Assange plot thickens as UK police say he faces arrest

[struggle4progress]

Source: Reuters

By Estelle Shirbon

LONDON | Wed Jun 20, 2012 1:16pm BST

(Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, seeking political asylum in Ecuador's embassy in London, faces arrest if he emerges for breaching bail terms imposed while he battles attempts to extradite him to Sweden, British police said on Wednesday ...

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/06/20/uk-britain-ecuador-assange-idUKBRE85J0MO20120620


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/20/net-us-britain-ecuador-assange-idUSBRE85J0MN20120620

---

Assange Faces Arrest If He Leaves Ecuador Embassy

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press
LONDON June 20, 2012 (AP)

British police stood poised Wednesday to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should he step out of Ecuador's London embassy — but authorities conceded he is beyond their grasp as long as he stays inside.

Assange says he is seeking political asylum at the South American nation's diplomatic mission.

Police said that he had violated the terms of his bail, which include an overnight curfew, and "is now subject to arrest." Police officers were stationed outside the Edwardian apartment block in the tony Knightsbridge district that houses the embassy, along with small group of pro-Assange protesters waving "Free Assange" placards.

Telephones at the embassy went unanswered Wednesday ...

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/uk-assange-reach-ecuador-embassy-16608564

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange faces arrest, police say

20 June 2012 Last updated at 07:28 ET
... Mr Assange, 40, whose conditions included staying at his bail address between 2200 and 0800 BST, spent Tuesday night at the embassy ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18519380

Julian Assange: celebrities could lose thousands from WikiLeaks founder's bail breach
Film directors, authors, journalists and socialites who raised £200,000 to secure Julian Assange bail face losing thousands after the WikiLeaks founder breached his bail.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/9343739/Julian-Assange-celebrities-could-lose-thousands-from-WikiLeaks-founders-bail-breach.html

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange faces arrest, Scotland Yard says

June 20, 2012 | 5:35 am
... Assange contends that extradition to Sweden would merely be cover for his eventual removal to the United States, where he says he would be tried and sentenced to death because of his whistle-blowing website's leak of thousands of classified State Department cables ...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/06/julian-assange-arrest-ecuador-embassy-asylum.html

[clang1]

1. re Assange plot thickens as UK police say he faces arrest

Wow you really hate this guy don't you. What's your agenda?

[struggle4progress]

3. I posted some links on a developing high profile news story.

My agenda is to progressively understand the actual state of affairs in a practical manner, by gathering information.

I am, of course, heartbroken if you disapprove of some of the information I gather.

[clang1]

5. re I posted some links on a developing high profile news story.

I don't mind the information you gather at all. I just wanted to know your agenda is all. Don't play games with me, and I won't play games with you. Thank you.

[struggle4progress]

9. ... He's wanted in Sweden to face charges of sexual molestation and rape, and last week

the UK Supreme Court rejected his appeal against extradition. Although he was given until 28 June to lodge an appeal at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, it's thought Assange feared he didn't have much chance of success. His decision to seek asylum, though, means he's in breach of a bail condition requiring him to remain at home between 10pm and 8am every night, and report to a local police station ...
Assange faces arrest for breaching bail conditions
Wednesday 20 June 2012
http://www.channel4.com/news/assange-faces-arrest-for-breaching-bail-conditions

[JackRiddler]

51. Assange has not been charged.

Story is the Swedish prosecutor wants to interrogate him.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Bwahahah! You have fallen into the evil game trap of DU!!!!

Little does the unsuspecting internet citizen realise the depth of the trap he can find himself in, by taking the bait of some luscious news stories, excerpted on an innocent-seeming discussion forum.

Beware all who enter here! You will find yourselves the playthings of who knows what - how can you even know that the thread was started by a human? Maybe it was started by an artificial intelligence, with an agenda! Or maybe it was just an alien from Alpha Centuri, and nothing much to worry about.

