Julian Assange should be allowed free and compensated, UN panel finds

[brett_jv]

Source: BBC

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should be allowed to walk free and be compensated for his "deprivation of liberty", a UN legal panel has found.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35499942

---

Not that this will matter, but ...

[MowCowWhoHow III]

1. Not going to happen

#BREAKING Britain rejects UN panel ruling on Assange: government
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/695532560915570688

#BREAKING Sweden says 'does not agree' with the UN panel ruling on Assange
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/695542135098122241

[cemaphonic]

2. That classic definition of chutzpah is long overdue in this situation:

"that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan"

As long as we're talking compensation, maybe Assange could pay back all the people who posted his bail.

[pnwmom]

3. The opinion's not legally binding and doesn't void the arrest warrant. n/t

[gyroscope]

4. Thank you UN panel for injecting some sanity

into the conversation.

what has happened to courageous whistleblowers like Assange and Snowden is a moral disgrace if not a crime.

[navarth]

5. +1

[elias49]

6. +++

[randome]

8. Courageous whistleblowers who run and hide. There is a pattern.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]TECT in the name of the Representative approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[840high]

53. ..+1

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. UN panel is full of shit

he's deprived himself of liberty by seeking "diplomatic asylum" (which isn't a recognised thing in international law, anyway) to avoid arrest on criminal charges for which there is a valid warrant.

[TexasBushwhacker]

12. I agree

He wasn't imprisoned on false charges. He chose the "diplomatic asylum" route. I realize that the case against him is controversial, but he won't even submit to being questioned.

[Cayenne]

20. He was questioned, then he left

Another prosecutor wants to question him now.

[hack89]

27. That's not quite accurate

what happened was he was in Sweden, the prosecutor communicated with Assange's lawyer that she wanted him to bring Assange in for an interview, and Assange ran to England the day before the interview.

That is what Assange's lawyer testified to under oath in a British court of law.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

21. He is willing to answer their questions.

There's no reason they can't question him at the embassy.

[cstanleytech]

25. Has he also agreed to leave the embassy and turn himself in after

the questioning if they decide that there is sufficient evidence to warrant a trial?

[Spider Jerusalem]

35. They've already decided there's enough evidence for a trial

the Swedish legal system is not the common law legal system of the UK and US. This "interview" is more or less equivalent to an arraignment.

[cstanleytech]

46. Still why are they even bothering with this if he has not agreed

to leave the embassy?

[hack89]

28. But they can't arrest him at the embassy

and he will not promise to surrender if arrested.

[harun]

30. Awe, there there

[LanternWaste]

31. . Our petulance rationalized. Human nature.

I often call international governing bodies "full of shit" when they hold a different opinion than me, too. Our petulance rationalized. Human nature.

[Spider Jerusalem]

33. Tsk

sorry, but Assange is a fugitive from justice. He's not being detained, he's detained himself (because he didn't want to be arrested).

[moondust]

41. Exactly.

Last edited Sat Feb 6, 2016, 02:13 AM - Edit history (1)

Somebody at the U.N. must be sore from twisting themselves into knots to arrive at their conclusion. Weird.



Just heard that not only does he want compensation but he also wants some kind of charges brought against British police.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

51. There is no justice in this case.

[elias49]

9. K&R

It's about time.

[rhett o rick]

10. This is a major setback for the authoritarians that want to punish those that dare speak

truth to authority like whistle-blowers, investigative journalists, protesters, and "The Left".

[brooklynite]

13. Also for those who want justice for sexual assault victims

[rhett o rick]

16. Justice? Why is it that we only look for justice when the state wants to persecute someone

for speaking out? Did we worry about the justice when the helicopter illegally shoot up innocent civilians? Nope. But if anyone dares expose the Emperor with no clothes, look out. Anyone interested in justice for the Vietnamese killed and wounded in the Vietnam-MIC war or the Iraq-Halliburton War for Profits? How about the innocent people incl children that get killed as collateral damage in our illegal "Drone Kills for Peace War?" It's the American government that is holding up the process for justice in the sexual assault cases. They are not interested in justice but retribution for the embarrassment he has cause them.

[brooklynite]

18. There's still no evidence the US wants to prosecute Assange

There IS evidence that Sweden wants to question him on sexual assault charges.

[rhett o rick]

32. How naive would one be to think the US doesn't want to punish Mr. Assange.

Most likely they would like to put him in solitary confinement "for his own protection". He committed the greatest sin against the government, he exposed them. I guess some believe that Democracy is too hard so they welcome the big hand of big brother.

[brooklynite]

38. Maybe the fact that they actually ondicted Snowden?

And to believe the Assange cospiracy theory requires accepting one of the most convoluted gimmicks you could come up with.

[rhett o rick]

39. Am I understanding you to say that the US government is disinterested in Assange?

And your proof is that they haven't indicted Snowden? I guess I don't follow that logic.

[elias49]

55. Oh come on. Born yesterday?

[FlatBaroque]

11. Wonderful

[hack89]

14. If only he had not run after the Swedish prosecutor had scheduled an interview to talk to him.

the issue could have been resolved years ago.

[rhett o rick]

34. LOL. And Mr. Assuange would be locked up in solitary confinement for the rest of his life

or until he goes crazy. But I can see how some would see that as "resolved".

[hack89]

37. Yet he was allowed to walk around England a free man for two years completely unmolested.

he was in an English jail and was allowed to go free. Perhaps your rendition fantasies are exactly that.

[rhett o rick]

40. So you are claiming that our government has no interest in him? nm

[hack89]

42. So why didn't they extradite him from England?

simple question. Can you answer?

