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In reply to the discussion: Top EU official tells Julian Assange: 'Just go to Sweden and answer the questions' [View all]Zorra
(27,670 posts)17. Daniel Ellsberg: "Assange has every reason to be wary that the real intent here is to whisk him
to America".
DANIEL ELLSBERG: Well, everything that weve seen supports the position of his defense team, that this is not about sexual charges in Sweden, essentially, that thats a cover storywhatever substance there may be to that story. But the procedures that have been followed here are extraordinary: a red notice here, very unusually given, never under these circumstances, to arrest him and these heavy efforts to extradite him, after he had offered either to be questioned by the prosecutor herself or by some representative of her in the Swedish embassy or the British embassy or by British police in London, where he was, something that, by the way, is routinely done all the time, and the expense is paid for that, if necessaryall of that being refused. Why? In a situation where this man is charged with criminal charges by no countrynot by Sweden, not by Britain, not by the United States, although there may in fact be a secret indictment already waiting for him in the United States, being denied or lied about right now by my country. But no charges have actually been made public. So, here, all this emphasis just to get him chargedjust to get him questioned, rather, when hes offered himself for questioning, even right now in the Ecuadorean embassy. The state of Ecuador has actually officially proposed that that take place in the Ecuadorean embassy or elsewhere and in London. And that has been refused. All of this supports the idea that this is merely a way of getting him to Sweden, which apparently would be easier to extradite him from to the United States than Britain. If Britain were totally open to extraditing him, it would have happened by now. Two years have passed. But hes an Australian citizen, a member of the Commonwealth, and the criteria for extraditing somebody whos been telling the truth and is wanted for what can only be a political crime in another country are apparently more stringent here than they might be in Sweden.
So I think thatin fact, I join his lawyers, Michael Ratner and others, in saying that he has every reason to be wary that the real intent here is to whisk him away to America, where it really hasnt been made as clear what might be waiting for him as I think one can conjecture. The new National Defense Authorization Actand Im a plaintiff in a suit to call that act unconstitutional, in terms of its effect on me and on others, a suit that has been successful so far at the district court level and has led to that act being called unconstitutional. But on its face, that act could be used against Julian Assange or Bradley Manning, if he werent already in military custody. Julian Assange, although a civilian, and not an American civilian at that, would seem to me, a layman, to be clearly subject to the National Defense Authorization Act, the NDAA, putting in military detention for suspicion of giving aid to an enemy, which hes certainly been accused of by high American officials. I dont see why he couldnt be put in indefinite contention, without even the charges that I faced 40 years ago for doing the exact same things that he did.
So I think thatin fact, I join his lawyers, Michael Ratner and others, in saying that he has every reason to be wary that the real intent here is to whisk him away to America, where it really hasnt been made as clear what might be waiting for him as I think one can conjecture. The new National Defense Authorization Actand Im a plaintiff in a suit to call that act unconstitutional, in terms of its effect on me and on others, a suit that has been successful so far at the district court level and has led to that act being called unconstitutional. But on its face, that act could be used against Julian Assange or Bradley Manning, if he werent already in military custody. Julian Assange, although a civilian, and not an American civilian at that, would seem to me, a layman, to be clearly subject to the National Defense Authorization Act, the NDAA, putting in military detention for suspicion of giving aid to an enemy, which hes certainly been accused of by high American officials. I dont see why he couldnt be put in indefinite contention, without even the charges that I faced 40 years ago for doing the exact same things that he did.
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Top EU official tells Julian Assange: 'Just go to Sweden and answer the questions' [View all]
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
OP
The portfolio of the EU Home Affairs commissioner includes matters such as Asylum
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#3
Hmmm. Not sure about that. One issue arising in the Assange case was the question
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#7
You are right---Sweden did issue the EAW. I wonder if her office coordinates the SIS, then. nt
msanthrope
Dec 2012
#41
Her office handles Police Cooperation, so circulating notices of the warrant might have been her job
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#63
A moment ago, you had never heard of her, yet you instantly begin calling her names
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#10
Shhhh...that doesn't fit in with the narrative of persecution. You see, we are supposed to believe
msanthrope
Dec 2012
#46
Why don't the CIA drone operators turn themselves in to Pakistan or Sudan?
Tierra_y_Libertad
Dec 2012
#14
WTF does that have to do with Assange answering the questions in a court of law? n/t
RomneyLies
Dec 2012
#15
"U.S.Officialswarn about Assange ...Treason" (It's a trap to snare him here for Prosecution)
KoKo
Dec 2012
#19
There are no charges from the US, nor have any attempts to extradite Assange to the US been made.
RomneyLies
Dec 2012
#20
No charges have been filed against Assange in Sweden but you don't seem to have any
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#125
Assange is under a sealed indictment in the US. US is the only one with skin in the game.
morningfog
Dec 2012
#109
There have been denials by US officials, I am not sure who or even if they were named.
morningfog
Dec 2012
#118
The credibility of that report is quite iffy, due to its very strange provenance:
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#142
... As Atlantic associate editor Max Fischer argues, “The group’s reputation
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#168
OK: I have in #169, #169, and #170 provided you with 8 links showing
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#172
we are targeting people in other countries that we label "terrorists" with Drone Attacks
KoKo
Dec 2012
#59
Because Obama is a very clever President and he's playing Cat and Mouse with Assange
KoKo
Dec 2012
#76
UK courts have found Sweden wants Assange in order to prosecute him and have ruled
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#18
Daniel Ellsberg: "Assange has every reason to be wary that the real intent here is to whisk him
Zorra
Dec 2012
#17
President Clinton was accused of rape also...Dem President...good...accused rapist,
Zorra
Dec 2012
#25
What charges?? There are no charges. You are taking a false claim made by someone who
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#38
And you have been told time and time and time, etc etc how things work in sweden
Bodhi BloodWave
Dec 2012
#57
Neiter was Assange. Care to post the 'court CHARGES' here? The world has been waiting
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#33
How charming, you post on DU, a US Democratic Political site and accuse Americans of
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#81
Yes, FFS. Your words, despicable words to say to Americans on an American site. If you do
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#85
I don't have disdain for Americans, plural. Just for one very specific American...
