Julian Assange to address Oxford Union

[struggle4progress]

Assange's appearance, after cancelling a Q&A session in November at the Cambridge Union, prompts Oxford students to organise protests

by Emily Chan
Wednesday 9th January 2013, 19:08 GMT

... The WikiLeaks founder will make an appearance at the Sam Adams awards ceremony on Wednesday 23rd January. Assange won the award for “integrity in intelligence” in 2010.

The news follows last term’s cancellation of the planned Q&A session with Assange at the Cambridge Union due to “technical difficulties”. It later came to light that he would be speaking via video link at the Convention Camp conference in Hanover, Germany on that day instead ...

There are already plans for demonstrations to take place on the same day as the event in protest against the Oxford Union’s decision to invite Assange. One of the organisers, Simone Webb, a PPE student at Hertford College, said: “I'm organising a protest because I don't believe that someone who is evading the legal system on rape charges, as Assange is, should be given a platform by the Oxford Union” ...

http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/10151215.Assange_guest_Union_speaker/

[LeftishBrit]

1. Like its Cambridge equivalent, the Oxford Union is a debating society, not the student union

The Union sometimes has a tendency to invite people whom they think will attract controversy. These have included Nick Griffin, David Irving (those ones attracted massive protests), and such DU faves as Antonin Scalia, Newt Gingrich, and Tom Delay when he was already under indictment. They have also invited some quite reasonable guests; it all depends.

[Asparagas]

2. Forged

The accusations against Assange were forged into an interrogation document by the Swedish police, acting on instructions. Read 'Julian Assange in Sweden' by Guy Sims. It's an e-book. He was set up and the alleged events never happened.

[non sociopath skin]

3. Er ... you wouldn't be the writer of said e-book by any chance? ....

The Skin