[clang1]

12. re: Bwahahah! You have fallen into the evil game trap of DU!!!!

muahahahah

[xiamiam]

2. I support assange and am disgusted with the heavy handed actions against whistleblowers

the world stage is much different now thanks to assange..he should be celebrated for the truth he tells

[struggle4progress]

6. Assange's fight is with Sweden, says Bob Carr

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange's fight is with the Swedish government and Australia can't fight a sexual assault case for him, Foreign Minister Bob Carr says.

From: AAP
June 20, 2012 9:40PM

... Senator Carr said Mr Assange's argument was with one government - the Swedish government - who want to question him about sexual assault allegations.

"It's not about WikiLeaks, it's not about secrets, it's not about political persecution," he told ABC Television ...

Senator Carr said Australia could not fight his case for him on the sexual assault or anything else in another jurisdiction, nor could it for any other Australian.

There had been no hint of the US seeking his extradition from Sweden and if the Americans wanted to extradite him, they could probably do it more easily from the United Kingdom, the minister said.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/breaking-news/assanges-fight-is-with-sweden-says-bob-carr/story-e6frg12u-1226403580007

[randome]

11. Right. The Sweden 'conspiracy' only delays his extradition.

Not very bright for a government that wants to punish him, is it?

[clang1]

13. re: Right. The Sweden 'conspiracy' only delays his extradition.

They are buffoons aren't they.

[Matilda]

29. Weasel words from Bob Carr.

When asked about the Stratfor email which refers to a "sealed indictment", he claimed on Lateline last night that neither he nor the US Ambassador to Australia had any idea what a sealed indictment was. Doing it a bit too brown! Here's the link to the program transcript:

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3529848.htm

When Australian government officials go to such disingenuous lengths, they know a damn sight more than they're saying.

And it all makes you think that what you see on the surface is not what this is about at all.

[struggle4progress]

7. ... Assange has been required for the past 18 months to remain at his bail address

from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. “He is now subject to arrest under the Bail Act for breach of these conditions,” the Metropolitan Police Service said today in an e-mailed statement ...
Bloomberg News
Assange Faces New U.K. Arrest for Breaching Bail in Asylum Bid
By Erik Larson on June 20, 2012
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-20/assange-faces-new-u-dot-k-dot-arrest-for-breaching-bail-in-asylum-bid

Bail Act 1976
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/63

[dipsydoodle]

8. Yes - its gravy which thickens : not our Bail Act.

.

[warrprayer]

4. ECUADOR!

RUN JULIAN RUN! Hope you find freedom and peace...

[glinda]

14. I hope he lands safely. So much of what has happened regarding this whole thing

is very bizarre.

[clang1]

15. re: I hope he lands safely. So much of what has happened regarding this whole thing

It's the MOB.

Not bizarre at all when you understand what's going on.

[glinda]

43. What do you mean "the Mob"?

It appears to me to be Governments attempting to silence someone whose role has been crucial in understanding what is going on. Appears to be set up IMHO.

[clang1]

47. re The MOB

If you can't figure that out (history, current affairs) you probably should not be here in this thread.

[glinda]

49. I have kept up on information during this whole thing. Please give me facts you refer to.

Are you referring to "Mob" as in "lynching?"

[hrmjustin]

16. Did equador make a decision yet?

[struggle4progress]

17. Ecuador has requested comment from Sweden, UK, and US: expect that to take a few days

[hrmjustin]

18. If they don't get it do you think that they will go ahead anyway. n/t

[struggle4progress]

19. Oh, they'll get official comments

Sweden will say Assange is wanted for questioning for alleged sexual misconduct, that Sweden could not extradite Assange to a non EU country without UK permission, that no request to extradite Assange to US has been received

UK will say Assange decided not to proceed with his appeal to the EU courts and jumped bail to hide in the embassy, so he's a garden variety scofflaw; UK will further disavow any recognition of diplomatic immunity

US will say it has no current indictment against Assange and that it is not party to the litigation involving Assange, Sweden, and the UK

Bottom line: Ecuador will dutifully collect all comments, then hand Assange to UK police; Assange will shriek he is being lynched; the UK courts will extend his leave to appeal to the EU courts; and Assange proceed with his appeal to the EU courts

[hrmjustin]

20. so in the end he will go to jail? that sucks!!!