SidDithers
Dec 2012
#86
Your words were clear. We are used to such comments, but generally considering the
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#90
You assigned the word 'Rapist' to Assange. I asked you to list the charges because to have that
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#93
Assange fled jurisdiction from Sweden to the UK, before being taken into custody...
SidDithers
Dec 2012
#94
Wrong, he did the exact opposite of 'flee' and whoever told you what his attorney
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#98
Yes, let the courts make that decision. But the Prosecutor does not want this case to go to
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#122
And that woman refused to sign the police report alleging just what you have posted. She
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#99
Keep typing, sabrina. Your voluminous screeds get more and more entertaining...
SidDithers
Dec 2012
#119
And once again, because you keep missing it for some reason. The Prosecutor has the
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#126
I know how the Swedish Court operates. And you KNOW how it operates because I have
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#47
Too bad Assange's attorneys in the UK didn't know all this. They might have argued it in court. nt
msanthrope
Dec 2012
#67
Too bad he had to fire his attorney for his egregious mishandling of the case. However,
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#82
She had every opportunity to arrest him for two years, she declined. Which you know because
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#84
It's neither your business nor mine to pick apart the details of a Swedish court case!
randome
Dec 2012
#105
Given the circumstances why then doesn't Sweden just arrange a video hearing with Assange?
Ya Basta
Dec 2012
#32
UK courts have found Sweden wants Assange in order to prosecute him and have ruled
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#34
Why haven't they charged him in more than two years? Why did they lie when they falsely
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#36
It all went through the UK courts, for a year and a half. Assange's lawyers argued rather along the
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#49
Where are the charges? And why did the Prosecutor lie about being able to take the
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#51
UK courts have found Sweden wants Assange in order to prosecute him for rape
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#103
Assange would be answering Swedish prosecutor's questions in Swedish court's via video link
Ya Basta
Dec 2012
#39
You're welcome to try to get everyone to change their understandings of extradition, so
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#43
Some people, in this thread, do know these facts yet continue to misrepresent them.
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#50
This is the European Arrest Warrant, detailing the offences Sweden seeks answers to:
msanthrope
Dec 2012
#65
Is this what Julian Assange testified to? Can you cite it from testimony of other witnesses? nt
msanthrope
Dec 2012
#89
Your allegations that the prosecutor lied. Was this presented in the British courts
msanthrope
Dec 2012
#132
It all went through the UK courts, for a year and a half. Assange's lawyers argued rather along the
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#48
There was never any need for extradition. The Prosecutors lied, and when a Prosecutor
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#53
Your claim "British Courts refused extradition for Pinochet" shows how careless you are about facts
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#69
I'm still hoping that there will be some defense of the "losing position." I've asked..
KoKo
Dec 2012
#75
The Manning Trial is going on. My twitter feed tells me the propaganda against Assange has
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#101
'Give himself up'. For what? He has never been charged. You don't give yourself up
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#120
Ah, the old THIRD WAY "hero worship strawman" meme once again. Do y'all have an old list of
Zorra
Dec 2012
#149
Really? Oh, why no, not at all! Just check out this 2 yr old thread from struggle4progress!
Zorra
Dec 2012
#156
It's nothing personal. I even call out my oldest, closest friends when they are trying to bullshit
Zorra
Dec 2012
#159
It is totally disgusting to use an alleged sexual assault as a vehicle for attacking an
Zorra
Dec 2012
#138
I could not agree more. But isn't standard to use Women and Rape to try to emotionally
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#146
Using sexual assault as subterfuge is thoroughly revolting, whether it is used by posters
Zorra
Dec 2012
#152
As FDR said, and I have to say I have always judged myself the same way, about those who
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#153
Now Sid...you realize that's "borderline" for an Alert...but, some of us feel it's
KoKo
Dec 2012
#162
Yes, but I wouldn't alert on these gems. It's revealing to see a man who rarely posts anything
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#166
True..some things are not worthy of alert...it's better to read the thread and have
KoKo
Dec 2012
#179
Lol, I love these predictions. But thanks for reminding me, it's time for another donation
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#165
Australian FOIA Docs confirm Assange "the enemy" In US counter-espionage investigation
KoKo
Dec 2012
#171
A separate release of FOI Docs confirmed by Dept. of Foreign Affairs (AUS) confirmed:
KoKo
Dec 2012
#174
Again, we need to see the FOI documents themselves, to know what they say
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#175
UK courts have found Sweden wants Assange in order to prosecute him for rape
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#177
Assange lost in court again and again, at every level. He lost at Belmarsh,
struggle4progress
Dec 2012
#183
No court system will guarantee anything to someone wanted for questioning and/or arrest.
randome
Dec 2012
#178