered by a closed procedure in a foreign country for a now-deemed-non-
existent crime? is there a limitation period -- 10, 15, 20 years, or will he
be hounded in perpetuity?

~~~
singularity2001
it doesn't matter what the law is, they'll bend the law

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mkempe
If one were in his position, how would one scheme a safe escape from the UK?

I can imagine scenarios to leave the embassy building (mob action,
disguises...), but then what?

~~~
aikinai
Do the UK authorities have to post agents all around the embassy 24/7 to be
sure he doesn’t just walk out?

~~~
mkempe
They did until 2015 [1]. The UK government estimated that cost over GBP 12
million.

[1] [http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34508500](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34508500)

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balthasar
And right back to where he started. Its contingent on the UK to decide
Assange's fate and their is no indication that they have changed their mind.

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hungerstrike
I don’t know why, but the first thing I searched for after reading this was:
the CIA runs Ecuador.

Turns out, they do. I figured the overlords of the drug trade would want to
make their home near the place of production. This is just theater.

~~~
throwacide
Citation? You’ll need a smoking gun.

~~~
hungerstrike
Search for the same phrase? There are plenty.

Also, I don't need a smoking gun because I'm not bringing anybody into a court
for trial.

