
Julian Assange arrested in London - kragniz
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47891737
======
Mvandenbergh
It will be interesting to see if the US tries to extradite him. It's actually
not 100% clear that he's broken any US laws in any ways that they aren't also
routinely broken by newspapers.

There's a few avenues: 1) Publishing classified information. Easy to show that
he did this but a very difficult path to go down when American newspapers do
this all the time.

2) Conspiracy to commit espionage. Probably the most likely, this would
require showing that he was actively working with someone to extract
classified information. Just openly soliciting leaks to an email address
wouldn't be enough, he'd really have to be talking to a leaker before/during
the extraction of the data. Depending on the nature of his communications with
Guccifer (The GRU hackers from 2016) they may be able to make a case on this
basis.

3) Al Capone style / collateral attack. The US made it very hard for Wikileaks
to operate financially. Maybe he did something that falls under the US'
capacious money laundering rules?

Note that this case is fundamentally different from Manning / Snowden / Winner
who all had access to classified information legally and misused that access.
Due to the first amendment, American espionage laws are quite narrowly written
compared to those of many other countries and while it is easy to prosecute
people on the "inside" for leaking classified material to the "outside", it is
much harder to prosecute someone for what they do with it when it's out.

(Edit: Well that was fast! Interested to see what's in the indictment)

~~~
djsumdog
I wish Australia would step up and actually defend one of their citizens.

~~~
IntelMiner
Australia is run by a bunch of corrupt neoliberal oligarchs burning the place
to the ground on the way out the door

They have "better" things to do than worry about some "peasant". Like their
six figure pensions and lobbying deals

~~~
collyw
Is there a country who's citizens don't think their government is corrupt?

~~~
freyir
The Nordic countries, New Zealand, Switzerland and Singapore are perceived as
least corrupt by experts and in opinion polls. Do the citizens agree?

~~~
pjc50
Norway is doing pretty well for a country with such a large sovereign wealth
fund; most places would have had it stolen by now. It seems they just have the
ordinary run of scandals: [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-
europe-45173500](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45173500)

~~~
mullen
I love Norwegian political scandals. Compared to American scandals, they are
just nothing but people are held accountable anyways. I would love to see some
American politicians career ended because they took their phone to a country
they should not have.

~~~
pjc50
If a married US Democrat took their secret Iranian girlfriend to Iran with
their government phone the scandal would last about a decade.

~~~
mullen
Only if he was Black.

~~~
markdown
Or democrat

------
overkalix
I was writing a long post but I deleted it. I don't know what to say, I don't
like the guy, but I have an even stronger dislike for how international
politics and intelligence services work.

~~~
tramtrist
I also feel the same way. He may have committed some heinous crimes outside of
the actual hacking/leaking but to say we all didn't benefit from what we
learned regarding how our government spies on us would just be flat out
wrong..

~~~
fxbl0i
What crimes did he commit? Honest question. I heard that someone accused him
of being a rapist but then dropped the charges so I guess it was false. What
else is there?

~~~
DavidVoid
What you've heard is false. The investigation was dropped simply because there
was no way to proceed with the investigation with him still hiding away in the
embassy. The investigation will be reopened if he returns to Sweden before
August 2020 when the statute of limitations expires for the minor rape
allegation.

[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-
europe-39973864](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39973864)

~~~
Sacho
Sweden doesn't have trials in absentia? Judging by this
document([https://rm.coe.int/168058f4b0](https://rm.coe.int/168058f4b0)), they
do:

\-------------------------------------------

Chapter 46 (proceedings in the district courts) Section 15 a If the matter can
be satisfactorily investigated, the case may be adjudicated notwithstanding
the fact that the defendant has appeared only by counsel or has failed to
appear if:

1\. there is no grounds to impose a criminal sanction other than fine,
imprisonment for a maximum of three months, conditional sentence, or
probation, or such sanctions jointly,

2\. after service of the summons upon the defendant, he has fled or remains in
hiding in such a manner that he cannot be brought to the main hearing, or

3\. the defendant suffers from serious mental disturbance and his or her
attendance as a result thereon is unnecessary.

Orders under the Penal Code, Chapter 34, Section 1, paragraph 1, clause 1,
shall have the same standing as the sanctions stated in the first paragraph,
clause 1.

However, this does not apply if, in connection with such an order, a
conditional release from imprisonment shall be declared forfeited as to a term
of imprisonment exceeding three months.

In the situations stated in first paragraph, clause 2, the case may be
adjudicated even if the defendant has not been served the notice of the
hearing.

Procedural issues may be decided even if the defendant has failed to appear in
court. (SFS 2001:235)

\-------------------------------------------

Looks like a perfect fit for Assange's case. Why didn't they try him this way?

~~~
DavidVoid
I believe there were never any criminal charges filed against him, he was only
ever investigated.

~~~
Sacho
Okay, let's look at a hypothetical - you say the investigation was dropped
because they couldn't interview him. What is the practical difference to the
investigators if they interview him and he says "I refuse to comment on
anything"? There must be some way to move forward without cooperation from the
accused - Assange isn't the first person to flee a country pending an
investigation. Why didn't they do so?

Looking at Swedish law, they have a rough equivalent of Miranda -
[https://open.karnovgroup.se/processratt/fuk](https://open.karnovgroup.se/processratt/fuk)
Section 12(google translate):

\- Do not have to comment on the suspicion and not otherwise have to
contribute to the investigation of their own debt

~~~
dahfizz
It is unfortunately common for rape cases to go unreported/unsolved because of
the lack of physical evidence. I certainly don't blame investigators for
trying to interview the acused, but without evidence or a confession there's
nothing for them to do.

------
belorn
I would like to locate all HN comments which said he never would get arrested
on behalf of the US, and that Assange objections was all just pretense for
trying to escape justice from the UK/Swedish legal system.

~~~
ben_w
The ease by which the US can extradite him _from the UK_ is precisely why I
thought poorly of the claim that he felt his life was endangered by going to
_Sweden_.

~~~
monocasa
The UK makes the US go through the legal extradition process, whereas Sweden
has been happy to just let the CIA fly in and kidnap people completely outside
the legal process.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repatriation_of_Ahmed_Agiza_an...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repatriation_of_Ahmed_Agiza_and_Muhammad_al-
Zery)

~~~
foldr
So why didn't they just do that while he was in Sweden? Having him under
arrest in Sweden would make it more difficult, not easier.

~~~
monocasa
Because as of leaving Sweden, they had only released the Collateral Murder
video. The Iraq War documents and Cablegate happened while he was in the UK.

~~~
foldr
But then (according to the conspiracy theory) they could have engineered false
rape accusations in any country that Assange had previously visited -- and
that's a long list. It seems unlikely that Sweden would be at the top of the
list. It seems far more likely that he just so happens to have raped a woman
in Sweden while visiting.

On top of that, it would have been impossible to abduct him while he was in
Police custody in Sweden without causing a major international incident.

Frankly, I'm losing track of all the different conspiracy theories. Some
people are saying that the rape allegations were necessary to discredit him
prior to extradition, because the US was super sensitive to public opinion.
Others (like you) are saying that the US was so insensitive to public opinion
that they planned to have him abducted and/or murdered extrajudicially. All of
this crap is completely made up.

~~~
monocasa
Other countries didn't have recently closed cases to reopen that also allow
extraordinary rendition.

~~~
foldr
But the rape allegations were manufactured, right? There was no particular
reason to manufacture them in Sweden just because that was the country Assange
was in immediately before he went to the UK.

Extraordinary rendition would be pretty much impossible once he was in Police
custody in Sweden anyway, so I don't know why you keep referring to it.

Like I said, it's hard to keep track of all the different conspiracy theories.

~~~
luckylion
> But the rape allegations were manufactured, right?

Not likely. To keep it hypothetical, if an opportunity arises, you take it.
Similarly, the CIA didn't start vaccination programs in the third world to
later use them as a cover to look for Bin Laden, but they did take the
opportunity of those program's known existence as cover for their intelligence
operations in Pakistan.

> Extraordinary rendition would be pretty much impossible once he was in
> Police custody in Sweden anyway, so I don't know why you keep referring to
> it.

