struggle4progress
struggle4progress's JournalBritain's Hague meets Ecuador's top diplomat in U.S. on Assange
UNITED NATIONS | Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:32pm EDT
[
i](Reuters) - British Foreign Minister William Hague sought on Thursday to allay his Ecuadorean counterpart's concerns about the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying Britain's extradition law has "extensive human rights safeguards" ...
Patino held in his hands a mimeographed copy of an 1880 agreement signed between Britain and Ecuador, which he said prohibits extradition in cases likes that of Assange. He said he planned to show the document to Hague ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/27/us-un-assembly-britain-assange-idUSBRE88Q19N20120927
TREATY BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE REPUBLIC OF THE EQUATOR, FOR THE MUTUAL SURRENDER OF FUGITIVE CRIMINALS
... DONE at Quito, capital of the Republic of Ecuador, the 20th September, 1880.
https://www.unodc.org/tldb/showDocument.do?lng=en&documentUid=5448&country=UK
"... It is a central contention of the defence that the warrant was issued for questioning
rather than prosecution ... I am satisfied that there is no equivocal statement or ambiguity in the warrant. The English version of the warrant states that it is for the purposes of conducting a criminal prosecution or executing a custodial sentence or detention order. The warrant refers to offences, indicates the relevant provisions of Swedish criminal law; and identifies specific conduct against Mr Assange ... The person who knows whether she wants the defendant for the purpose of being prosecuted is the Swedish prosecutor ... The fact that Sweden requires a person to be interrogated, before a formal decision to charge is made, is not determinative. Each country has its own procedures for prosecuting offences ... In summary: ... looking at all the circumstances in the round, this person passes the threshold of being an “accused” person and is wanted for prosecution ..."
City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court (Sitting at Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court)
The judicial authority in Sweden -v- Julian Paul Assange
Findings of facts and reasons
Heroic Ecuador defends the natural right of men everywhere to have sex with unconscious women!
Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, has said ... the case would not in his view constitute criminal behaviour in Latin America ...
Julian Assange sex claims not a crime in Latin America – Ecuador president
Jonathan Watts in Guayaquil
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 August 2012 01.27 EDT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/22/ecuador-president-assange-sweden-sex
The president of Ecuador has dismissed the allegations against Julian Assange by claiming that a man who shares a bed with a woman cannot be accused of rape. Rafael Correa said the accusations would not be considered crimes in '90 to 95 per cent of the planet' and questioned the behaviour and motives of the alleged victims ...
'Sharing a bed cannot lead to rape': Ecuador's president leaps to the defence of Assange
By Nazia Parveen
PUBLISHED: 05:23 EST, 26 August 2012 | UPDATED: 17:27 EST, 26 August 2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2193775/Rafael-Correa-President-Ecuador-claims-sharing-bed-lead-rape-defends-Julian-Assange.html
"The other woman wanted to report rape. I gave my testimony to support her story"
– Den andra kvinnan ville anmäla för våldtäkt. Jag gav min berättelse som vittnesmål till hennes berättelse och för att stötta henne
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article7652935.ab
... The position with offence 4 is different. This is an allegation of rape. The framework list is ticked for rape. The defence accepts that normally the ticking of a framework list offence box on an EAW would require very little analysis by the court. However they then developed a sophisticated argument that the conduct alleged here would not amount to rape in most European countries. However, what is alleged here is that Mr Assange “deliberately consummated sexual intercourse with her by improperly exploiting that she, due to sleep, was in a helpless state”. In this country that would amount to rape ...
City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court (Sitting at Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court)
The judicial authority in Sweden -v- Julian Paul Assange
Findings of facts and reasons
Assange acknowledges Argentine support as ‘very important
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said that “Argentina's support is very important, because Argentina has experience with facing the UK”.
The hacker, who’s still living at Ecuador’s embassy in London after requesting political asylum over three months ago, told reporters that “Argentina has been very supportive and Ambassador in London Alicia Castro came to show me their support.”
Likewise, Assange stressed: “I appreciate Argentina’s independence on the asylum issue” ...