[clang1]

21. re: Oh, they'll get official comments

That would be nice if your own analysis proves true. But we know it is only a surface one. You seem to be trying to play the 'diplomats' game (the OOOOFFFICIAL LINES) on this when everyone else can see clearly whats going on.

re
Assange proceed with his appeal to the EU courts

Personally I believe Assange has sufficent grounds to seek asylum.

Let me ask you a question if you don't mind. How would you feel if Assange won asylum, or has a succesful case before the ECHR?

[struggle4progress]

23. ... Assange had been given until 28 June to lodge an appeal against the UK court's decision

at the European court of human rights in Strasbourg ...
Julian Assange seeking asylum in Ecuadorean embassy in London
WikiLeaks founder walked into the embassy and asked for asylum under the United Nations human rights declaration
Assange seeks asylum at Ecuador embassy - live coverage
Esther Addley and Beatrice Woolf
Tuesday 19 June 2012 21.05 EDT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/19/julian-assange-wikileaks-asylum-ecuador

Assange has so far declined to pursue his case to Strasbourg, electing instead to skip out on his bail, stiffing his supporters some 200 thousand pounds in the process. It might suggest he thinks he has no chances in the European court, but it seems to me simply to indicate his histrionic personality: why spend more time in court, if one can instead do something that generates lots of press coverage?

[clang1]

24. re: ... Assange had been given until 28 June to lodge an appeal against the UK court's decision

histrionic babay yeah wow... You got homeboy all psychoanalyzed, labeled and everything dontcha? Ill start calling ya 'the doctor'. lol. I don't know what you struggle for guy/gal, but I don't think it is the same as the rest of us here.

[struggle4progress]

44. Asilo de Assange 'es cosa de Ecuador, Suecia y Reino Unido' dice gobierno de EE.UU.

http://www.eluniverso.com/2012/06/19/1/1355/asilo-assange-es-cosa-ecuador-suecia-reino-unido-dice-gobierno-eeuu.html

[Matilda]

31. And Australia will continue to say

"We've given him the same consular assistance as any other Australian citizen".

Yeah, because this is just another ordinary case, right?

Not.

[solarman350]

22. If this wasn't a charade.....

Via the U.S. extradition treaty with the UK, why wasn't Assange extradited directly if this is all a ruse to get him to Sweden to extradite him to the U.S.? The way this is going, Ecuador will hand him over to Scotland Yard, and Assange will end up being extradited to Sweden and then to the U.S. anyway. Why the kabuki dance-ruse by the Swedish and the U.S. Govts? The rape/molestation case in Sweden will magically dissolve soon after Assange is extradited/renditioned to that country. Now, we get to watch this charade from the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK. Better than watching the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, eh? I'm so looking forward to that decryption key if that's what it comes to...I have the encrypted file on my computer, and will redistribute its decrypted form to various sites on the Internets if Assange ends up in U.S. custody:

http://yourdaddy.net/2011/08/31/wikileaks-uploads-an-encrypted-mystery-file-the-decryption-key-will-come-when

[clang1]

25. Leaked Stratfor Email Suggests Secret U.S. Indictment of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

Leaked Stratfor Email Suggests Secret U.S. Indictment of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

democracynow.org — The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has published an internal email from the private intelligence firm Stratfor that suggests the U.S. Justice Department has obtained a sealed indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The email is one of around five million obtained from Stratfor's servers by the hacker group, Anonymous. "Somehow you have a private intelligence company, Stratfor, 'shadow CIA' as people have called it, having information about this sealed indictment, secret again, that Julian Assange does not have, that Wikileaks does not have, that his lawyers do not have," says Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights, who is a legal advisor to both Assange and to WikiLeaks. "What you see is secrecy, secrecy, secrecy." News of the indictment comes less than a week after Army Private Bradley Manning was arraigned for allegedly leaking classified U.S. military and State Department documents to WikiLeaks.