Not really. You can release him from custody so he's on the street again.
Afterwards, just kidnap him, drive him to the airport, fly him out to the US.
That's standard operating procedure for US intelligence services in Europe
with multiple documented cases.

~~~
foldr
>Not likely.

I know that it’s not likely. But a lot of people do think that the allegations
were manufactured by the CIA. As I said, it is really difficult, with so many
people commenting, to figure out exactly which conspiracy theory is under
discussion at any given point.

>Not really.

I don’t mean that it’s physically impossible. I mean that it would have
created an enormous international incident if the CIA abducted Assange without
the cooperation of the Swedish Police, or if the Swedish Police had
collaborated with the CIA to disappear a suspect in an ongoing criminal
investigation. Take a look at the case of Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery in
2006. The rendition of two Egyptians that no-one has heard of caused enough of
a diplomatic incident that Sweden stopped CIA rendition flights.

~~~
monocasa
> I don’t mean that it’s physically impossible. I mean that it would have
> created an enormous international incident if the CIA abducted Assange
> without the cooperation of the Swedish Police, or if the Swedish Police had
> collaborated with the CIA to disappear a suspect in an ongoing criminal
> investigation. Take a look at the case of Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery
> in 2006. The rendition of two Egyptians that no-one has heard of caused
> enough of a diplomatic incident that Sweden stopped CIA rendition flights.

I mean... it wasn't all that bad in the Agiza and al-Zery case for Sweden. No
heads rolled in the Swedish government over the matter. And there were
literally Swedish personnel assisting.

Do you have any evidence that Sweden has stopped allowing rendition flights?

~~~
foldr
[http://web.archive.org/web/20110109124202/http://www.swedish...](http://web.archive.org/web/20110109124202/http://www.swedishwire.com/politics/7497-cia-
rendition-flights-stopped-by-swedish-military)

~~~
monocasa
That says that the Swedish military stopped _a_ rendition flight, because
their rules weren't being followed.

Nowhere does it say that rendition flights are off the table in Sweden
anymore.

~~~
foldr
>An acute diplomatic crisis broke out between the United States and Sweden in
2006 when Swedish authorities put a stop to CIA rendition flights [...]

> Steven V. Noble wrote in cables reveled by WkiLeaks that the Swedish
> government reacted strongly because rules had not been followed.

> A spokesperson from Säpo, Swedish police Intelligence Service, confirmed
> parts the newspaper report, adding that there have been no more
> extraordinary rendition flights landing in Sweden since.

I have not found any references to subsequent rendition flights involving
Sweden, and it's been a good while since that article was published.

Apart from that, I don't really know what kind of confirmation you can be
asking for. One cannot conclusively rule out the possibility that Sweden is
still involved in extraordinary rendition, but one also cannot rule out that
possibility for the UK, or for many other countries that Assange has spent
time in.

------
_iyig
In the Afghan War Documents leak, Julian Assange refused to redact the names
of Afghans who informed on the Taliban. He referred to them as “spies and
traitors” in comments to the media. A reporter for the Guardian claims he
said, “Well, they're informants. So, if they get killed, they've got it coming
to them. They deserve it.”

Nasty way to diss on fellow leakers, in my opinion. I wonder if Mr. Assange
feels he himself deserves what’s now coming to him.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_War_documents_leak#Info...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_War_documents_leak#Informants_named)

~~~
YeGoblynQueenne
From your link:

 _Guardian journalist, David Leigh, claimed that Julian Assange initially
refused to redact the names of informants.[62] In his book, co-authored with
Luke Harding, WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange 's War on Secrecy, Leigh
claimed Assange to have said in relation to whether the names should be
redacted, "Well, they're informants. So, if they get killed, they've got it
coming to them. They deserve it."[63] In response to the book's publication,
WikiLeaks posted on Twitter: "The Guardian book serialization contains
malicious libels. We will be taking action."[64] When Douglas Murray relayed
these comments in a debate, Assange interjected "We are in the process of
suing The Guardian in relation to that comment."[65] The Guardian claimed the
following day that they had 'not received any notification of such action from
WikiLeaks or its lawyers', two months after the publication of the book.[66]_

So what you report is a claim that Assang himself has strongly denied.

~~~
jhayward
He hasn't strongly denied it. He said _in 2011_ that he would sue them for
reporting the quote. He hasn't. Anyone can say "it's not true" on twitter. I
don't call that a strong denial.

In any case, the names of informants were published. He did it. That's all you
need to know about the man.

~~~
YeGoblynQueenne
The link you provided refers to a New Statesman article about a debate held to
discuss the effect of whistleblowing. I quote the relevant passage from the
New Statesman article:

 _Murray didn 't back down, moving on to make reference to the Guardian's
claim that Assange "didn't care" about Afghan informants who were identified
as a result of the release of the war logs.

Assange hit back: "Point of order! We are in the process of suing the Guardian
. . ." After a bit of back and forth about libel laws – Assange said he has
campaigned for their reform, but that people should have recourse when
allegations are made against them – Murray drawled: "I think I'll take from
that that Mr Assange thinks libel law is good when he's using it." _

I cannot see where Assange said '"it's not true" on twitter', as you report,
but in any case it seems clear that he didn't just make some off-hand remark
on a social medium, as you seem to suggest.

In any case, I don't see why using twitter as a platform would reduce the
validity of such a statement. There's a difference between tweeting to your
followers you're going vegan and claiming you're suing the Guardian for libel.

>> In any case, the names of informants were published. He did it. That's all
you need to know about the man.

To be frank, I don't much care about statements that start with "that's all
you need to know". I usually prefer to chose for myself how much I need to
know of anything.

------
Salamat
Any possible relation to the arrest of Assange? IMF board approves $4.2 bln
financing deal with Ecuador March 11 (Reuters) - The International Monetary
Fund’s executive board approved the $4.2 billion financing deal with Ecuador
[https://www.reuters.com/article/ecuador-imf/imf-board-
approv...](https://www.reuters.com/article/ecuador-imf/imf-board-
approves-42-bln-financing-deal-with-ecuador-idUSL1N20Y1O6)

~~~
envy2
That article is a month old——so, unlikely.

~~~
injb
I don't see how that makes it unlikely. This has probably been months in the
making.

------
skilled
> URGENT: Ecuador has illegally terminated Assange political asylum in
> violation of international law. He was arrested by the British police inside
> the Ecuadorian embassy minutes ago.

Source:
[https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1116273826621480960](https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1116273826621480960)

Holy moly, this will be interesting!

EDIT:

If you're interested, here's a video of him being escorted out of the embassy
--

[https://twitter.com/RitaPanahi/status/1116281098747568128](https://twitter.com/RitaPanahi/status/1116281098747568128)

EDIT2:

Comments from Snowden advising journalists to cover the story with authentic
facts:

[https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1116285397284290560](https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1116285397284290560)

~~~
threeseed
Of course Ecuador can revoke asylum.

It's very common practice around the world if a person's circumstances change
and their original country is now safe. Likewise if Ecuador believes that
there is no longer a threat to Assange they can revoke it.

~~~
anoncake
> Likewise if Ecuador believes that there is no threat to Assange that can
> revoke it.

Thats a stretch considering they invited the police to arrest him.

~~~
Traster
The police were arresting him for skipping bail - that's not a political
asylum issue.

~~~
anoncake
No, but politically persecuting Assange under pretexts is. Since (I assume)
Ecuador protected him not because they oppose persecution for sexual assault,
but because they believed that was a pretext for political persecution, I do
not see how the circumstances have changed. Except for the Ecuadorian embassy
staff reportedly getting fed up with Assange, of course.

~~~
Traster
One of the ways that things have changed is the continued illegal political
campaigning whilst in the embassy that Assange is accused of. Asylum doesn't
give protection against breaking the law in the host country.

------
shrewduser
I just want to know, from the people who seemed to have turned against
Assange, how do you know it's not a concerted disinformation / propaganda
campaign to remove all his credibility and reduce public support?

By my reckoning It's really hard to know what to even believe about a guy who
might credibly be targeted by that.

~~~
kmlx
wikileaks/Assange during the recent US presidential elections. that’s what did
it for me. even now, knowing what we now about Russian interference, they
still have the “Hillary Clinton email archive” proudly displayed on their
homepage. also, there are those rape cases for which he ran away. shady stuff.

~~~
lowpro
Even if Russia leaked the emails (not certain as the media would have you
believe at all, not saying it’s conspiracy but It’s not conclusive), the
information regarding massive corruption in the DNC was true, and that
information being public is 1) good and 2) important.

