UK, others know Assange location: lawyer

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

British police and the security services of several nations know the whereabouts of Julian Assange, his lawyer said.

London-based lawyer Mark Stephens made the comments on Thursday after British newspaper reports that Assange was believed to be in southeast England but police could not act as Sweden had filled out a European arrest warrant incorrectly.

"Scotland Yard know where he is, the security services from a number of countries know where is," Stephens told AFP.

"The (British) police are being slightly foxy in their answers, but they know exactly how to get in touch with him, as do the Swedish prosecutors."

¬snip¬

Swedish police said Thursday they would issue a new international arrest warrant for Assange on suspicion of "rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion" to replace one that could not be applied in Britain because of a procedural error.



Read more: http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/uk-others-know-assange-location-lawyer-20101202-18ici.html

---

U.K. Police Unaware of Assange's Whereabouts .
By ALISTAIR MACDONALD And JEANNE WHALEN

British police say they don't know the whereabouts of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is being sought by Swedish prosecutors for questioning on alleged sexual offences, and currently don't have an actionable arrest warrant to bring him in should they find him.

Mr. Assange was in the U.K. as of Nov. 18, but his whereabouts are now unclear. The Australian former hacker has come under intense pressure after publishing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. government documents in recent months.

Mark Stephens, Mr. Assange's lawyer in the U.K., has declined to comment on Mr. Assange's whereabouts. But on Wednesday, he said British and U.S. police and security services do know where he is.

¬snip¬

European Union members typically ask for the extradition of suspects in other member states through a European Arrest Warrant. In Britain, the Serious Organised Crime Agency would then issue a certificate validating the warrant provided it follows the guidelines set by U.K. law. SOCA doesn't have a certified arrest warrant yet, a spokesman for the agency said, which would typically mean that the request hasn't fulfilled the correct legal criteria.

more:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703377504575650304204589656.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[tclambert]

1. I hereby nominate Julian Assange for Nobel Peace Prize.

Revealing the truth should not be a crime.

[eomer]

10. And I know someone who's got one he isn't using...

just saying.

[ejpoeta]

2. how can they try to apprehend someone who hasn't even been charged with anything.

they were talking about these rape charges and how the two women are relieved it's moving forward. he has not been charged with anything. and i still believe this is bs trumped up.

[caseymoz]

4. They're coming up with any excuse to arrest them.

It looks like Sweden's arm is being twisted, how and by who is unknown, but it also looks like other factions are doing their level best to drag their feet. The fact that Sweden brought charges, dropped them, then brought them again says something, but then the fact that they don't fill the warrant out right and Scotland Yard won't move unless they do says something. I think it's known in Europe that: there are no charges. They really don't want to arrest him unless they are.

I hope there's a doc-dump on who is trying to pull the strings here and how they are being pulled. It would be interesting to see how the covertly US influences purportedly independent judiciaries in supposedly independent countries.

Right now, I just hope this hero survives. I'm afraid he's going to be extraordinarily renditioned out of sight.

Or somebody might assassinate him. Secret orders.

[dipsydoodle]

3. They're using strange wording now.

I thought the warrant was for INTERVIEWING him in connection with....

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Fresh Swedish warrant issued

Swedish authorities have issued a fresh arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange following a procedural error with the first.
...
A spokeswoman for the Swedish National Police Board told the BBC that Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency had requested a new order as the original one had listed only the maximum penalty for the most serious crime alleged, rather than for all of the crimes.
...
Mr Assange's lawyer says any arrest warrant would be challenged in court.

"The process in this case has been so utterly irregular that the chances of a valid arrest warrant being submitted to me are very small," Mark Stephens told the Associated Press news agency on Thursday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11898323

If he is in the UK, the Interpol 'red notice' is probably fairly irrelevant - it seems there is a European Arrest Warrant, which requires arrest in the other country, rather than requesting it.

[maddezmom]

8. thanks for the info

:hi:

[Joe Chi Minh]

6. "If ever a terrorist, nuclear device or devices is detonated in the West,

it won't be the so-called 'radicals', the dissident types responsible; it will, of course, be the imperialist neocons and their current heirs in the West.

[Robb]

7. Well, of course.

[redirish28]

9. Notice how they know where he is but not moving. Could it be U.K. is afraid to act on

Mr. Assange.


This guy does deserve the Peace prize.