Swedish Prosecutors Say No Deal yet on Assange Interrogation

[bemildred]

Source: AP

Swedish prosecutors have cast doubt on Ecuador's assertion that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be questioned imminently at its embassy in London.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Wednesday that questions submitted by Swedish prosecutors will be asked of Assange by Ecuadorean officials "in the coming days." The questions relate to accusations of sexual assault made by two women.

But Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Prosecution Authority, told The Associated Press on Thursday that no date had been set for the questioning. She said the top prosecutor handling the case, Marianne Ny, is still considering the request to let Ecuadorian officials do the interrogation.

Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in the British capital in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden and has been confined there since.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/swedish-prosecutors-deal-assange-interrogation-36420190

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I think this call for Monty Python to do it true justice.

[brooklynite]

1. Remember, this is an evil plot by President Obama...

...who's creating fictional charges in Sweden to avoid having to file charges in the United States, even after we filed charges against Edward Snowden.

Right?

[randome]

2. Right-o!

So Ecuador wants to do the questioning themselves? Like Sarah Palin, the drama will never end.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]“If you're not committed to anything, you're just taking up space.”
Gregory Peck, Mirage (1965)[/center][/font][hr]

[LiberalLovinLug]

3. Are you both daft? as the British say

No....Ecuador does not want to do the questioning, they invited Sweden to come in and do the questioning. But Sweden wants to let him stew in there a while longer. Probably under pressure from the US. The "drama" is not created by Assange. It is being drawn out by others. Ecuador was simply calling their bluff. I'm sure Assange would rather just get the assurance that he will not be extradited to the US, and he would gladly face the Trumped up charges (just as ridiculous as the man himself), and move on. But despite Ecuador's requests for a promise from the US that he will not be extradited, they have refused.

Obama is not "evil" he just has no backbone to stand up for whistleblowers, you should know that by now. He simply stamps his approval on whatever the butt hurt MIC and intelligence community wants in regards to making Assange's life miserable, ever since they "embarrassed" them by putting out "Collateral Murder", given to Wikileaks by Chelsea Manning, among other docs.

For some on DU, "freedom of information", especially when it reveals bad behaviour by their sacrosanct authoritarian overlords, are just words.

[randome]

5. It says it right there in the excerpt.

...is still considering the request to let Ecuadorian officials do the interrogation...

And no country worth its name will allow itself to be blackmailed into promises. That's a non-starter and Assange knows that.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]“If you're not committed to anything, you're just taking up space.”
Gregory Peck, Mirage (1965)[/center][/font][hr]

[LiberalLovinLug]

10. Yes...."is STILL considering" emphasis on still.

You call it "blackmail" I'd call it "assurance" that Sweden is being honest in its claims that this is simply a case of sexual malfeasance it wants to resolve. Especially pertinent in the context of the realities of the US treatment of Manning.

[Nye Bevan]

15. I'm seeing Joe Biden's fingerprints on this too.

And I bet there were some Assange related emails on Hillary's server.

[elias49]

4. What the hell is wrong with Sweden?

FFS, how long will they drag this out?
Until after the Presidential election?
Bingo. You win.

[hack89]

6. Why would they let Ecuador do the actual interview instead of the Swedish prosecutor?

can't put this one on Sweden - it is not an unreasonable precondition that a Swedish prosecutor conduct the interview.

[elias49]

7. A couple of years ago would have been nice.

Sweden doesn't exhibit any sense of urgency.

[hack89]

9. Why should they?

Assange is the fugitive. They owe him nothing. If he doesn't like his situation he could always step outside the embassy.

[elias49]

11. I thought Sweden wanted Justice?

What the heck does "They don't owe him anything.." even mean? Did Assange ask Sweden to come take him away? I hadn't heard.
Does Sweden have anyone who is still interested in this heinous miscarriage of 'justice'? I imagine that's why Sweden's justice department s wishing it would go away.

[hack89]

14. Has Assange promised to surrender if arrested?

If the answer is no then what's the point of interviewing him?

[LiberalLovinLug]

12. "Why should they?"....maybe for something called the timely pursuit of justice?

Instead they allowed their own time limit for charging him to expire on 3 of the charges because of all this foot dragging.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/13/julian-assange-cases-dropped-but-rape-claim-investigation-continues

Don't you care about those poor women? Assange was willing to give them their day in court. Not so much US Swedish authorities. Hmmmm, I wonder why.

[hack89]

13. The clock stops when you run from justice and become a fugitive

It is not complicated. Assange is a party to this as well. If he wanted a speedy resolution he could have stayed in Sweden instead of running.