~~~
magnamerc
Isn't it confirmed that the Russians hacked the DNC e-mails on the day that
Trump famously said: 'Russia, if you're listening...". Wasn't that in the
indictment for the 12 members of the GRU?

~~~
creaghpatr
No, it's not, nor is it related.

~~~
akhilcacharya
It is related, if only possibly by coincidence

[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/13/russians-
hil...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/13/russians-hillary-
clinton-email-server-trump-indictment)

~~~
creaghpatr
It's not, the Mueller investigation debunked that as a conspiracy theory.

~~~
kadendogthing
You've seen the Mueller report?

------
antocv
My introduction to bitcoin was due to this
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2010/12/07/visa-m...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2010/12/07/visa-
mastercard-move-to-choke-wikileaks/)

2010, about November, when Wikileaks was loved by everyone here on HackerNews.
When donations were piling up by PayPal, Visa, Mastercard. When Assange was
the postgresql security hacker turned whistlblower-enabler and journalist.

Then suddenly all donations, globaly, halted to Wikileaks. Bitcoin was the
only way, and its only real use still possible - censorship resistant transfer
of value.

~~~
tomp
_> censorship resistant transfer of value_

But how do you get _actual_ value out of it, i.e. currency? AFAIK most
exchanges have pretty strict money laundering rules these days, it's not like
Wikileaks could just open an account to liquidate those BTC donations...

~~~
magnamerc
There are several ways to bypass exchanges. LocalBitcoins and Bisq are two
ways. There are more though.

------
dandare
As a parent I will always remember that WikiLeaks (Assange) helped to stop the
torture of children in Iraq. The war cables revealed that the US government
knew about the routine torture of prisoners and opponents including women and
children by the Iraqi authorities, a de facto puppet regime of the US. The US
government knew about this from the alarmed reports of its own personnel and
decided to turn a blind eye because... I have no idea why.

If not for Assange and Manning, more parent's would have to watch while their
child is brutally tortured and mutilated by the psychopathic enforcers of the
US puppet regime.

This is where every rational discussion about WikiLeaks and Assange should
always start. Now we can talk about Assange's abrasive personality and dumb
political views.

~~~
decoyworker
There is a lot of appeal to emotion in your post.

Can we both agree that war is bad and things are always more complex than they
seem? In the grand scheme of things these events rank pretty low on the list
of priorities when you are fighting a war.

~~~
dandare
Not only does my post appeal to emotion, it openly appeals to emotion. On the
other hand, your post uses the appeal to middle ground fallacy. If your list
of priorities starts with anything other than stopping the routine torture of
children, then your grand scheme of things is probably evil.

~~~
decoyworker
What if a child torturer is helping you save other lives and end the war
sooner thus saving innumerable lives? Do you see how torture is bad but there
are other variables?

~~~
dandare
You sound like those US TV dramas where the main character is a kind cop put
before a dilemma to either pouch an ugly terrorist once or twice on the nose
or a school bus full of cute little children will be blown up by a bomb.

Yeah, in theory, there are other variables. In practice, the chances are that
if you turn a blind eye to the routine torture children you are simply an evil
person.

------
discordance
Despite Julian's character or the surrounding controversies, let's not forget
the positive impact Wikileaks made with contributions like Collateral murder
[0].

0:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airst...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airstrike#Leaked_video_footage)

~~~
fixermark
Or the release of the Vatican letters.

~~~
metalchianti
Or Vault 7.

------
neverminder
> Extradition request from US confirmed

> Scotland Yard has confirmed that Assange was arrested on behalf of the US
> after receiving a request for his extradition.

> In a statement it said:

> Julian Assange, 47, (03.07.71) has today, Thursday 11 April, been further
> arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53hrs after his
> arrival at a central London police station. This is an extradition warrant
> under Section 73 of the Extradition Act. He will appear in custody at
> Westminster Magistrates’ Court as soon as possible.

[https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2019/apr/11/wikileaks...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2019/apr/11/wikileaks-
founder-julian-assange-arrested-at-the-ecuadorean-embassy-live-updates)

~~~
YeGoblynQueenne
From the same Guardian article:

 _Sweden’s chief Prosecutor Ingrid Isgren, has issued this statement: “This is
news to us too, so we have not been able to take a position on the information
that is now available. We also do not know why he is under arrest. We are
following the developments.”_

So, yes, he was arrested on behalf of the US and not Sweden.

~~~
icebraining
We already knew Sweden had dropped the warrant, the claim now was that they
were trying to arrest him for violating UK law (skipping bail).

Unsurprisingly, there's more than that, although I didn't expect to see
confirmation so soon.

------
rudiv
RIP. It's only a matter of time before he's extradited, and I would think the
current US government would definitely push for the death penalty under the
Espionage Act. I suppose it's little solace that he'll join a long list of
illustrious names prosecuted under that infamous act. (Emma Goldman, Eugene
Debs, Victor Berger, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden)

~~~
Reason077
The UK does not permit extradition where there is a risk of the death penalty
being applied. It would require an assurance against the death penalty as a
condition of extradition.

~~~
chki
Yes, if he were to be extradited facing the death penalty this would actually
violate the European Convention on Human Rights as decided in Soering v UK.

~~~
unreal37
Does European law apply after Oct 31? #brexit

~~~
r3bl
ECHR has nothing to do with the EU.

With the only exception being Belarus, every other European country (including
Russia, Turkey, Switzerland etc.) signed that same convention.

------
checkyoursudo
Being reported in The Guardian:

> Elisabeth Massi Fritz, lawyer for the Swedish woman whose case against
> Assange remains outstanding, has given the Guardian a longer statement:

> "My client and I have today received the news that Assange has been arrested
> in London. It did understandably come as a shock to my client that what we
> have been waiting and hoping for since 2012 has now finally happened. We are
> going to do everything we possibly can to get the Swedish police
> investigation re-opened so that Assange can be extradited to Sweden and
> prosecuted for rape. No rape victim should have to wait nine years to see
> justice be served.

> I have requested an urgent procedure [from the prosecutor to extradite
> Assange]."

[https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2019/apr/11/wikileaks...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2019/apr/11/wikileaks-
founder-julian-assange-arrested-at-the-ecuadorean-embassy-live-
updates?page=with:block-5caf5f208f08bc7376aeb5d3#block-5caf5f208f08bc7376aeb5d3)

~~~
kuzehanka
Rape? The charges against him were Sexual Assault for allegedly not using a
condom. It's been escalated to rape now?

~~~
sieabahlpark
I saw someone mention rape on Reddit so that's probably where they got the
info.

------
mikeq101101
The comments here disgust me. People here used to have some principles, now
there's so many people just repeating establishment talking points.

~~~
sorenjan
I don't know to what you're referring, but the facts of the matter are:

1\. He was wanted for questioning for rape and sexual misconduct in Sweden.
According to police records, he had sex with a woman who demanded that he wore
a condom, which he did at first. Then next morning she wakes up by him
penetrating her without consent. She then asks "are you wearing anything", to
which he replies "I'm wearing you". The sexual misconduct charges are dropped
due to statutes of limitations, and the rape case is dormant due to low
probablility of resolving it. Maybe they will open it up again.

2\. Assange fought the extraditions through several UK courts. He had multiple
chances do defend himself, and lost every one. He lost a high court appeal,
then when the supreme court upheld that decision he fled to Ecuador.

3\. He claimed that his reason to do so was to avoid extradition to the US,
but Sweden wasn't allowed to extradite him without UK's permission first [0].
He could've gone to Sweden and face the charges, and avoided this whole thing.
But he had to make himself look like a victim of a conspiracy instead, and his
followers eats it up.

He's been in self imposed custody because he refused to accept the lawful
rulings of two democracies, and Wikileaks has promoted conspiracies like Pizza
gate and Qanon, they are not a poor organization to fight for freedom of
speech.

[0] [https://www.aklagare.se/en/nyheter--press/media/the-
assange-...](https://www.aklagare.se/en/nyheter--press/media/the-assange-
matter/kan-assange-utlamnas-fran-sverige-till-usa/)

~~~
mothsonasloth
They haven't promoted conspiracies like Pizzagate or Qanon, they just leaked
Podesta's emails etc.