To watch the complete daily, independent news hour, read the transcript, download the podcast, and for additional Democracy Now! reports on WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, please visit http://www.democracynow.org/topics/wikileaks

[struggle4progress]

26. Nothing I know about that particular story improves my opinion of it:

I don't like Stratfor and don't trust them: they're a gang of rightwing hacks imo
... According to stolen Stratfor emails published on Wikileaks, John McCain’s campaign in 2008 had evidence that the Obama Campaign was stuffing ballot boxes in Ohio and Pennsylvania and also had proof that the Obama team had “sleazy” Russian money in their cofffers ... http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/04/stratfor-emails-show-democrats-stuffed-ballot-boxes-in-ohio-and-pennsylvania-in-2008/


I don't like Anonymous and don't trust them: they're a gang of vandals imo
Incidently, the Anonymous hack of Stratfor seems to have been an FBI sting
Stratfor email hackers were tricked into using Feds' server
Spotlight on source of WikiLeaks' files
By John Leyden
Posted in Government, 8th March 2012 13:36 GMT
WikiLeaks – and Julian Assange – could get caught up in the investigation into the LulzSec takedown saga because it published the internal emails of Stratfor, the private global intelligence firm that was attacked by Anonymous hackers, it has emerged. A warrant authorising the arrest of the prime suspect in the Stratfor raid revealed that an FBI supergrass persuaded hackers to use a server controlled by the feds to store the emails ... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/08/strafor_anon_arrest_analysis/


I don't like Assange either and don't trust him: he's a whining lying twit imo
And it sure was convenient that Wikileaks released "proof" of a US indictment against Assange when it did
February 11 <2011> Case adjourned. His lawyers claim extradition would breach his human rights and say he could be taken to US and executed. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/20/julian-assange-wikileaks-founder-ecuador-asylum?newsfeed=true

Wikileaks started waving around the alleged Stratfor email a few days later

[clang1]

27. re: Nothing I know about that particular story improves my opinion of it:

Well of course not. You already have your agenda. You don't know much about stratfor do you? Why would RW hacks lie about an indictment against Assange? Whuuuut?

[struggle4progress]

28. In small, easy-to-understand words: my prior post shows, with links, that Anonymous

got the supposed Stratfor emails in the course of an FBI sting against Anonymous, that the supposed Stratfor emails also claimed to show Obama had stuffed ballot boxes in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and that the supposed text-message from Stratfor, alleging showing the US had indicted Assange, was released by Wikileaks only a few days after Assange's lawyers began making such claims in court

That all adds up to a big credibility problem for the supposed Stratfor emails imo

I spoze YMMV

[clang1]

35. re: In small, easy-to-understand words: my prior post shows, with links, that Anonymous

Last edited Thu Jun 21, 2012, 03:35 AM - Edit history (3)

Dude. Can the 'small' words BS. What in hell sort of garbage are you posting man? You call some of that credible? wtf? Anyway none of your bullshit gibberish passes the stench test. Certainly not your link to the 'beltway pundit' lol whatever in hell that is. Something in someones basement? Maybe you shouldn't play here if you can't stop insulting people to get your points across huh?


http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/02/29/lacking-evidence-espionage-frabricated-sealed-assange-indictment-87562/

WikiLeaks began exposing more than 5 million emails apparently obtained in a hack of Stratfor. The emails, dated between July 2004 and late December 2011, give a glimpse into how Stratfor gathers confidential information from paid insiders, including senior state officials, and provides it to large corporations and US government agencies.


­What’s inside the indictment?

It is unclear if Stratfor really possesses the indictment against Assange, as the company refuses to give any detailed comments on the recent leak of its email database, only saying the leak was “a deplorable, unfortunate – and illegal – breach of privacy.”