[LiberalLovinLug]

17. Ah but it is complicated you see

A rape case that was dropped, then inexplicably reactivated 2 days later by the prosecution. Molestation charges that were allowed to expire without an effort to interview Assange before. And all this beginning at a time that Wikileaks had released embarrassing incriminating documents concerning the most powerful nation on earth, and the one that handed them over was being sent to prison for a long time. I wonder what you would have done in a similar situation.

[hack89]

18. Perhaps the status quo is the best either side will get

Assange stays in the embassy for a few more years until he runs out the clock. Let's hope his health holds out.

[LiberalLovinLug]

23. Could happen

I'll take the Canucks win over the Bruins tonight for now.

[cemaphonic]

20. The delay is 100% on Assange and Ecuador

As has been pointed out over and over in these threads, this is not an investigative interview that they are talking about. Sweden is looking to arrest Assange and put him on trial - the interview is a preliminary to arrest. Assange, his lawyers, and Ecuador khow this, so any offers that they make that don't include the possibility of putting Assange in Swedish custody are insincere, and IMO done for PR purposes.

[elias49]

21. So it's not an 'investigative interview'

it's a 'preliminary interview'.
IE, come to Sweden that we may interview you.
Would he face his accuser(s)? Who are his accusers?
Why didn't Marianne Ny question him 6 years ago instead of letting him leave the country?
Who is pressuring the Swedish judiciary to keep this dying flicker alive?

[hack89]

24. Six years ago Ny informed Assange's lawyer that she wanted to interview Assange.

Assange fled Sweden shortly thereafter. Assange's lawyer testified to this fact under oath in a British court.

[elias49]

25. It was hardly that simple.

If you don't know that, I suggest you know little more about the case than 'good guy' 'bad guy'.

[hack89]

26. I know - CIA!!!! RENDITION! !!!!

Got it.

[elias49]

27. Thanks for proving my point!

[hack89]

28. Even though he walked around a free man

For two years after fleeing to a country with strong ties to the US rendition program. I guess the CIA had a back log and couldn't get around to him.

[elias49]

29. Still you keep digging.

CIA? What are you referring to?

[hack89]

30. We have been hearing how America was going to snatch Assange for years

Last edited Fri Jan 22, 2016, 11:33 AM - Edit history (1)

That this is all about him staying out of an American prison. CIA rendition has been a part of that narrative from the beginning - that once Assange surrendered to the Swedes they would stick him on a plane to the US. Doesn't make much sense I know but Assange supporters are not known for their rational arguments.

[elias49]

31. Well that's crazy, isn't it?

The US doesn't do renditions.

[hack89]

32. So my comments on the CIA were on the money

Notice you are avoiding the issue of his two years in England.

[elias49]

33. Your comments were 'on the money'. Absolutely.

We don't rendition.
We don't torture.
We don't put whistleblowers in prison.
We don't set up stings.
We don't manufacture 'honey traps'.

Have a good day 'hack89'
As Springsteen sang: "Dream, baby, dream"

[hack89]

34. Yet we did none of that to Assange

We let him walk around a free man for 2 years.

[bemildred]

8. Good guess.

I think they like having him penned up too. Penned up in the Ecuadorian embassy is better than running around making speeches and the like.

But I don't really get why they keep reminding us that they haven't got him yet.

[Nye Bevan]

16. I think he makes a speech from the balcony every so often (nt)

[bemildred]

19. Right, but he's not in a stadium is he?

Nobody is paying $100 to hear him speak. It could be a lot worse, and at this point I would say that Assange will do all he can to make it a lot worse.

[branford]

22. Fugitives should not be able to make demands.

Not only has Assange violated his bail conditions in Britain, he absconded to escape criminal sexual assault charges in Sweden. It matters not at all whether he's a hero or fiend concerning unrelated matters.

Ecuador basically gave a big FU to the entire EU. If I were Britain or Sweden, I would let him rot forever with his Ecuadorian benefactors in the cramped embassy suite. He's effectively serving an indefinite sentence in a minimum-security prison. Eventually he'll need advanced medical care and will be forced to leave the protection of the embassy. At that point, Britain should slap on the handcuffs, punish him for his bail violations, and then expeditiously send his self-righteousness ass to Sweden.

[Blue_Tires]

35. How much longer will this go on??

For years Julian Assange said he wanted to be questioned in the embassy. When they agreed, he changed his mind:
http://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2016/01/21/assange-finds-a-new-way-to-avoid-sexual-assault-questions


https://twitter.com/IanDunt/status/690195949319241728