Swedish appeals court upholds arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Assange

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A Swedish appeals court on Friday has upheld an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in connection with a 2010 rape allegation.

The court announced in a statement that Assange "is still detained in absentia," adding that, "The Court of Appeal shares the assessment of the (lower) District Court that Julian Assange is still suspected on probable cause of rape... and that there is a risk that he will evade legal proceedings or a penalty" ...

Ecuador has announced that a formal interview of Assange inside their London embassy will take place October 17 ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1002

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1. Court won't drop Assange rape investigation

September 16, 2016, 7:43 AM

... Swedish prosecutors say they are not in contact with counterparts in the U.S. and that they would also need Britain’s permission should a third country seek his extradition ...

Upholding a lower court ruling, the appeals court ... also brushed aside the findings of a U.N. working group, which described his stay at the London embassy as “arbitrary detention​.” The court noted that the panel’s finding wasn’t binding on Swedish courts and that Assange’s stay at the embassy “is not to be regarded as an unlawful deprivation of liberty” ...

Marianne Ny, the top prosecutor in the case, welcomed the court’s decision and said the interrogation with Assange would go ahead as planned.

“I have handled many rape and sex crimes cases,” she told AP. “I have never experienced before that someone sought shelter at an embassy. So this situation is really unusual.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/julian-assange-wikileaks-sweden-appeals-court-rape-investigation/

[randome]

2. Awww. And he was so close this time, too.

I don't believe in omens but it sure seems like some large-scale change is in the wind. Clinton's election may coincide with the end of the Assange Chronicle, the Bundy Bunch sentencing and, perhaps?, the final chapter in the Snowden Affair?

None of these things on their own is that central to America but the optics matter a great deal, I think.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A 90% chance of rain means the same as a 10% chance:
It might rain and it might not.[/center][/font][hr]

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15. Wikileaks is now breathlessly warning everyone that Assange could suffer psychiatric problems

I'd guess Assange is jockeying for sympathy but has no sense of the optics

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3. Assange's Arrest Warrant Upheld

by F. BRINLEY BRUTON and REUTERS
SEP 16 2016, 6:20 AM ET

... Per Samuelsson, Assange's Swedish defense lawyer, said he would appeal the decision to the country's Supreme Court ...

On Wednesday, Swedish prosecutors said an Ecuadorian official would interrogate Assange on their behalf in October at the embassy. Swedish prosecutors maintain they need to question Assange before deciding whether to formally charge him ...

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/julian-assanges-arrest-warrant-rape-case-upheld-sweden-court-n649296

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4. A Setback for Assange

KRISHNADEV CALAMUR 8:10 AM ET

... last month .. Ecuador’s foreign ministry said it will allow Swedish prosecutors to question him inside its embassy in London. The move was the first sign of the beginning of the end of the legal impasse involving the WikiLeaks founder ...

http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/09/assange-swedish-appeals-court/500315/

[SidDithers]

5. I'd be surprised if the Oct 17 interview happens...

Ecuador will find yet another excuse to prevent it.

Sid

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16. Dunno. This is the first time we've ever heard a concrete date; and I suspect the embassy situation

might reflect an internal power struggle in Ecuador's high places

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6. Court Upholds Arrest Warrant

Indiatimes
September 16, 2016

... This is the eighth time the European arrest warrant has been tested in a Swedish court. All of the rulings have gone against him ...

http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/swedish-court-upholds-arrest-warrant-for-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-in-rape-case-261828.html

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7. Swedish court upholds Assange warrant

Posted 16 Sep 2016 17:45
Updated 16 Sep 2016 19:25

... Ecuador has set an October 17 date for questioning Assange at its London embassy.

Swedish prosecutors have said the questioning will be conducted by an Ecuadorian prosecutor ...

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/swedish-court-upholds-assange-warrant-clears-way-for-questionin/3132434.html

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8. Swedish court upholds arrest warrant

September 16, 2016
10:07 AM PDT
by Richard Trenholm

... Assange is unlikely to leave the embassy any time soon. British police could arrest him over violation of his bail conditions ...

https://www.cnet.com/news/julian-assange-extradition-sweden-court-ruling-16september2016/

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9. Assange fails to overturn arrest warrant

By: WESLEY BRUER AND JAMES MASTERS
Posted: Sep 15, 2016 04:44 PM MDT
Updated: Sep 16, 2016 05:17 AM MDT

... The decision comes a day after WikiLeaks released medical records claiming that Assange's mental health would be adversely affected if he remained holed up in the embassy ...

http://www.krdo.com/news/politics/wikileaks-to-us-assange-will-turn-himself-in-if-you-pardon-manning/81876247

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10. WikiLeaks: 'Embassy stay risks Assange's mental health'

Published: 16 Sep 2016 10:10 GMT+02:00
Updated: 16 Sep 2016 11:37 GMT+02:00

... "Mr Assange's mental health is highly likely to deteriorate over time if he remains in his current situation ... It is urgent that his current circumstances are resolved as quickly as possible," said a report published by the organization on Twitter ...

http://www.thelocal.se/20160916/embassy-stay-risks-assanges-mental-health

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11. Assange's mental health at risk - WikiLeaks

2016-09-16 07:28

... The 27-page medical report is attributed to an unnamed "trauma and psychosocial expert" in London and dated December 11, 2015 ...