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/112335/assange-acknowledges-argentine-support-as-%E2%80%98very-important%E2%80%99
Assange's bizarre interview with Agencia Pública de Noticias del Ecuador y Suramérica (ANDES)
is predictably filled with the Assange's fantasies and double-talk
He speaks of "persecution by the U.S. against me and other WikiLeaks people" and further says "We are extremely grateful to Ecuador" that "prosecution by U.S. or extradition proceedings against me or other people connected to Wikileaks, will take place following the granting of asylum in Ecuador"
Of course, there is no actual evidence of US persecution of Assange or other Wikileaks personnel. And the only known prosecution of any Wikileaks staff is the pending Swedish prosecution of Assange for sexual assault. Moreover, Ecuador has not offered any general asylum to Wikileaks staff. In fact, Ecuador's August announcement regarding Assange mentions Wikileaks only once: "Ecuador wrote, asking the US government ... whether there is an ongoing legal process ... against Julian Assange and/or founders of the organization Wikileaks ... The U.S. response has been that ... the Assange case ... is a bilateral issue between Ecuador and the United Kingdom." So in reality, Ecuador is protecting only Assange -- and not Wikileaks in general
Assange further says: "... my primary task is to continue to keep our people safe from any U.S. attack against WikiLeaks. That is, demand the U.S. do the right thing and abandon its campaign against us. Once they do this, their military allies of the United Kingdom and Sweden will too ..." It is not entirely clear here who "our people" might be. Available financial information for Wikileaks suggests that Assange is the only staff member paid any substantial salary. It seems very unlikely that "our people" refers to the people who took risks to provide materials to Wikileaks. For example, when two Kenyan activists were killed after Wikileaks publication of Kenyan materials, Assange merely said that they hadn't been careful enough. And Assange has similarly shown very little interest in helping Bradley Manning, whose document release is the major reason for Assange's current fame: in a year when his organization took in nearly $2 million, Assange promised $50K for Manning's defense and used Manning's name for fundraising purposes -- but he only ever delivered $15K. The natural impression will be that Assange is mainly interested in protecting himself
Nor is it clear, when Assange claims to be defending everybody from US "attacks," exactly what "attacks" he is imagining. He does manage to mention that Sweden and the UK are military allies of the US: could he really believe the US is plotting some paramilitary operation against him? No -- it seems far more likely that he simply wishes to obfuscate his flat-out refusal to face the sexual assault complaints of his Swedish sexual partners
He claims that "Like Cuba, we are subject to blockades from Washington" citing problems "collecting online donations made with credit cards" and claims that these "locks ... are political and operate outside the law," adding "much work is needed to combat large organizations such as VISA and Bank Of America." In fact, there's just no evidence of a US blockade of Wikileaks: Assange may have real problems with large financial institutions -- but then why does he need to imagine some Federal conspiracy? Neither VISA nor BoA is headquartered in DC: VISA's offices are in San Francisco and BoA's are in Charlotte. And given the way he yanked BoA's chain -- snickering about how much fun he had making them squirm and later saying he really didn't have anything on them -- it wouldn't be at all surprising if company lawyers put in a bit of overtime, trying to figure out how they could get even with him
How richly ironic it is, that Assange complains he believes other people "operate outside the law" when he has skipped bail to avoid extradition for a criminal prosecution!
The interview ends on a similar self-serving note, when the interviewer asks: "In your work in WikiLeaks, did you ever imagine you would be stuck in such a political crisis as this?" And Assange replies: "my greatest regret is that my children did not agree to this cost." But, of course, this is more of his usual vacuous claptrap: his son Daniel, estranged from him for years, describes his father as ""a criminal mastermind"
Julian Assange: El presidente Rafael Correa ha demostrado que no tiene miedo a aferrarse a sus principios sobre soberanía nacional
Enviado por Edwin.Ulloa en Lun, 09/17/2012 - 14:24
http://andes.info.ec/node/6526
TEXTO COMPLETO: Declaración del gobierno de Ecuador dando asilo a Assange
http://www.democraticunderground.com/11084744
... The main beneficiary has been founder Julian Assange, who has drawn 66,000 Euros (about $86,000) in salary thus far this year, the Journal reports. Wau Holland has paid a total of 100,000 Euros in salaries to the entire WikiLeaks staff, which means Assange is getting the lion's share ...