The US Department of Justice is also refusing to comment on whether anyone has been charged in the sealed indictment, journalists from rawstory.com reported after contacting DOJ officials.

Currently, the US wants Assange to testify against Manning, a former US soldier who is charged with espionage and aiding the enemy. But it is quite possible that Assange would face the same charges should he come face to face with American justice.
On February 27, WikiLeaks began exposing more than 5 million emails apparently obtained in a hack of Stratfor. The emails, dated between July 2004 and late December 2011, give a glimpse into how Stratfor gathers confidential information from paid insiders, including senior state officials, and provides it to large corporations and US government agencies.

Assange is appealing his extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning in relation to sexual assault allegations. Sweden, however, has a bilateral agreement with the US on extradition procedures – if sent to Sweden, Assange could swiftly end up in a US court.

US prosecutors insist they can prove Manning’s connection to Assange and WikiLeaks, but so far all the evidence seems to be inferential. The investigation refers to the soldier’s chat logs in which Manning discussed WikiLeaks and called himself an informant.

---

We all know what this means:

Currently, the US wants Assange to testify against Manning, a former US soldier who is charged with espionage and aiding the enemy. But it is quite possible that Assange would face the same charges should he come face to face with American justice.

Indictment, shmictment. WTF ever.

I guess this to huh

http://www.rt.com/news/assange-fbi-julian-us-991/

Assange guests grilled: Is FBI collecting ‘evidence’ for indictment?


And I guess this is all just RANDOM SHIT Huh

The Cypherpunks episode of The Julian Assange Show has not even premiered on RT, but a pot of trouble is already boiling and Jeremy Zimmerman, a co-founder of cyber freedoms group La Quadrature du Net, has got a taste of it.


Jeremy Zimmerman was detained on his way from the US to France after filming the episode of Assange’s show, during which he was interviewed with two other Cypherpunks movement activists.

Zimmerman was grabbed by “self-identified FBI agents,” reports the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website. After that he spent several hours in quite another sort of the interview. The officers asked him about various details regarding Julian Assange. When he asked about his rights, the cyber activist was threatened with arrest and imprisonment.


“We have confirmed US authorities have this week detained and interrogated multiple Europeans about Assange,” reads the WikiLeaks Tweet.


Smari McCarthy, a co-founder and board member of the Icelandic Digital Freedoms Society, has also been stopped while entering the US, the source adds. McCarthy was approached by three US officials in Washington DC, and asked to become an informer.


At the moment McCarthy’s whereabouts are unknown, though he maintains communication with the Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir.


In earlier incidents, Nabeel Rajab, a Bahraini human rights activist, was beaten up at Bahrain’s international airport on his return from Lebanon in April. Then he was detained for half a day.


The Bahraini authorities have not commented on the reasons behind the arrest, but it took place directly after Rajab appeared on Episode 4 of The Julian Assange Show. In the episode, Rajab said that on the same day he announced on his Twitter account that he was going to appear on RT his house was surrounded by almost 100 policemen armed with machine guns – but luckily he was not there at the time.


Fears are high these are not random incidents, but that evidence against Julian Assange is already being collected in the US. American senators and top officials have repeatedly accused the scandal-stirring whistleblower of espionage and terrorism, some even saying he should be tried by a court martial and sentenced to death.


Following the UK Supreme Court ruling last week that Assange should be extradited to Sweden, where he is to be interviewed about sex crime allegations, the concern is that the Scandinavian country will not be his final destination and that he will then be extradited to the US, where he might well face indictment before a grand jury.


Even crap like this: When he asked about his rights, the cyber activist was threatened with arrest and imprisonment

Nothing but Buffoonery and Buffoons.

[Zorro]

30. Ecuador gains nothing but a headache by agreeing to asylum

Either Assange is arrested when leaving the embassy, or the embassy lets him move in -- perhaps for years -- which might create an unneeded political rift between Ecuador, Sweden, and the UK.