What conclusions people draw from those leaks is on them, not wikileaks.

~~~
sorenjan
>> Are those of us investigating the Comet Pizza/Human Trafficking scandal on
the right track? And if not, where should we be looking? >> EDIT: This is very
real and we need to SAVE these kids. If the Wikileaks staff is uncomfortable
posting this here, please give us a bat signal somewhere else. > It is
curious. So far we dont know what to make of it.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5c8u9l/we_are_the_wik...](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5c8u9l/we_are_the_wikileaks_staff_despite_our_editor/d9uoxzw/?context=1)

> CBS Reality Check covers Pizzagate.
> [https://www.facebook.com/BenSwannRealityCheck/videos/1330641...](https://www.facebook.com/BenSwannRealityCheck/videos/1330641910334089/)

> More: [https://file.wikileaks.org/file/FBI-pedophile-
> symbols.pdf](https://file.wikileaks.org/file/FBI-pedophile-symbols.pdf)

[https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/821595404500430848](https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/821595404500430848)

Also:
[https://our.wikileaks.org/Pizzagate](https://our.wikileaks.org/Pizzagate)
[https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1000795757983780865](https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1000795757983780865)

------
no1youknowz
I wonder if the WikiLeaks "Dead Man's Switch" will be triggered this time?

I know there were some news articles in the last couple of years of this being
the case...

~~~
spaced-out
The entire concept of a dead man's switch doesn't even make sense when you
think about it.

Say you have some embarrassing docs about the CIA/military and you threaten to
release them automatically if you're killed. Have you considered that there
are plenty of people in the world who would want that to happen? People with
lots of money and their own highly trained murderers?

Russia, China, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, possibly Mexico or Columbia
(considering the shit the CIA's pulled there). Hell, I wouldn't be surprised
if some US government agency, rich dude, or corporation murders you for some
weird internal power struggle.

Who's going to protect you? The CIA/military? The very organization that
couldn't prevent its documents from getting stolen? How can you be certain
they haven't shifted damage-control planning?

The idea of a "dead man's switch" plays into the conspiratorial black-and-
white view of the world where there's a single, unified cabal. Reality is more
complex.

~~~
jnurmine
But what if the "insurance" files contained some dirt on every organization
that might get close enough to Assange to kill him?

That way it would make sense for everyone to see to it that the files stay
hidden.

Like Mutually Assured Destruction.

------
Traster
Well, this certainly makes some of us look a bit stupid after criticizing him
for crying wolf a few days ago.

~~~
DavidVoid
He was wanted by British police for jumping bail, why wouldn't they arrest
him?

~~~
thinkingemote
Reload the page for the news of his extradition

------
tabs_masterrace
Very sad day. Remember this all started with the leak of the "Collateral
murder" video. That's when the Interpol notice went out, and he had to seek
asylum at the embassy. It was already quite disgusting how powerful entities
were able to seemingly fabricate sexual charges as needed.

Later on he made very influential enemies by exposing corruption in the
democratic political party. Instead of any follow up on that front, the
pressure on Assange increased and the whole Russian scaremongering narrative
was pushed. Probably to distract from own potential repercussions.

For me that looks a lot like government oppression. Something like that
wouldn't fly in Germany for example. We had recently had an popular elected
political removed from office for something quite insignificant - it was found
out, he copy & pasted a few paragraphs in his decade old (and unrelated)
doctoral work.

It doesn't look much different then the cases where Chinese or Russian
governments going after journalists

~~~
YeGoblynQueenne
>> It was already quite disgusting how powerful entities were able to
seemingly fabricate sexual charges as needed.

The sexual charges really don't look fabricated or to have had any political
motive at all. The wikipedia article on the allegations
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange#Swedish_sexual_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange#Swedish_sexual_assault_allegations))
makes it clear that the charges were dropped after Assange was initially
questioned by the police, then a special prosecutor reopened the case.

It's not unlikely that the special prosecutor had a political motivation for
reopening the case, but it's not at all clear that the women who made the
original allegations did.

From my reading anyway, Assange crossed a line, perhaps not realising that
what he was doing was sexual assault, molestation and "lesser rape" under
Swedish law, and he would have gotten away with it if he wasn't Assange, which
makes the special prosecutor's reopening the case suspicious. But I can't see
any fabrication here. Nobody forced Assange to do what he did (which, as I
remember it, was to initiate sex with a sleeping woman who therefore could not
give consent). The women who accused him were well within their rights to do
so.

He just screwed up bad and that made him vulnerable to political persecution.

~~~
thanatropism
Wait, I know about the top-down reopening of the case, but do we know for a
fact that the original accusations were kosher, or is this just presumption of
innocence for the girls?

(I mean, presumption of innocence is important and too often [the word escapes
me... only imperfectly/partially given to] would-be sex offenders. On the
grounds that we are judging some random girls it should apply; OTOH on the
grounds that we are forming an overall character judgment of Assange... this
matters if it gets to a jury trial, for example.)

[Edit: I plead guilty on the count of using a casual-conversation "girls" in a
more serious discussion where it can be legitimately challenged as being
implicitly dismissive. Elsewhere I stand my ground, although it's better
developed/explained downthread.]

~~~
Spooky23
I need some help unrolling your position.

If someone raped a non-random woman that you were close to and respectful of,
would it be reasonable for you to draw a character inference of her rapist?

Would the accused rapist fleeing the jurisdiction to avoid prosecution make
you asses his character more positively?

Would you suggest to or feel that a non-random woman that she take one for the
team because her rapist is a counter-culture celebrity?

~~~
thanatropism
There’s a line between taking the version of the accused and the version of
the accuser. In any crime situation. Many factors, including evidence,
determine where this line lies.

In sex crimes where the victims are women, current mores bias it toward
“believing the victims”. Whether this is not appropriate is a digression I
don’t want to entertain here. Everywhere there are baseline scenarios and sex
crimes with female victims have that element. For the effects of this
discussion I’m willing to take that as a given.

That said, there are other variables at play. Parent comment was questioning
the legitimacy of the entire process, including the reopening by top-down
orders of a case that had been already dismissed.

We’re either willing or unwilling to lend credence to the narrative that
something about this whole situation is manipulated toward getting Assange, a
notorious fly in the soup of major powers with the capacity to pull a bogus
extradition off. Skepticism of this narrative is not unwarranted; it has
certain elements typical of conspiracy theories.

But: if we do co-sign this narrative, then as of this very moment Assange is
about to face unjust trial in the US. In the face of that, we have to consider
the character judgments his accusers will be able to sell to the courts.

OTOH the “random girls” have much less to lose in this whole situation if we
bias our understanding of the original sex accusations in favor of Assange,
considering that the case had already been dismissed and they’ve been kept
anonymous enough that they’re unlikely to experience any ongoing life
disruption.

The whole matter is made of uncertainties. To bias one’s subjective assessment
in one direction is not to believe it wholesale. But overall the shades of
gray matter dramatically.

------
lazyjones
He looked very ill on the Daily Mail photos, I hope he'll survive the next
couple of weeks...

[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6911187/Wikileaks-f...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6911187/Wikileaks-
founder-Julian-Assange-arrested-police.html)

~~~
anoncake
Being stuck in an embassy for 7 years cannot be healthy.

~~~
icebraining
He looked fine just two years ago[1], right before the Ecuadorian presidency
changed hands.

[1] [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/julian-
assange...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/julian-assange-
signals-he-will-stay-in-ecuadorian-embassy)

------
dschuler
Well, they _did_ warn him about the cat litter issue.

All jest aside, I wonder what he could have done differently (not taking sides
here, just speculating).

One option would have been to live among the public in the UK, and let himself
be extradited to Sweden, then the US. This act alone would have drawn
attention to the fact that people in the EU can - under some circumstances -
be extradited to the US, which would have been alarming to the general
populace in Europe since the US still has the death penalty. The possibility
that he would have been imprisoned in Sweden instead would have been weighed
against indefinite house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy - for 7 years in
this case.

In any event, I think we'll learn quite a bit about international relations
work in practice.

------
dmIequals
Today my friends, I think we can all agree is a sad day, I know JA has been
accused of some bad things and it would seem they may be true, but it's what
he stands for, this is a loss for liberty all around the world.

------
Myrmornis
[https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/press-
release/file/1153481...](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/press-
release/file/1153481/download)

So basically the allegations are primarily that Manning provided Assange with
a hashed password, and Assange tried, and failed, to determine the
corresponding plain text password. This somehow involved Manning using a Linux
OS (off a CD). I'm not clear how a fresh Linux OS would help bypass admin
privileges and access a hashed password.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Manning did not have administrative-level privileges and used special
software, namely a Linux operating system, to access the computer file and
obtain the portion of the password provided to Assange.

...

ACTS IN FURTHERANCE OF THE CONSPIRACY

23\. ... Manning copied a Linux operating system to a CD...

------
ascendantlogic
I feel conflicted over this. I was a strong believer in the original mission
of transparency and showing us what the world's elite and powerful were doing.
But once they started playing favorites with information disclosure during the
2016 election their entire existence became tainted in my mind. Obviously I
don't want to see the man burn for showing the world some of the terrible
things that happen behind closed doors but I also don't trust him or his
organization anymore to be impartial arbiters of transparency.

------
geofft
Chelsea Manning, who actually leaked things, is still in prison because of it.
Apparently nobody cares.

