Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/04/uk-denies-assange-extradition.html
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Trump would have just pardoned him anyway.
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It’s funny how brittle he is about incarceration- yet he was happy to let Chelsea Manning sit in torturous prison conditions for a trans women.
Of course- the US doesn’t need him in either case. The UK should just deport him back to one of the countries where he has citizenship- Australia or Ecuador.
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Good. Maybe the days of our allies letting the US government assert precedence over their own judicial systems is finally coming to a middle.
That said, it’s a damn shame the Swedish Prosecution Authority gave up trying to extradite him on the credible rape charges. Most countries don’t actually let suspects run out the clock by fleeing justice, which is why child rapist Roman Polanski can never set foot back in the US.
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I know it’s too transactional to be true, but I can’t help but think “No Anne Sacoolas, No Julian Assange”. That was certainly an attitude among UK reporters who seem to be clued in, but they are all cynical soaks themselves.
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Well- that was only the woman folk being raped. We don’t matter compared to male hero worship; of those who weren’t actually heroes.
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To be fair, our history with high profile suicidal prisoners isn’t that great.
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Does this shut down ALL extradition between the two countries? I can’t imagine any prisoner would not be a suicide risk if they’re being extradited to another country.
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This is a bit conspiracy hat, but I wonder if she is obliquely referencing “suicide” in quotes - a-la what might have happened to Epstein.
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Ghislaine is still kicking so, there’s that.
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All things considered (and by that, i mean the minority of issues which have been revealed to the public) i think this is for the best. The politicians on either side of the pond would make things worse were Assange dragged before an judge in the states. Best to leave him where he is, let the Russians manipulate him, and then the British people don’t have to eat chlorinated chicken [confused emoji] and maybe not elect another Tory.
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It’s strange to think how much sooner this could have all been cleared up if these two things had been made clear years ago:
- Despite being dismissed as a conspiracy theory, the US was planning to extradite Assange.
- In the end, the UK wasn’t going to allow that to happen, and could have made that clear at any time.
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It’s a third strike for “hackers, with political objectives, in questionable mental health”, though each of the three cases involved a different alleged crime.
However, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crime-dark-overlord-idUSKBN1YM2M7
It’s definitely for the best, as it was a stupid prosecution and made a martyr of Assange.
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Don’t think it could. Nor even can it yet. This is a judicial decision and subject to appeal which will no doubt happen. Needed to be in front of a judge for a determination. The government wanted it done quickly. I mean can you imagine Theresa May not doing it? Priti Patel?
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Might have missed something, but what did Assange do that makes you think he’s happy about Manning’s incarceration? Manning was just back in jail defending Wikileaks and Assange from a grand jury. Is it that she shouldn’t have done that, or he should have given himself up to be extradited earlier?
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His general weaselhood - and not holding up his commitment to give himself up should she be released. Or going to face his charges of sexual assault in Sweden. That’s enough of a start.
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Aren’t most people facing long prison sentences: “depressed and sometimes despairing man fearful for his future”?
Yeah, did miss his drama around that.
Don’t want to waste more cycles thinking about whether he successfully played the Obama DOJ, or if this is just a narcissist who’s bluff got called. Either way, glad Manning got her sentence commuted.
I doubt very much that Obama considered Assange in that decision.
More so LGBT allies and civil rights groups pushing for justice.
Edit:
From Greenwald (of all people given his evolution) at the time.
“ The Obama DOJ – despite launching notoriously aggressive attacks on press freedoms – recognized this critical principle when it came to WikiLeaks. It spent years exploring whether it could criminally charge Assange and WikiLeaks for publishing classified information. It ultimately decided it would not do so, and could not do so , consistent with the press freedom guarantee of the First Amendment”
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The conspiracy theory, pushed by no less than documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, was that the Swedish rape investigation was some sort of US intelligence operation. Basically, don’t believe women who accuse a high-profile man who ticks off the US government. It was despicable even before Assange showed his true colors by running interference for Trump and Putin and making white supremacist tweets.
Anyone who thought the US wasn’t going to try to extradite him was naive and I’m glad they failed because publishing things the US government doesn’t like isn’t what the worm should be tried for and freedom of the press should apply even to a weasel like him or it applies to no one.
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