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Now Making $86k/year
December 24, 2010 1:50 PM
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20026597-503543.html
... he told MoJo about two Kenyan human rights activists with links to a WikiLeaks leak who were later gunned down, their mistake was that they 'weren't acting in an anonymous way' ...
Behind the Arrest of Alleged Wikileaks Source
Max Fisher
Jun 7, 2010
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2010/06/behind-the-arrest-of-alleged-wikileaks-source/24178/
WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy Web site, has yet to make good on a July pledge to contribute financial aid to the legal defense fund of a U.S. Army private suspected of leaking classified documents to the site, the fund's director said Tuesday ... According to Paterson, Courage to Resist corresponded with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in July and on subsequent occasions confirming that WikiLeaks would cover about half of the expected fees, or $50,000, for Manning's defense. On its Twitter page, WikiLeaks frequently solicited donations for the defense fund through a German charity, the Wau Holland Foundation ...
WikiLeaks hasn't fulfilled financial-aid pledge for suspect in leaks, group says
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 7, 2010; 10:36 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/07/AR2010120704817.html?sid=ST2010120701470
WikiLeaks Contributes $15,000 to Bradley Manning’s Defense
By Kim Zetter
01.13.11 2:50 PM
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/01/manning-donations/
... "I think it's great," Assange told the venerable US television news magazine 60 Minutes on Sunday evening. "We have all these banks squirming, thinking maybe it's them." ...
Assange relishes US banks 'squirming' over 'megaleak'
Accuses America of chucking free speech in rubbish bin
By Cade Metz in San Francisco
31st January 2011 05:06 GMT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/31/assange_says_us_cant_take_wikileaks_down/
WikiLeaks has data from Bank of America Corp., but founder Julian Assange isn't sure whether it holds any big news and it may be difficult to interpret, according to a Reuters report this week ... "Assange privately acknowledged the material was not self-explanatory and that he personally was unable to make much sense of it," the Reuters story Wednesday stated, citing the sources. "Assange indicated it would require a substantial amount of effort by financial experts to determine whether any of the material was newsworthy." ...
WikiLeaks: Assange doubts value of Bank of America e-mails
Posted on Friday, February 11, 2011
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/02/11/108626/wikileaks-assange-doubts-value.html
... "That man does have a way of making a lot of female enemies," Daniel Assange, 21, said about his embattled dad ... In a Twitter post, Daniel has called his dad "a criminal mastermind with a political vision" ... He describes himself as "estranged" from his dad, who waged a nasty custody battle with the boy's mother in the early 1990s. She has never been publicly identified ...
My Wiki dad's just awful with the ladies
Leaker's son speaks out on sex case
By JEANE MacINTOSH and ADA CALHOUN
Last Updated: 8:43 AM, August 27, 2010
Posted: 4:37 AM, August 27, 2010
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/my_wiki_dad_just_awful_with_the_lPuc6BTUKeNNMwZLeUTFJK
Wikileaks Greatest Hits: Carl Bildt is tall! and smart!
As admirers around the globe swoon at the astounding achievements of Julian Assange, who now plans to visit Sweden just as soon as he can escape from pressing obligations at the Ecuadorian embassy, we pause from time to time to recall Wikileaks' tireless work on behalf of almost anyone almost anywhere
And so, here and now! we bring you yet another heart-warming Wikileaks moment: Carl Bildt is tall! and smart!
Background. In case you were too busy doing something else -- eating Cheetos, maybe -- the last time anybody mentioned him, let's review quickly who Carl Bildt is. He is a former Swedish Prime Minister and also former head of Sweden's Moderate Party. The Moderate Party bills itself as the alternative that’s both liberal and conservative -- showing that politicians over there in Sweden can talk out of both sides of their mouths at once, whilst simultaneously keeping their mugs on one side of the fence and their wumps on the other: just like politicians over here! Karl Rove has sometimes advised the Moderate Party, and the Party belongs to the current coalition government, having earned about a third of the vote in the September 2010 election. And Carl Bildt is currently Sweden’s Foreign Minister. And internet freedom is one of his special interests!
Lights! ... Camera! ... So, naturally, when Wikileaks wanted to expose the vast international conspiracy that led several of Julian Assange’s sexual partners to complain to the police about his behavior, exposing Carl Bildt came to mind! Wikileaks sprang into action, promising Swedish media exciting revelations. Stories circulated that Wikileaks would end Bildt's political career! He had been a spy for the US! Karl Rove had been his contact! Bildt challenged Wikileaks to publish
Action! The big day arrived! Wikileaks announced: "we have a document that shows the close relationship between Carl Bildt and Washington insiders."