~~~
megous
In a solitary confinement non the less, for contempt of court, for refusing to
testify in Assange case.

[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/23/chelsea-
mann...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/23/chelsea-manning-jail-
solitary-confinement-wikileaks)

Is this common in US?

~~~
hannasanarion
Punishing people for refusing to testify is, yeah. There is no right to non-
friend-incrimination.

You can stay silent in your own defense, but if the government can prove that
you have information on somebody else, they can compel you to give it up.

------
idlewords
This thread is all over the map with speculation. There is a press release
from the Department of Justice that lays out what Assange is being extradited
for, and it may help to read it first.

Apparently Assange helped Manning try to get into a classified computer system
with a password that was not hers, and that is the basis of the extradition
case: [https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-
charg...](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-
computer-hacking-conspiracy)

Related HN thread here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19634137](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19634137)

------
tareqak
Looks like he was arrested on two counts: skipping bail in the UK, and an
extradition request to the US soon after [0][1].

[0] [http://news.met.police.uk/news/arrest-update-
sw1-365526](http://news.met.police.uk/news/arrest-update-sw1-365526)

[1] [http://news.met.police.uk/news/update-arrest-of-julian-
assan...](http://news.met.police.uk/news/update-arrest-of-julian-
assange-365565)

------
chvid
About time. It will be good see his case brought before the courts whatever
they will be in the US, UK, Sweden ... staying in the embassy for so many
years is just absurd.

~~~
Cthulhu_
And what case would that be? The case in Sweden was dropped for example.

~~~
fredoralive
The immediate one is breaking bail conditions.

Possibly extradition to the US over Wikileaks stuff, but no pubic application
for that yet. But if he could be extradited from the UK to the US over
Wikileaks, why would the US do the convoluted "extradite him to Sweden then on
to the US from there" scheme that he claims was in progress? (ducks)

~~~
thinkingemote
Reload the page, extradition confirmed.

------
jackweirdy
> Ecuadorian embassy withdrew his asylum and UK police were invited in to
> arrest him.

According to a journalist at Sky news
[https://twitter.com/NewsTMac/status/1116274082922803200](https://twitter.com/NewsTMac/status/1116274082922803200)

~~~
DyslexicAtheist
no doubt he will be extradited to the US. This has been the game plan all
along.

Free press my ass. The UK and US are fucking banana republics. The problem is
that thanks to them controlling the biggest propaganda machine which has ever
existed, their stinky ideas constantly rub off on other Western countries.

Anyone from the US still pointing the finger at China or Russia for being non
democratic, not free, backward or whatever, deserves exactly what is coming.

~~~
hardlianotion
He jumped bail while accused of a serious crime. Not sure what you are looking
for here.

~~~
antt
And the crime was dropped.

This reminds me of being arrested for resisting arrest.

~~~
hardlianotion
Jumping bail is a crime in itself. Your situation is simply an oxymoron

~~~
antt
Oh ye who haft not felt the truncheon or the tear gas.

------
lolc
So basically he's been arrested for not complying with UK court orders, right?
And the question now is whether the U.S. will seek extradition. Or did they
already?

~~~
hardlianotion
Yes. The whole episode looks very ill-judged.

------
throw1Away2378
What would someone that lives in London and believes that what it's happening
to Assange is criminal and would like to help somehow or help it not happening
with the next 'Assange' or 'Snowden' do? I have tried to reach out to Sarah
Harrison in the past but got nowhere, I'm not an activist or know anyone, just
a normal bloke that would like to get involved.

What would be my options? Volunteer at Amnesty International? Doesn't seem
like they did anything to help.

I'm a member of this forum, hence asking it here, I don't even know which
other online communities I should be asking this, but I feel like doing
something is the right thing to do and feel frustrated I haven't been able to
find a way to get involved with the people helping out.

~~~
Synaesthesia
Amnesty International is a fine but frankly quite conservative organization.
Getting involved in political activity. Read Noam Chomsky. Do what you can to
make the world a better place and make people aware of the truth.

------
mickael-kerjean
Considering Assange is not a US citizen, how could their be ground for an
extradition to the US? This doesn't sound right

~~~
isostatic
The U.S. often extradites non-US nationals [0], even ones that have never been
to the U.S. in their entire lives [1].

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NatWest_Three](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NatWest_Three)
[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_McKinnon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_McKinnon)

------
citilife
I still don't understand how he is subject to U.S. rule of law if he:

a) Isn't a U.S. citizen

b) Not residing in the U.S.

~~~
tim333
They say "federal charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for
agreeing to break a password to a classified US government computer"

------
rndgermandude
[http://news.met.police.uk/news/update-arrest-of-julian-
assan...](http://news.met.police.uk/news/update-arrest-of-julian-
assange-365565)

"Julian Assange, 47, (03.07.71) has today, Thursday 11 April, been further
arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53hrs after his
arrival at a central London police station. This is an extradition warrant
under Section 73 of the Extradition Act. He will appear in custody at
Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as possible."

------
akerro
So now we're waiting for encryption keys to be released to 100s Gbs of
archives that we host on torrents?

------
belorn
This mean that the single most expensive police case in the history of UK will
have an end. It will be interesting to see the final price tag in respect to
the final verdict.

~~~
hardlianotion
Which is strange as the UK had little skin in the game to begin with

~~~
foldr
The state can't be seen to wink at skipping bail, or everyone would be doing
it. I don't think you need to look for any deeper explanation than that.

~~~
belorn
That is a nice sentiment but I would like see the police budget if they start
to spend the same amount of resources on all bail skips. Everyone being equal
within the eyes of the law.

The police budget for the Assange case was about £3.5m per year. That is a lot
of money which could be used in order to address other areas which the police
is accused of turning a blind eye to.

~~~
foldr
Yes, because the Assange case was in the public eye. It's particularly
important to uphold the law when everyone is looking.

If spending more resources for that reason conflicts with your ideals, then
that's not a point I'm looking to argue here. My point is just that it doesn't
take a conspiracy theory to explain why the UK was willing to spend this much
money.

Consider for example all the money that the police spent looking for Madeline
Mcann ([https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-
madel...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-madeleine-
mccann-search-operation-grange-funding-money-a8275351.html)). Was she any more
important than any other missing child? Not really. Was there a geopolitical
motive? Obviously not. But hey, she was in the news.

------
fenomas
For anyone interested in understanding Assange, check out this excellent
article by Andrew O'Hagan from a few years ago:

[https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n05/andrew-
ohagan/ghosting](https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n05/andrew-ohagan/ghosting)

O'Hagan was hired to ghost-write Assange's autobiography and wound up spending
some months in his inner circle, and his account is very detailed and
balanced.

~~~
justtopost
He literally just called him an autist and writes him off. Its frankly
depressig no matter the truth.

~~~
fenomas
That sentence is just the author giving his impression of Assange _before_
meeting him and spending years with him. The full article doesn't write off
Assange at all, if anything it's quite sympathetic to him.

------
objektif
It is mind blowing to see commenters here that claim Assange is a Russian
asset.

~~~
tim333
I didn't think of that till you mentioned it but he does seem to have been
hanging out with the Russians
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/21/julian-
assange...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/21/julian-assange-
russia-ecuador-embassy-london-secret-escape-plan)

------
narrator
I wonder if this has to do with the upcoming DECLAS. Seems that would be
coming up soon given what Barr has just testified.

~~~
jefe_
This was my first thought as well, think there are 2 possibilities:

1\. The Mueller report presents uncomfortable yet legal, coordination with
WikiLeaks, in which case extraditing and prosecuting Assange would allow
administration to distance itself and present any coordination as incidental.

2\. Assange releases were cited in FISA requests. If intelligence agencies had
an established assessment on Assange's ties to Russia, and requests were
authorized with elements contradicting those assessments, it could raise
eyebrows. It seems firmly establishing presence or lack of Russian backing,
along with sources would bring clarity to several matters.