According to the report, Assange often goes up to 22 hours without sleeping ...

"Since June 2015, however, his physical condition has deteriorated due to limited range of movement, inability to exercise normally and constant pain," the report added, quoted the unnamed expert.

Medical complaints .. include pain in his .. shoulder and dental pain ...

http://www.news24.com/World/News/assanges-mental-health-at-risk-wikileaks-20160916

[smirkymonkey]

18. Oh, poor baby!

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12. Assange offers to turn himself in to the US if Manning is released

By Hyacinth Mascarenhas
September 16, 2016 06:58 BST
Updated 2 hr ago

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said that he would willingly surrender to the US authorities on one condition: if President Barack Obama pardons imprisoned whistleblower Chelsea Manning, a former US army private who leaked thousands of sensitive military documents to WikiLeaks in 2010. The WikiLeaks Twitter page tweeted the announcement on Thursday (15 September) saying: "If Obama grants Manning clemency, Assange will agree to US prison in exchange - despite its clear unlawfulness" ...

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/julian-assange-offers-turn-himself-us-if-chelsea-manning-released-1581618

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13. Assange ready to surrender to US

16.09.2016 | Source: Pravda.Ru

... According to Assange's attorney Barry Pollack, even if his client is really ready to make a deal with the US authorities, it should undoubtedly involve pardon of Manning ...

The US Justice Department reported that it was unaware of any offers from Assange or WikiLeaks ...

http://www.pravdareport.com/news/society/16-09-2016/135636-assange-0/

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14. WikiLeaks is on anti-Clinton warpath

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

... the 45-year-old Australian, who lives in self-imposed exile inside the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, can’t be our president, and can’t vote in our election. That hasn’t stopped him from promoting himself and his boundless loathing of Hillary Clinton, whom he recently called a “demon that will put nooses around everyone’s neck” ...

US intelligence agencies say the Democrats were hacked by Russian cyberoperatives, part of a broad covert effort to influence our election. A recent New York Times investigation found Assange’s leaks often dovetail with the anti-Western agenda of Vladimir Putin — no fan of Clinton — who professes mutual admiration for Trump ...

... Clinton in 2010 who condemned WikiLeaks’ release of 250,000 classified State Department cables revealing names of American informants, intelligence assessments, and sensitive critiques of foreign nations. Assange styled himself as a high-minded crusader; Clinton said he selfishly risked lives of innocents ... The Obama administration studied whether it could charge Assange .. but never did, since he wasn’t the source of the leak ...

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/09/15/why-wikileaks-anti-clinton-warpath/4RmTg6pQ6H5C4LdnielmFI/story.html

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17. Ecuadorian prosecutor to interview Julian Assange at London embassy

Xinhua | 2016-09-16 22:49:02

... The interview will be conducted by an Ecuadorian prosecutor, but Swedish chief prosecutor Ingrid Isgren and a Swedish police investigator will be present to ask questions via the Ecuadorian prosecutor.

"I welcome the fact that the investigation will move forward," director of prosecution Marianne Ny, who is responsible for the investigation, said in a statement.

"We have waited for this interrogation for six years," Assange's lawyer Per E Samuelson told Swedish news agency TT.

The results of the interview will later be reported from Ecuador. After that, the Swedish prosecutors will decide how to proceed with the investigation ...

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-09/16/c_135691362.htm

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19. Assange Says He'll Turn Himself in if Obama Pardons Chelsea Manning

by Lucinda Shen
SEPTEMBER 16, 2016, 7:17 PM EDT

... “It’s possible, of course, that the U.S. government has already obtained an indictment against Mr. Assange for violating laws concerning the disclosure of classified information (and that such an indictment remains sealed), but there’s certainly no public evidence that he currently faces charges—and so no obvious explanation for what ‘turning himself in’ would accomplish,” Stephen Vladeck, a professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, told Fortune in an email.

Without a charge, it’s possible Assange could only be legally held for 48 hours. But if officials initiate immigration proceedings against Assange, showing that he is dangerous, the U.S. could hold Assange for longer, according to Vladeck.

For now, it looks like WikiLeaks has made an empty promise.

http://fortune.com/2016/09/16/julian-assange-chelsea-manning/