Ta da! Bildt noted that the report, that was supposed to end his political career, provided such damning details as "super tall, has photographic memory and is very smart."
Minister for Foreign Affairs
http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/7505
Freedom on the Internet
http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/16042
WIKILEAKS aims to release documents revealing that Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt is a US spy, as part of a "smear campaign" to stop Sweden from extraditing founder Julian Assange to the United States, a Swedish daily reports. The whistleblower website has threatened in an internal memo to publish a so far unknown diplomatic cable "where Foreign Minister Carl Bildt is shown to have been an informant for the United States since the 1970s," the Expressen tabloid reported today, saying it had seen the WikiLeaks memo. Bildt "will have to step down. This will be the end of his political career," an unnamed person with access to the unpublished diplomatic cable was quoted as saying. Bildt himself reacted to the report on his official blog today, challenging WikiLeaks to publish "this in their opinion damning report."
WikiLeaks' 'smear campaign' to save founder Julian Assange
From correspondents in Stockholm
AFP
February 23, 2012 1:25AM
http://www.news.com.au/world-old/wikileaks-eyes-sensational-bildt-leak/story-e6frfkyi-1226278885186
... The whistleblower website has threatened in an internal memo to publish a so far unknown diplomatic cable "where Foreign Minister Carl Bildt is shown to have been an informant for the United States since the 1970s," the Expressen tabloid reported on yesterday, saying it had seen the WikiLeaks memo ... The cable on Mr Bildt reportedly shows that he first became an informant for the United States in 1973 and his original contact was none other than Republican strategist and former president George W Bush's political guru Karl Rove ...
WikiLeaks plans explosive spy leak
From: AAP
February 22, 2012 11:36PM
http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/wikileaks-plans-sensational-leak/story-fn6ck55c-1226278867997
... WikiLeaks has promised more to come, with spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson claiming that "we have a document that shows the close relationship between Carl Bildt and Washington insiders." Mr Bildt "will have to step down. This will be the end of his political career," an unnamed person with access to the unpublished diplomatic cable was quoted as saying ...[/i]
'Sweden should become a world power' - WikiLeaks opens its Carl Bildt file
WikiLeaks begins Stratfor dump
Claims Bildt wants larger Sweden
Says information can be turned into cash
By Peter Farquhar
news.com.au
February 27, 2012 1:26PM
http://www.news.com.au/technology/sweden-should-become-a-world-power-wikileaks-opens-its-carl-bildt-file/story-e6frfro0-1226282749798
... The details are included in a September 2009 email exchange between employees of Strategic Forecasting, Inc., a US security consulting company commonly known as Stratfor and are attributed to a Swedish member of the European Parliament referred to only as “SW501” ... Bildt used his official Twitter account to brush off the significance of the email. "Wikileaks released obscure email saying I'm "super tall, has photographic memory and is very smart". Isn't this slightly ridiculous?" he wrote on his Twitter account ...
Bildt wants Sweden to be 'world power': WikiLeaks
Published: 27 Feb 12 10:16 CET
Updated: 27 Feb 12 11:27 CET
http://www.thelocal.se/39350/20120227/
I got a lot of info on Carl Bildt. Our Swedish MEP contact is basically his main ally. Bildt is apparently super tall, has photographic memory and is very smart ... Bildt believes that Sweden should become a world power ... He is also very critical of Russia ... I did meet his wife, who is also an MEP in the Parliament. She is apparently Italian and does not speak really good Swedish
http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/1683919_re-insight-batch-1-.html
Sweden's rape rate under the spotlight
14 September 2012 Last updated at 19:37 ET
By Ruth Alexander BBC News
... Official figures from the United Nations show that there were 17 kidnaps per 100,000 people in Australia in 2010 and 12.7 in Canada.
That compares with only 0.6 in Colombia and 1.1 in Mexico.
So why haven't we heard any of these horror stories? Are people being grabbed off the street in Sydney and Toronto, while the world turns a blind eye?