~~~
narrator
Maybe they want to get him to the U.S and get his testimony into evidence.
Extradition from the U.K might be difficult after DECLAS.

------
YeGoblynQueenne
Regarding the allegations against Assange:

 _Assange visited Sweden in August 2010. During his visit, he became the
subject of sexual assault allegations from two women with whom he had sex. He
was questioned, the case was initially closed, and he was told he could leave
the country. In November 2010, however, the case was re-opened by a special
prosecutor who said that she wanted to question Assange over two counts of
sexual molestation, one count of unlawful coercion and one count of "lesser-
degree rape" (mindre grov våldtäkt). Assange denied the allegations and said
he was happy to face questions in Britain.[7][166]

In 2010, the prosecutor said Swedish law prevented her from questioning anyone
by video link or in the London embassy. In March 2015, after public criticism
from other Swedish law practitioners, she changed her mind and agreed to
interrogate Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, with interviews
finally beginning on 14 November 2016.[167] These interviews involved police,
Swedish prosecutors and Ecuadorian officials and were eventually published
online.[168] By this time, the statute of limitations had expired on all three
of the less serious allegations. Since the Swedish prosecutor had not
interviewed Assange by 18 August 2015, the questioning pertained only to the
open investigation of "lesser degree rape", whose statute of limitations is
due to expire in 2020.[169][170][171][172]

On 19 May 2017, the Swedish authorities dropped their investigation against
Assange, claiming they could not expect the Ecuadorian Embassy to communicate
reliably with Assange with respect to the case. Chief prosecutor Marianne Ny
officially revoked his arrest warrant, but said the investigation could still
be resumed if Assange visited Sweden before August 2020. "We are not making
any pronouncement about guilt", she said.[173][174][17]_

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange#Swedish_sexual_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange#Swedish_sexual_assault_allegations)

------
nimbius
Im sure this is unrelated, but I wonder how the Julian Assange "nuclear"
insurance file plays into all of this? will it be released?

------
antocv
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airstri...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airstrike)

"Apache pilots watched people run into a building and engaged that building
with several AGM-114 Hellfire missiles."

"controversy following the release of 39 minutes of gunsight footage by leaks
website WikiLeaks."

"Press reports of the number killed vary from 12[1][2] to "over 18".[3][4] 2
journalists were killed, and 2 children were wounded."

The murderers of those 2 journalists and wounding 2 children are free, they
had been laughing while killing them.

Here we see whom the state hunts for "justice", Assange, for letting us know
above.

~~~
Stuckinsofa
Oh come on. The fact that he has done some good doesn't mean that he is above
the law.

~~~
garmaine
What law, exactly?

~~~
Stuckinsofa
I will refer you to reading TFA. Also: rape.

~~~
bluehatbrit
The rape charges were dropped and incredibly suspicious as well.

~~~
Stuckinsofa
Because he ran away.

------
clouddrover
> _Finding him guilty, District Judge Michael Snow said Mr Assange 's
> behaviour was "the behaviour of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own
> selfish interest"._

Seems a bit personal for a ruling on a breach of bail conditions.

~~~
whamlastxmas
Watch the video of the arrest and look at the cop smirking as assange is
dragged out. It seems there's plenty of personal feelings around him.

------
cparsons3000
Looks like Assange was attempting to destabilize Ecuador's govt while in the
embassy (at least that's what they claim).

“Ecuador’s Interior Minister María Paula Romo says Julian Assange's asylum was
revoked because there was sufficient evidence that he was meddling in
Ecuador's internal affairs in an effort to destabilize the government.

Romo also reiterated President Lenin Moreno's remarks that Assange was
consistently violating embassy residency rules, and specifically called out
how he would put feces on the walls.”

~~~
Synaesthesia
The supposed meddling in the internal affairs of a government is these INA
papers which are embarrassing for Ecuador’s govt. But there’s no evidence that
he or Wikileaks have anything to do with these INA leaks.
[https://defend.wikileaks.org/2019/04/03/ecuador-twists-
embar...](https://defend.wikileaks.org/2019/04/03/ecuador-twists-embarrassing-
ina-papers-into-pretext-to-oust-assange/)

~~~
dragonwriter
> The supposed meddling in the internal affairs of a government is these INA
> papers which are embarrassing for Ecuador’s govt.

No, it's not. The INA leaks, AFAICT, are part of (but not the whole of) the
basis separate accusation that Assange and his supporters have been attempting
to destabilize _Ecuador_.

The biggest deal with regard to foreign governments was actually over his
intervention, which had public aspects, over Catalonia.

It also, most critically because it targeted the embassy's host country,
included overt interventions in British politics, including his accusations
that the British government fabricated the link to Russia in the Skripal
poisoning.

------
chx
There are a number of things connecting Assange to Russia.

[https://www.salon.com/2017/01/07/donald-trump-julian-
assange...](https://www.salon.com/2017/01/07/donald-trump-julian-assange-and-
russia-how-theyre-connected-and-how-they-changed-an-election/) this lists six
such things.

[https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-
know/303172-pus...](https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-
know/303172-pussy-riot-member-assange-openly-works-with-russia) is
particularly damaging because one of the arguments of the "Wikileaks is not a
Russian org" is that it sympathetizes and works with Pussy Riot...

[https://www.thedailybeast.com/wikileaks-inside-the-farage-
as...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/wikileaks-inside-the-farage-assange-
trump-connection)

[https://gizmodo.com/assange-turned-down-dirt-on-russia-
stron...](https://gizmodo.com/assange-turned-down-dirt-on-russia-strongly-
suggesting-1797954045)

~~~
dontbenebby
> There are a number of things connecting Assange to Russia.

His own OkCupid listed that he loved everything Russian (except the food) long
before the 2016 election:

[https://mashable.com/2010/12/13/julian-assange-
okcupid/](https://mashable.com/2010/12/13/julian-assange-okcupid/)

That being said, while he's a piece of shit we need to be careful we don't
erode press freedoms we've had for a very long time just because we really
don't like one jerk.

~~~
chx
And what if a Russian agent disrupting USA elections masquerades as a
journalist?

~~~
dontbenebby
And what if a journalist who uncovers malfeasance by a candidate is maligned
as an agent of a foreign power?

Part of living in a democracy is dealing with the consequences of free speech
as an accepted cost of living in a free society.

------
jammygit
My understanding, which may be inaccurate, was that manning was tortured via
not letting him/her sleep for more than a few minutes at a time for several
months on the grounds of suicide prevention. I'm quite worried about assange:
BBC suggested a 6 month jail sentence, but I don't think anyone believes that
is how he will get off if the USA gets him.

Please correct my story about manning if I am misinformed.

------
localhostdotdev
it's going to be interesting to see what is in all those insurance files
[https://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/whats-behind-
wikileaks...](https://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/whats-behind-wikileaks-
latest-release-of-insurance-files/)

------
fixermark
I honestly don't know what assange or wikileaks thought was going to happen
when they leaked information that was politically embarrassing to an
Ecuadorian ally.

On the plus side, I'm now far more convinced of WikiLeaks' non-partisanship
(or naivete), since they threw their own founder under the bus.

~~~
Synaesthesia
They say they had nothing to do with the INA leaks.
[https://defend.wikileaks.org/2019/04/03/ecuador-twists-
embar...](https://defend.wikileaks.org/2019/04/03/ecuador-twists-embarrassing-
ina-papers-into-pretext-to-oust-assange/)

Julian didn’t have internet access so I don’t see how he could have done it.

------
MrZongle2
This was inevitable as soon as Ecuador started making uncomfortable noises
about Assange camping out in the embassy.

He's made too many enemies. If there's any truth to the charges, that just
made things easier for the authorities.

------
dmitryminkovsky
I can’t imagine the mix of emotions you must feel when simultaneously emerging
from seven years of house arrest and being arrested and facing more time of
arrest elsewhere. Must be a mix of “wow I’m outside” and awful dread.