[rhett o rick]

44. LOL. Your simple question would require me to read their minds.

"The head of the U.S. Senate's intelligence oversight committee, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, told the Sydney Morning Herald, "I believe that Julian Assange has knowingly obtained and disseminated classified information which could cause injury to the United States...He has caused serious harm to U.S. national security and should be prosecuted accordingly." Maybe you can ask your question of Ms. Feinstein.

[hack89]

47. I look at actions not words

especially wind bag politicians.

[rhett o rick]

48. Well then you'll notice that our government is unusually hard on whistle-blowers

or others that dare to speak truth to power. As far as "wind bag politicians" that one has a lot of power.

[hack89]

56. Yet they completely ignored Assange for two years. Nt

[snooper2]

15. LOL, the police should say, Yeah, we agree, Free to go Assange!

Then pull him over two blocks away from the embassy

[rhett o rick]

36. Why didn't you complete your sentence. "...and disappear him." I hate to think that a Democrat

thinks like that.

[TipTok]

17. He is free to leave at any time...

[rhett o rick]

45. What's your point? nm

[TipTok]

49. How can one be illegally detained if they are free to leave...

[rhett o rick]

50. Define "free to leave". He can open the door and walk out. Is that free to leave?

Will he get arrested the minute he leaves? You better believe it. So what good does it do to say he is free to leave?

[cemaphonic]

54. He has a choice, so yes he is free to leave

Just because he doesn't like the consequences of doing so, doesn't mean he lacks the ability.

[TipTok]

58. That's no different than anyone else...

This is the same as those nutters in Oregon saying that they'll come out only if the FBI promises not to arrest them.

That's not how the system works.

[christx30]

59. Hostage situation at a bank.

Police are outside, the building is essentially under siege.
Is the robber being detained illegally?
I support wiki leaks. But Assange is doing this to himself.

[rhett o rick]

62. Is the suspect "free to leave"? And you suggest that Assange is holed up in

an embassy because he wants to be?

[randome]

64. That's more believable than...

The U.K. is conspiring against him.
The U.K. appeals judges are conspiring against him.
Interpol is conspiring against him.
Australia is conspiring against him.
Sweden is conspiring against him.
Sweden's appeals process is conspiring against him.
Sweden's Supreme Court is conspiring against him.
The U.S. is conspiring against him.
The women in Sweden are conspiring against him.
The judge who ordered his backers to pay up for his jumping bail is conspiring against him.

If you honestly believe Assange could be 'disappeared' after all this public attention, and with such a convoluted way of isolating him and 'getting' him, you are not looking squarely at the facts.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Precision and concision. That's the game.[/center][/font][hr]

[rhett o rick]

65. Our government is very harsh on anyone that dares speak truth to power, yet

you'd have us believe otherwise. OWS was brutalized, journalist have been abused and threatened by the current government, whistle-blowers have been ostracized, tortured, and some have died under mysterious circumstances. Authoritarianism doesn't take lightly to anyone that doesn't "sit down and shut up".

[randome]

66. Irrelevant. Heroes sometimes commit crimes.

Scott Ritter.
Bill Cosby.
Lance Armstrong.
How many other sports heroes have been convicted of crimes? Quite a few.

The only thing that should matter is whether the law is followed. Any of the above-mentioned former heroes could claim that shadowy forces are out to get them but none of it should matter in the face of a very public criminal proceeding.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Precision and concision. That's the game.[/center][/font][hr]

[rhett o rick]

67. How many of those heroes pissed off the CIA?

[yellowcanine]

19. I don't get how a UN panel can instruct on law enforcement of a country.

Sweden has an arrest warrant for him. I don't think the UN can interfere with that or with Great Britain's decision to honor the arrest warrant.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

22. It's not legally binding.

It's more of a statement/suggestion.

[TipTok]

23. They can't...

It's non binding and has zero legal authority...

It just like... their opinion man...

[Xithras]

24. Nothing the UN does is legally binding.

The United Nations is a body for negotiations and collaboration, and it only has the authority granted to it by each nation. Even the ICJ, arguably the most "direct" aspect of the UN's power, only has authority over a nation IF the nation has passed laws giving the ICJ that power, and even then the ICJ's power is limited to whatever that nations laws specifically authorize for it.

Like all UN statements, nations are free to follow them or ignore them as they see fit.

[Warpy]

26. Free outside Sweden could happen. Compensation, never.

I think this might have been the final hearing for extradition.

[Blue_Tires]

29. It means jack shit, but most folks have figured that out already.

[L. Coyote]

43. Wired article:

http://www.wired.com/2016/02/julian-assanges-3-5-year-detainment-in-embassy-ruled-unlawful/

[Thinkingabout]

52. Who held Assange against his will? Appears he made this decision so he can compensate himself since

he deprived himself of liberty.

[randome]

57. I wish he would go free. He would self-destruct just like O.J. Simpson.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Precision and concision. That's the game.[/center][/font][hr]

[treestar]

61. Very likely

Ecuador should kick him out. That would at least make Julian's saga more interesting. In essence they are the ones that allowed this stalemate.

[treestar]

60. Based on what?

How do they get past the legal accusations? Are they saying Sweden has no legal rights? lol

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

63. If anyone deserves compensation, it's the Ecuadoran people ...

... who housed him, fed him, did his laundry, etc.

[prouddemfromaustin44]

68. Good on the UN panel

Sadly, I don't expect this to have any real effect on Assange's current status. The authoritarians don't care.