No, the high numbers of kidnapping cases in these two countries are explained by the fact that parental disputes over child custody are included in the figures ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19592372
Jury used to hide facts DUers dislike
Here's the post:
Assange: US has "given tacit approval for attacks on embassies"
By Toby Manhire
Published on September 13, 2012
... whatever you think of the WikiLeaks founder, who is currently sheltering in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, it's hard to fathom his latest tweeted statement, in which he asserts some sort of link between the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, in which the American ambassador was killed, and his own treatment.
The tweet:
By the US accepting the UK siege on the Ecuadorian embassy in London it gave tacit approval for attacks on embassies around the world ...
Loyal Assange supporter Jemima Khan had the best response:
That last @wikileaks tweet manages to be both absurd and shockingly offensive & I say that as a wikileaks supporter ...
http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/the-internaut/assange-us-has-given-tacit-approval-for-attacks-on-embassies/
It is entirely an excerpt from a post at The New Zealand Listener: that post includes screenshots of the original tweet (which was removed and replaced)
and
Note that Jemima Khan is one of the individuals who put up bail for Assange:
... One of Julian Assange's most prominent supporters, Jemima Khan, has said she would like to see the WikiLeaks founder, who has made an asylum bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, confront the rape allegations made against him by two Swedish women. The socialite and charity fundraiser, who faces losing the £20,000 she put towards his bail money after Assange took refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy in London and sought political asylum, said on Twitter that the women deserved a response to their allegations. She wrote: "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 2 women at the centre have a right to a response" ... Earlier this week, she voiced her surprise at Assange's asylum bid, writing on Twitter that she had "expected him to face the allegations" ...
Jemima Khan 'would like to see Julian Assange confront rape allegations'
Socialite who donated to WikiLeaks founder's bail money also defends him over fears of extradition to US
David Batty
Thursday 21 June 2012 19.54 EDT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/22/jemima-khan-julian-assange-allegations
Here's the jury decision:
Assange: US has “given tacit approval for attacks on embassies”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021330806
REASON FOR ALERT:
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)
ALERTER'S COMMENTS:
The claim that Assange said this is a lie and has already lead many people in the thread to wrongfully believe this. This is nothing more than a deceitful attempt at character assasination.
This post (and similar ones by the same poster I should add) also violates TOS according to the following paragraph:
"Don't go overboard with the crazy talk.
Democratic Underground is not intended to be a platform for kooks and crackpots peddling paranoid fantasies with little or no basis in fact."
JURY RESULTS
A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Thu Sep 13, 2012, 10:56 AM, and voted 4-2 to HIDE IT.
Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: While I cannot but agree that OP is "kook and crackpot peddling paranoid fantasies" it's better to leave it for number of reasons.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Maybe I'm not up the latest about Wikileaks, but this didn't seem that hurtful to me, nor intended to be hurtful. It's just a news report. If it's inaccurate, then it's easy enough to point that, or post another thread to rebut it with the truth, whatever that is.
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT and said: s4p really jumped the shark on this one. These anti-Assange folks are going to desperate lengths to try to smear him, it seems. It's borderline OCD -- someone needs to see a shrink, methinks.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Mark Weisbrot's Shame
Mark Weisbrot has put up a bit at al-Jazeera, entitled Sweden's Shame, in which he regurgitates (yet again) a number of the demonstrably false factoids popular among the Assangists. Here's the link to his drivel:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/20129674125619411.html
Most obviously, (Weisbrot writes) Sweden has had the opportunity to interview Assange in the UK, but has repeatedly refused to do so. The Swedish government also refused Ecuador's offer to interview Assange at its London embassy. As in the past, no justification was offered
But the facts by now are crystal clear. Swedish authorities interviewed Assange on 31 August 2010 and reopened a rape investigation on 1 September 2010. Swedish authorities were repeatedly in contact with Assange's lawyer in Sweden, while Assange was still in Sweden, in September 2010, trying to arrange further interrogation of him, in order to move forward with a prosecution of him in Sweden. When it was made clear to Assange's lawyer, that the authorities intended to detain his client, Assange immediately left the country for the UK. The interrogation, that the Swedish authorities seek, is not simply a matter of asking questions: the UK courts have held that the interrogation is part and parcel of the Swedish prosecutorial process and have further held that Sweden's request, for Assange's extradition to be interrogated, is nothing other than a request for Assange to be handed over for prosecution. The original arrest order for Assange was issued by a Swedish court, and Assange's lawyers appealed that unsuccessfully twice in Sweden. The Swedish court's arrest order means that the next step in the Swedish process against Assange is to take him into custody for interrogation. The Swedish court's arrest order predates the international arrest warrant that Assange fought (for over a year and a half) in the UK courts. The Swedish authoritories do not now owe Assange, or Weisbrot, or anyone else, further explanation or justification: they have prevailed in Swedish courts, and in the UK courts, and Assange has jumped bail to avoid extradition to Sweden, which had requested his extradition expressly for the purpose of prosecution
The Swedish government (says Weisbrot further) also refused to negotiate with Ecuador for an extradition under which Assange would go to Sweden but not be subject to extradition to the US. This would be very easy for Sweden (or the UK, for that matter) to arrange. Once again, the Swedish government offered no reason for its refusal to consider this obvious solution to the diplomatic impasse.