------
throw2016
Hey look we have democracy, freedom, free speech but if you actually try to
use any of these seriously beyond ranting about some politician to actually
exposing the rot we will demonize and come after you.

This is a nice arrangement, the vast majority will never offer organized
dissent and can keep on posturing about 'freedom' and 'democracy' while those
who put their head above are swiftly cut down to size.

Isn't it curious that the bare basic actions of whistle blowing and dissent
are not able to operate freely in the west?

------
mcguire
" _Mr Assange, 47, [appeared] at Westminster Magistrates ' Court. He pleaded
"not guilty" to the 2012 charge of failing to surrender to the court. [...]
Finding him guilty, District Judge Michael Snow said Mr Assange's behaviour
was "the behaviour of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish
interest"._"

How does the English justice system work? He was arrested, and almost
immediately taken to court and convicted?

~~~
giarc
I have no idea, but the charge was failure to surrender. It's pretty obvious,
7 years later, that he is guilty of that.

~~~
mcguire
Maybe.

My understanding is that failing to surrender to an illegal warrant would not
itself be a crime. Unless Assange has accepted that the surrender order was
valid or he has been previously convicted in absentia, he would seem to need a
court proceeding to argue that.

Unless seeking asylum from a country is automatically illegal. Imagine the
international hijinks if an Australian went to the British consul in Moscow
for asylum at the height of the cold war, and the Soviets charged him for that
itself....

------
huxflux
"on behalf of the US after receiving a request for his extradition". Déjà Vu
on what Canada just recently did for the US as well. Despicable.

------
dorfsmay
Was his so called dead man switch ever confirmed, or was it just a rumour?

Assuming he has no internet access in jail, I suspect we will find out soon...

------
okket
FYI: "WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy"

[https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-
charg...](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/wikileaks-founder-charged-
computer-hacking-conspiracy)

------
highdesertmuse
Perhaps this is the beginning of the investigation into Hillary Clinton et al.
Assange has a lot of bargaining chips if he does get extradited to the US.
Maybe he'll get immunity like the raft of Obama cronies, in exchange for
producing 33,000 mis-placed emails.

------
daveheq
I love the idea of WikiLeaks exposing corruption, however I think Assange got
mad with a power lust and released things that put innocent people in danger
unnecesaarily, and then become overly-biased by releasing only anti-
DNC/Hillary stuff while sitting on RNC/Trump dirt that they were also rumored
to have.

------
nprateem
I wonder if we'll finally get so see what's in the "insurance" archive he put
on torrent sites all those years ago, if anyone still has a copy...

------
quotz
Democracy dies right in front of our eyes. I say we protest

------
nikolay
Bastards! If they do anything to this global hero, many unpredictable today
things will happen and none good for those who don't like the Truth!

------
mc32
Assange is a flawed personality. That said, over the years there was a
transformation. People defended him despite his issues when his whistleblower
endeavors aligned. Once they no longer aligned, many many of his supporters
turned around and called out his peccadilloes and transgressions.

People still defend Snowden but if he ever releases information seen as
politically damaging to one side, all that adulation is out the window.

That’s to say all this support isn’t actually principled support but rather
political.

~~~
Traster
On the flip side over the years Assange has very much moved from a proponent
of openness and protection for leakers to being a political campaigner. His
choice to deliberately release material during the US election campaign in a
way that was designed to politically damage the candidate he opposed goes way
beyond the mission statement of wikileaks and also brings into question
whether wikileaks is operating independent of Russian influence.

~~~
hyperdunc
The fact that material existed in the first place is solely the fault of the
candidate.

~~~
Traster
Firstly, there is not one campaign that's existed since 2000 that won't have
had atleast a few campaign staffers with embarrassing emails. Secondly, the
issue isn't only about the clear co-ordination with a hostile foreign state,
it's that rather than abiding by Assange's own claimed values, he kept the
data private and then leaked it over a political campaign to try and cause
political damage. That's nothing to do with data being free, that's a
political campaign by a foreign power.

~~~
hyperdunc
My point is that he had something to leak in the first place. Blaming Assange
is shooting the messenger. Also, we don't know for sure a foreign power was
involved - that partisan conjecture.

------
OrgNet
A comment by Rafael Correa, the former president of Ecuador:

> The greatest traitor in Ecuadorian and Latin American history, Lenin Moreno,
> allowed the British police to enter our embassy in London to arrest Assange.
> Moreno is a corrupt man, but what he has done is a crime that humanity will
> never forget.

[https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1116295734712766464](https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1116295734712766464)

------
nimbius
im curious to see how this plays out in the context of the julian assange
"insurance" file? will it be released?

------
kevinguay
I'm surprised it took them this long to kick him out of the Embassy. Talk
about overstaying your welcome.

------
sirinath
WikiLeaks help trasparancy. Hence, why has no privacy groups made any protests
regarding the arrests.

------
ct520
Love it. So we finally get to see if assange is really working with Russian
government.

------
norin
Snowden is the real hero.

------
wallace_f
It shouldn't matter if you think Assange is good or bad with respect to
arresting a publisher for publishing when news media has been doing the same
thing... Because freedom of the press is our constitutional right in America.

------
eternalban
That's a rather sanitized picture that the British establishment mouthpiece
(that's BBC News to you) has on its article.

Doesn't BBC news have reporters on scene in London to give us the pretty
picture to go with the articles?

~~~
makomk
The UK press didn't bother stationing reporters outside because they thought
his imminent arrest was just something he was making up for attention. It
looks like they've now replaced the stock image with a video from Ruptly,
which is part of Russia Today.

------
wolfgke
3 days ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19599699](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19599699)

(sorry for this shameless promotion of my HN submission)

------
sneak
This article tiptoes around it carefully, but let’s be clear here: he was
never charged in Sweden. There were no charges brought against him for sexual
assault.

------
draugadrotten
Assange was arrested just 1 day after Russian president Putin met with Swedish
PM Löfven.

[https://www.thelocal.se/20190410/heres-what-stefan-lfven-
and...](https://www.thelocal.se/20190410/heres-what-stefan-lfven-and-vladimir-
putin-talked-about-in-their-first-one-on-one-meeting)

~~~
Stuckinsofa
Few if anyone on Sweden care about this. It's a normal rape case albeit with a
celebrity in it. It should go through the normal process. Hardly something
Putin would discuss with Löfven.

------
huxflux
No one is above the law!

------
eruci
Wikileak Plugged.

------
objektif
Assange is not just a hero but he will go down in history as a Legend. So
called liberals who turned on him are hypocrites. I hope they realize their
mistake soon.

------
auntienomen
Play espionage games, win espionage prizes.

------
AnnoyingSwede
The word in media now is that if Obama was the president still Assange would
have a better chance of getting fair treatment. This seems wrong to me. Julian
served Trumps purpose by releasing the Clinton emails, making me think that
Trump might actually swing on his harsh words (like he does with many other
things) and grant amnesty to Julian? Takers?

------
MrXOR
Free Julian Assange

------
jokoon
Wouldn't the Trump administration be kind with Assange as it was showed that
wikileaks helped hurting the Clinton campaign?

------
antocv
Do you guys remember when the airplane of president Morales, was forced down
in Vienna when he was on a flight home? Breaking diplomatic immunity,
hospitality etc.

Just because CIA believed Assange was in that flight, that Morales would help
him escape.

EDIT: My mistake, that was for Snowden,
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident)

~~~
mcv
Yeah, I remember. A disgrace on several levels. I really wish a European
country would have had the spine to give Snowden asylum.

Not the same issue as Assange of course, unless, as Assange claims, this too
is the long arm of the US secretly trying to get whistleblowers extradited.
I'm not sure that's the case here, though; I think the Swedish rape
allegations have merit, and unlike Snowden, I don't think Assange has broken
any US laws for which he can be extradited; he's just doing journalist work.
Sloppily and with grandstanding megalomania, perhaps, but that's not illegal
and thus no basis for extradition.

~~~
sasasassy
The Swedish rape allegations were an obvious sham and have already been
dropped years ago. Usually when this happens the case is just dropped, yet the
UK really pressed in arresting Assange for "failing to appear in court", which
is most countries is a minor thing (the accused is not punished for lying in
court or missing court dates). I think it's obvious that any excuse will do
for extraditing him to the US, to make an example of him. But so much time has
passed and the case is so public now that I at least hope the UK will save
face and free him instead of extraditing him.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
Weren’t the rape allegations dropped because the statute of limitations
finally expired?

