Assange must face court, says Jemima Khan

[struggle4progress]

London, June 22 (IANS) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange must face court and answer sex crime allegations in Sweden instead of trying to avoid extradition and taking refuge inside the Ecuador embassy, Jemima Khan, one of the people who collected his bail money, has said.

Jemima, daughter of British billionaire James Goldsmith and former wife of Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, was among those who put up a total of 240,000 pounds bail for the 40-year-old WikiLeaks founder.

Assange's supporters risk losing their money after he spent two nights in the Ecuador embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, the Telegraph reported.

Jemima said Assange's alleged victims deserved justice too, and that he should respond to the allegations ...

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/06/22/311--Assange-must-face-court-says-Jemima-Khan-.html

[ananda]

1. Boy.. take money from the devil

and you pay with your life and your freedom.

[Robb]

2. UNICEF ambassadors are "the devil"?

[Bodhi BloodWave]

9. ofcourse she is(now atleast), she wants him murdered somehow by saying he should face trial n/t

[SidDithers]

3. DU rec...nt

Sid

[clang1]

4. Unfortunate n/t

[reorg]

5. and here is what she actually said:

"For the record, in response to those asking about Assange & bail money... I personally would like to see Assange confront the rape allegations in Sweden and the two women at the centre have a right to a response," she wrote on Twitter.

"But there is no doubt that Assange has a real fear of being extradited to the US nor that the US gov is out to get WikiLeaks," she wrote.

For those who didn't bother clicking the link.

[Robb]

6. She makes him sound paranoid.

[JonLP24]

12. I imagine

paranoia is a lifesaver in his business.

[Robb]

14. Fair point.

[struggle4progress]

7. Maybe she's conflicted: she's been supporting him, and he just cost her 20 thousand pounds

She can afford it, of course, but his run for the embassy makes her look a bit like a airhead to the general public and to her social class

[Robb]

8. It's not vanity. She has a record of working for women's rights.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. And for freedom of speech

She guest-edited the New Statesman (serious left-of-centre British political mag - equivalent of The Nation, perhaps) and got the scoop of Hugh Grant recording the ex-Murdoch journalist on phone hacking - before the big story broke:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2011/apr/10/observer-profile-jemima-khan-wikileaks

[EFerrari]

21. Or maybe your article's headline is misleading. n/t

[Nuclear Unicorn]

13. It's a little too incredible to claim Assange fears Sweden will extradite him to the US

while he's in the UK court system.

[upi402]

33. Thanks for clicking!

I worry these days...

[warrprayer]

10. I wonder if Bradley Manning

would agree

[Robb]

11. Actually, that's an interesting question.

I'd be willing to bet Manning is a lot less enamoured with Assange than he was at the start of things.

[warrprayer]

15. And I'm willing to bet

... that you are wrong.

[Robb]

16. You think Manning is still an Assange fanboy?

I don't. I bet he has a whole lot of regrets that center around Assange's inability to live up to promises he doubtless made.

But of course neither of us know.

[warrprayer]

19. I believe

that if Manning had the courage to do what he did, he had to be convinced in his heart that he was right. Moreso now that he has sacrificed his life for it.

[Luminous Animal]

22. What promises would those be?

[Robb]

23. The same promise every journalist gives their sources, of course.

[Luminous Animal]

26. And what would those be?

[Robb]

27. Anonymity and protection from reprisals.

0 for 2.

[reorg]

28. and how exactly did he break those promises? n/t

[JonLP24]

29. He didn't reveal the source

Manning is facing charges due to that hacker ratting him out. I don't know if Assange promised no reprisals but the reveal of source isn't on him.

[Robb]

31. He didn't protect the source, period.

Assuming for a moment it is Manning, of course.

[JonLP24]

38. I don't understand what

Assange was supposed to do. If Manning is the source then it is Manning's fault for revealing himself to that hacker fella.

[Luminous Animal]

30. Neither Wikileaks nor Assange know if Manning is their source...

and neither have admitted to knowing the source. Manning, it is alleged, outed himself to Adrian Lamo, a government informant. Wikileaks does not guarantee protection from reprisals if they identity of a source is revealed.

But, of course, you knew this.

So, both Wikileaks and Assange is 2-0.

[girl gone mad]

34. Seems we have an abundance of stridently uninformed people..

commenting on this story.

With a deep void of knowledge, and in substitution a surplus of slanted conjecture.

[randome]

17. The conspiracy sprouts another tentacle!

It grows! IT GROWS!!!!!

[msanthrope]

18. I hope no one put up property. nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. Does she feel the same about Chen Guangcheng who sought asylum in America?

[SidDithers]

25. For some reason, the name Roman Polanski comes to mind...nt

Sid

[Robb]

32. That's quite nearly unfair.

[Luminous Animal]

35. Jemima Khan says bullshit...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002845090

[Robb]

36. She said no such thing.

She was annoyed with the Daily Mail headline which did not include the entirety of her tweet. The article in this OP however does.

[Luminous Animal]

37. The title of the OPs linked article and the title of this OP are factually incorrect.

Khan's original tweet: "For the record, in response to those asking about Assange & bail money... I personally would like to see Assange confront the rape allegations in Sweden and the two women at the centre have a right to a response,"

Nothing about must face court.

Subsequent tweet which followed shortly after: "But there is no doubt that Assange has a real fear of being extradited to the US nor that the US gov is out to get WikiLeaks,"

Because of the 140 character of twitter, some people spread one thought over two or more tweets. Savvier users will number them (i.e., 1/3, 2/3, 3/3) so that their followers will know to expect more.

This is what she meant by only half her tweet...

https://twitter.com/Jemima_Khan/status/216218913200021505
@Jemima_Khan
Annoyed by journos quoting only half my tweet about Assange & deliberately ignoring other half. Distorts point. The curse of 140 chars

If she were able to write more than 140 characters, her tweet would have looked like this:

"For the record, in response to those asking about Assange & bail money... I personally would like to see Assange confront the rape allegations in Sweden and the two women at the centre have a right to a response, but there is no doubt that Assange has a real fear of being extradited to the US nor that the US gov is out to get WikiLeaks,"