
Julian Assange Appears in Court for U.S. Extradition Hearing - mzs
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/world/europe/julian-assange-us-extradition.html
======
resters
Keep in mind all the crimes by US officials that Assange revealed. In my view
many of those crimes committed by officials are treason, yet all have been
swept under the rug.

~~~
atemerev
Which of his crimes looks like treason? He didn’t hack anything, his only
“crime” is providing a publishing outlet.

(And yes, Assange is highly biased and anti-American, which is not good, but
publishing leaks shouldn’t be a crime.)

~~~
mrleinad
It's funny to label someone anti-american, when all they've done is expose
america's crimes and ways of manipulating the rest of the world. Makes you
think what does being pro-america mean.

~~~
resters
Exactly. Assange tried to help the American people learn about dishonesty and
fraud committed by elected officials.

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gcb0
this confirms that jumping bail was the right course of action.

Sweden didn't produce a single evidence of the crime, and US extradition
hearings are happening behind closed doors.

how isn't this exactly what prompted him to ask for asylum, which the UK
magistrate called paranoia at the time?

~~~
Veen
It's not behind closed doors. The article says some journalists were allowed
in and what Assange said in the hearing is reported in the article.

~~~
gcb0
cool. hopefully we will have a transcript somewhere?

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ChrisSD
Some notes:

\- This hearing is simply an early opportunity for Assange to volunteer to
surrender to America. Which of course he didn't.

\- It won't be until June that a substantial extradition hearing will start.

\- He's still got his sentence to serve in the UK.

\- The maximum US sentence for the alleged crimes is five years.

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mothsonasloth
Assange has found himself as political currency for the British government. I
imagine his extradition will be "expedited" with a little nudge from Jeremy
Hunt.

Very saddening.

~~~
bogomipz
Well I think he found himself as political currency for the Ecuadorean
government and Rafael Correa first. The suspension of Assange's Ecuadorian
citizenship was a card played by Correa's successor President Moreno. Correa
has continued to support Assange and has excoriated President Moreno for this
action.

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setquk
It’s amazing that the state moves so quickly when someone operates against its
interests.

~~~
idlewords
The right to a speedy trial is a provision that safeguards individual liberty,
not proof of the crushing might of the state.

~~~
eof
Yes, everyone who has had their life saving seized by civil asset forfeiture
has had their trials move at an equally speedy pace!

~~~
rayiner
I don't even understand what point you're trying to make.

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ezoe
I guess this news gives Assange a valid reason for his bail-jumping. He was
suspected of raping in Sweden. That was what he was bail-jumping for. But the
real reason is the threat of his extradition to US for... what? revealing the
war crime of the US? That shall never be a crime. War crime shall not be
hidden. US shall be punished for obstructing the information of war crime.

~~~
Svip
Wouldn't he have been safer in Sweden than in the UK? If I were to bet on who
were more likely to suck up to the Americans of the two, my money would be on
the Brits.

~~~
ceejayoz
Neither one is a particularly safe space if you're worried about the US.

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

> Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad Alzery were two Egyptian asylum-seekers who were
> deported to Egypt from Sweden on December 18, 2001, apparently following a
> request from the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The forced
> repatriation was criticized because of the danger of torture and ill
> treatment, and because the deportation decision was executed the same day
> without notifying the lawyers of the asylum seekers. The deportation was
> carried out by American and Egyptian personnel on Swedish ground, with
> Swedish servicemen apparently as passive onlookers.

~~~
Svip
Swedish policy has changed since 2001. I wonder if there are any more recent
examples. But that was on par for the course for Sweden. Back during the Cold
War, Sweden sent a lot of Latvians and Lithuanians back on request by the
USSR.

Sweden was desperately defending its status as a neutral country, and did not
want to appear to take any sides. But the previous Swedish government decided
to recognise Palestine as a state, which strongly suggest they are done with
that now.

All that besides, the US did not request his extradition until Trump became
President. So he could have gone to Sweden, done his interview in the case,
probably been let off with a fine, and then go on his merry way.

~~~
ceejayoz
> All that besides, the US did not request his extradition until Trump became
> President. So he could have gone to Sweden, done his interview in the case,
> probably been let off with a fine, and then go on his merry way.

Assange had no way of knowing that. The Trump admin's extradition request was
sealed (we only knew of its existence in advance because it accidentally
leaked in another case's court filings).

That said, fleeing _to_ the UK is a bit of a "out of the frying pan, into the
fire" situation.

~~~
Svip
I was merely arguing that the recent turn of events has _not_ proven,
Assange's theory about the consequences of being extradited to Sweden, nor
that it was the right thing to jump bail.

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duxup
Not much actual news being made here. The same question about the alleged
offense remain unchanged as far as if you feel that trying to help someone
break into something is something that would be legally protected.

Nobody seems to have done or said anything new.

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ekianjo
> Around two dozen activists gathered outside the court to protest against his
> potential extradition, waving signs that read “Free Julian Assange” and “Is
> this all just about shutting us all up?” as they demanded his release.

That's not a very impressive show-up. I had hoped he would get more support
than a few dozen people.

~~~
mrleinad
It's not like this has been getting much traction in the media anyway

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mindslight
I am not surprised that USG has cooked up a tenuous conspiracy charge with
which to try and stretch its jurisdiction ever further.

But I am amazed at how many people _in this community_ have accepted the
government's narrative at face value. It rests not merely on the notoriously
bad CFAA, but also on a theory that chatting during a criminal act is itself
concrete furtherance of a conspiracy.

USG's reasoning can be straightforwardly applied to persecute _any_ journalist
that interviews a whistleblowing source, as the source is breaking the law by
leaking information to the journalist and the journalist is encouraging that
crime. This is chilling.

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idlewords
At this point, I believe the best outcome by far is if Assange is extradited
to Sweden.

~~~
richardhod
except he might thence be extradited to the US after facing the Swedish
charges

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HashThis
It is sad that they are sending this journalist to jail

~~~
1f60c
Julian Assange is not a journalist.

~~~
justinmchase
You are incorrect, he is a journalist.

[https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/smear-1-he-is-not-a-
journ...](https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/smear-1-he-is-not-a-
journalist-9ea4c6fa72fc)

~~~
Fins
Then so are the entire stuff of National Enquirer, and to a much greater
degree at that.

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eof
I wonder if the current political reputation of USA and Trump will play into
Assange dodging extradition.

~~~
simonh
That doesn't really bear on the independence of the US courts which would be
the main issue, and they have recently proved themselves quite independent of
an often opposed to the will of the president and political interference.

~~~
roywiggins
He will argue that the prosecution itself is political. That US courts might
take a dim view of a political prosecution seems neither here nor there- if
the underlying prosecution were shown to be political, then I can't see the UK
courts allowing the extradition.

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username223
I don't really care which way this goes. Assange is a despicable person: he
has been a pompous ideologue; he was accused of rape in Sweden; he acted as a
"useful idiot" (at best) for the Russians; and he finally irritated the
Ecuadoreans enough that they kicked him out of their embassy, which is why he
is facing extradition. I'm not eager to punish him, but I wouldn't object to
him spending some time in prison.

~~~
nisuni
> he was accused of rape in Sweden

Tell me how being accused of rape makes you a despicable person.

I could accuse you of rape in this moment. Would you instantly become a
despicable person?

~~~
username223
I found the Swedish accusations credible at the time, at least enough that he
should have stood trial. Maybe they were false, and he would have been
acquitted after some time in court and jail, but he dodged the trial instead.

Even if you weren't convinced by the accusations, there are plenty of other
reasons to find Assange despicable, some of which I listed.