It is unclear why Ecuador believes it can properly concern itself this matter at all, insofar as Assange is an Australian citizen, not an Ecuadorian citizen, who is not in instant danger in the UK and who faces no instant danger in Sweden: Australian consular staff attended all of his court dates, and Assange repeatedly refused any contact with his country's diplomats, even as his lawyers complained to the press that Australia was refusing to help him. Ecuador made no application to intervene in the UK lawsuit on the warrant. Nor did Assange's lawyers attempt any serious discussion of this strange forward-extradition theory in the UK lawsuit: the only testimony touching on the subject came from one of Assange's own witnesses who testified that forward-extradition to the US was flat-out impossible. Both Swedish and UK authorities have pointed out repeatedly, for more than a year, that forward-extradition to the US from Sweden would require approval from the UK and could be challenged in both the Swedish and UK courts
And it is unclear why Assange, who is (after all) a man who has lost his friends hundreds of thousands of pounds in bail, by refusing to honor his own guarantees, thinks himself in a position to demand guarantees from others. Given the Assangist accusations against Sweden, it is also entirely clear that nothing, either Sweden or the UK could say, will produce any response from the Assange camp except further noisy accusations of bad faith and dishonesty. So the governments of Sweden and of the UK would gain no advantage from pointless guarantees about purely hypothetical situations
If the Swedish government really wanted to pursue the investigation of sexual offence allegations against Assange (Weisbrot tells us) they could do so. But instead, they are deliberately abandoning the criminal investigation - which is getting older and more difficult to pursue - for other reasons.
The Swedish prosecutors are pursuing a sexual offense prosecution of Assange. That is why there is a Swedish court order for his arrest. That is why there is an international warrant for his arrest. The UK courts have consistently held that the purpose of extradition to Sweden is prosecution. The matter is "getting older and more difficult to pursue" simply because Assange suddenly left Sweden, then fought his extradition in the UK courts for a year and a half, and finally jumped bail
This also casts serious doubt (Weisbrot continues) on all the people who have opposed Assange's asylum on the grounds that they care about the two women who have accused Assange. (It is worth noting that neither of the two women accused Assange of rape, although that is one of the allegations that has been spread throughout the media and the world). Anyone who was really concerned about pursuing this case would aim their fire at the Swedish prosecutor, and at least ask her why she has abandoned the investigation
The UK courts have determined the international warrant, for Assange's arrest, was issued for the purposes of prosecution on various charges including rape. The claim that no one complained of rape is another standard Assangist fiction. Weisbrot shows a particularly flexible attitude towards reality by reading the fact, that Assange jumped bail to avoid extradition to Sweden for prosecution, as proof that the Swedish prosecutor has abandoned the matter
... "The other woman wanted to report rape. I gave my testimony to support her story" ...
– Den andra kvinnan ville anmäla för våldtäkt. Jag gav min berättelse som vittnesmål till hennes berättelse och för att stötta henne.
30-åriga kvinnan: Jag utsattes för övergrepp
Berättar om anklagelserna mot Wikileaks grundare Julian Assange
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article7652935.ab
Weisbrot might want to familiarize himself with the record more thoroughly before he continues vacuously yammering his Assangist talking-points
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