Sorry if I didn’t use the right terminology.

~~~
dagw
The statute of limitations has run out on some of the minor charges, but not
the more serious one. While Sweden has closed the case and dropped the
international arrest warrant, if he returns to Sweden before August 2020 he
can still be questioned and charged on the remaining allegation.

------
DyslexicAtheist
and considering the public mood after a several year campaign to demonize
Wikileaks and Assange by the US media, chances are pretty high that he will
rot in a US prison for life or have his ashes thrown into the sea the same way
as they did with Osama bin Laden. The US is a terror state that uses torture
and secret prisons. I hope that EU countries will stop extradition asap.

~~~
Crosseye_Jack
> or have his ashes thrown into the sea the same way as they did with Osama
> bin Laden.

The UK won't extradite if the death penality is on the cards.
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/41/section/94](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/41/section/94)

~~~
techntoke
This is ridiculous. No one is talking about death penalty except people trying
to inflame the situation.

~~~
alex_young
Tell that to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. We've executed for sharing secret
documents before, and may again.

~~~
dragonwriter
The Rosenbergs weren't extradited from a country which would require a formal
guarantee that the death penalty would not be used, so are not a relevant
precedent.

~~~
thefounder
I bet the formal guarantee will be negotiable, especially when on the other
end is the US. That's why UK has a special relationship after all. Assange
would have been safer in Russia than UK for sure.

~~~
Tomte
No, it isn't negotiable, by both the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the
European Convention on Human Rights.

------
papermill
So now Trump has both assange and manning in prison?

Funny how the entire media has been soft on Trump on this matter. You would
think "journalists" at CNN, MSNBC, NYTimes, WaPo, etc would be going crazy
over Trump's attack on free press, leakers and people holding power to
account. Who has done more to try and hold power to account than assange and
manning?

Wonder what the economist is going to write? After all he won their "New Media
Award" in 2008 along with Amnesty International UK Media Awards and a few Free
Speech awards.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange#Honours_and_awa...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange#Honours_and_awards)

Let me guess what's going to happen next. The media is going to start pushing
"sweden sex abuse" and anti-assange and anti-manning stories.

~~~
luckylion
"The media" has been pretty anti-assange for quite some time, increasingly so
since the 2016 election, so those awards are forgotten, I'd wager.

It's going to be interesting. On the one hand it's a great opportunity to shit
on Trump, on the other hand he's doing their bidding. My guess is that it's
going to be a variation of "we hope the cruel man-child in charge isn't going
to overstep the lines of due process, we will pay close attention
#DemocracyDiesInDarkness", which he won't, and that will be it and everybody
is happy, because "he did get his chance in court", like Manning.

------
skekaeeeww
About time.

------
ggm
Did the people who stood bail for him get their money back when he went awol?

~~~
stendinator
Isn't the point of bail precisely that you don't get the money back if you
don't show up?

~~~
ggm
Ken Loach and John Pilger probably didn't plan on him skipping bail. I think
you can plead, but yea. It's probably gone.

------
brbrodude
Is it just me or each day the more it seems the western world is viciously
cycling on a downward spiral?

~~~
brbrodude
2 downvotes why? I made my point and I stand to it. The signs are fucking
everywhere.

------
bitL
Is there any manual on how to behave in a totalitarian society, how to "blend"
with "normal" people not questioning authorities and "looking the other way",
"doing the right thing"; what are efficient ways to dissent etc.?

~~~
luckylion
Leave.

------
AnaniasAnanas
The "moral" course of events would be for him to receive a fair trial in the
UK or Sweden concerning the rape and possibly the contempt of court charges.

The "immoral" course of evens would be if he was extradited to the US or some
other country, receive an unfair trial, or having to defend against other
charges.

~~~
snvzz
>The "moral" course of events would be for him to receive a fair trial in the
UK or Sweden concerning the rape and possibly the contempt of court charges.

Charges (which were ridiculous to begin with) were dropped.

>The "immoral" course of evens would be if he was extradited to the US or some
other country, receive an unfair trial, or having to defend against other
charges.

That's horrible, but what I expect. Extradition to a country that has the
death penalty from a country that doesn't shouldn't be a thing.

~~~
Stuckinsofa
Why were the charges ridiculous?

------
NoblePublius
Civil disobedience means accepting the consequences of one’s actions. Mr
Assange is a narcissist, probably a pasty, and deserves to be prosecuted for
his crimes. For it is in the state’s treatment of him can the public find the
truth, if any, in his claims. Stop being such a pussy, Jules, and own up to
your actions.

~~~
thinkingemote
What if the trail is in secret?

------
antt
And be prepared for the 180 degree turn in the liberal circles when the
Republicans try to get him executed.

With friends like the Democrats do progressives really need enemies?

~~~
jkaplowitz
According to the article, the crime for which he'd be extradited has a maximum
penalty of five years in prison, not death.

~~~
antt
1 hours ago it was 1 year for skipping bail.

At the rate at which the maximum sentence is growing we should be seeing him
hung and quartered by mid day tomorrow.

~~~
jkaplowitz
The extradition request arrived in 2012, but they managed to keep it secret
until this arrest. Now that official press releases have come out from both
countries, we know the charge underlying the extradition. The fact sheet
linked from the UK press release explains that the rules for UK->US
extradition would require consent from the UK, including consideration by the
UK courts, of any additional offenses that the US may want to add while they
have him in connection with this extradition.

[https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2019/04/11/extradition-f...](https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2019/04/11/extradition-
factsheet/)

They may very well approve some additional offenses, but probably not ones
with the death penalty.

------
vectorEQ
rip. at least he's already used to being confined to a small space.. don't
expect any judge to feel sorry for him. no lawyer will get him out of this
one.

------
paulcarroty
I think Wikileaks affiliated/sponsored from Russia 'cause Assange rejected
documents about russian corruption: [https://www.businessinsider.com/assange-
turned-down-document...](https://www.businessinsider.com/assange-turned-down-
documents-related-to-russian-government-corruption-2017-8)

Anyway, "democracy dies in darkness", so every dirty shit must be highlighted
sooner or later.

~~~
slezyr
More proofs.

Assange refused to disclose info on Russia's aggression in Ukraine - FP

[https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-
other_news/2288391-assange-...](https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-
other_news/2288391-assange-refused-to-disclose-info-on-russias-aggression-in-
ukraine-fp.html)

Wikileaks: A new angle on MH17: Rebels fired at Ukraine fighter jet which was
using MH17 as decoy [http://www.maxkeiser.com/2014/07/weeks-ago-they-wanted-
to-pr...](http://www.maxkeiser.com/2014/07/weeks-ago-they-wanted-to-provoke-
the-militia-to-shoot-at-the-passenger-plane-there-would-be-a-global-
catastrophe-civilians-would-die/) … and

[https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/492033939142619136?lang...](https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/492033939142619136?lang=en)

~~~
paulcarroty
Thanks for the links, man. More info about MH17 fake photo:
[https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2014/11/14/russian-state-
tel...](https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2014/11/14/russian-state-television-
shares-fake-images-of-mh17-being-attacked/)

------
purpleslurple
Julian Assange used to be hailed as a hero for exposing American hypocrisy,
but with the secretive way wikileaks operated and the track record of anti-US
releases, perhaps it was only a matter of time before Assange and wikileaks
were used as pawns for geopolitics. Still, I'm curious when did Assange
willingly start working for Russia --- was it from the very beginning, or was
it after his legal troubles?

I wonder what Snowden thinks of the whole situation, as Assange did help him
get to Russia. Has Snowden been actively involved in US politics (the way
Assange and wikileaks substantially affected the last US presidential
election)?

~~~
lazyjones
You'd think that after the stupid Russian collusion story was dismantled by
the recent Mueller report, people would be a little more careful with such
paranoid allegations, but here we go...

~~~
pjc50
The story was hardly dismantled. A number of people have actually pled guilty
and been jailed for crimes as a result. [https://www.vox.com/policy-and-
politics/2018/2/20/17031772/m...](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-
politics/2018/2/20/17031772/mueller-indictments-grand-jury)

~~~
billfruit
None have plead guilty or sentenced for collusion or collaboration with
Russia. They have been convicted for lying to federal officials or some such
offense.