Nevertheless, Correa's a notorious hothead -- so asylum is not out of the realm of possibility.

[2ndAmForComputers]

32. Embassy vehicles are exactly as inviolable as the embassies themselves.

[Zorro]

33. Yet he has to reach the vehicle first

Without getting intercepted.

Good luck with that.

[warrprayer]

36. The Spy Game

... in real life, for all the world to see.... Deja vu from the cold war....

[clang1]

45. re: The Spy Game

More like the cockroach game

[Matilda]

34. He may end up like Cardinal Mindszenty,

who was granted asylum in the US legation in Hungary in 1956 and lived there for fifteen years.

[struggle4progress]

38. He craves attention too badly to do that

[clang1]

46. re: He craves attention too badly to do that

Attention? Pfft and the horse you rode in on buddy.

[Zorro]

37. Ecuadorean papers are reporting Assange has been talking for months with the embassy

It may indicate that asylum is a done deal.

[struggle4progress]

39. Julian Assange: Foreign Office awaits decision from Ecuador

Officials say they expect Ecuador to reach a decision on the WikiLeaks founder's asylum application soon
Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
Thursday 21 June 2012 09.48 EDT

The Foreign Office says it expects a decision by Ecuador on Thursday on the fate of Julian Assange, who has taken refuge in the country's embassy in London and asked for political asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden.

A spokesman said British officials had had an "amicable" conversation with the Ecuadorean ambassador, Anna Alban, when she visited the Foreign Office on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

"She got an understanding of our legal position and we gained an understanding of theirs," the spokesman said. "It is our understanding overnight that they are minded to reach a view in Quito today [on the asylum request], or in the very near future. There is no reason to believe that all this was anything other than a surprise to them, and they are dealing with an unprecedented set of circumstances" ...

... Alban added: "I also emphasised to the UK government that it was not the intention of the Ecuadorean government to interfere with the processes of either the UK or Swedish governments" ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/21/julian-assange-foreign-office-ecuador

[warrprayer]

40. Has anyone considered

he may already be in Ecuador? A man of his abilities with the support of talented friends would have little trouble dealing with an ankle bracelet, it is possible he went to the embassy and was taken to freedom before the Brits were aware of what was going on. The man is not stupid.

[struggle4progress]

41. ... Assange supporter Gavin McFayden, who visited the WikiLeaks founder Wednesday, said he "seems in

very good spirits."

"He seemed very grateful for the hospitality of the embassy," said McFayden, director of the Center for Investigative Journalism at London's City University. He said Assange is staying in a small room with a television, which McFayden called "not a luxurious accommodation" but added, "We've all had worse than that" ...

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/20/world/europe/uk-assange-asylum/index.html

[struggle4progress]

42. Lawyer friend visits Assange in embassy

Rachael Brown reported this story on Thursday, June 21, 2012 08:03:00

TONY EASTLEY: Human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson is a former advisor to Julian Assange and has been to see him at the Ecuadorian embassy.

She says as well as Ecuador, Tunisia was another country open to helping the WikiLeaks founder.

After visiting Julian Assange Jennifer Robinson spoke to Rachael Brown in London ...

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3529874.htm

[warrprayer]

48. And Correa

takes his time.... not jumping to the whip crack of the U.S. ...

[clang1]

50. Heeeh heeh yep.

I think the administration better watch out for what it really wants. I mean I know weeeeerrrre speciaaaaal over here, and don't give a shit what the remainder of the world thinks, but I think this could cause more problems for the administration. Why (as Democrats) we carrying all this dirty water for? Huh? Why? What the hell do Dems stand for? Good god.

You people don't think the GOP would find a way to even exploit that (USA getting Assange)? Fucking please. Their base is going to suck it up like we are all a bunch of damn Nazi.

Wake up people.

These people play the Democratic party like its a freaking puppet.

All these freeduhm whackjobs over here are going to be coming out of the woodwork over this one and none of you people get it.