5 ms·

But wasn't he afraid of extradition?

by BasDirks 11y ago

fwn 11y ago
Yep. But that is often left out. (No accusation intended. It's just something people forget.)
- mike-cardwell 11y ago
  They don't forget. They leave it out on purpose because it destroys their argument. Oh. If only he'd have done this thing that I'm telling you, without mentioning the well known reason why he is against doing that thing!
- cmdkeen 11y ago
  Well he became afraid of extradition conveniently at the point at which he was facing extradition. Before then he was quite happy to spend lots of time in the West apparently unconcerned by the threat. Something that is often left out... The UK was happy to extradite him to Sweden, we extradite people to the US as long as they aren't going to be executed. So quite why the UK extraditing him to Sweden who would then extradite him to the US is a plausible conspiracy never really gets explained.
  - PJDK 11y ago
    Particularly since he could still appeal back to the UK if Sweden tried to extradite him. Also weird this wasn't an argument he brought up while fighting the initial extradition to Sweden.
  - spiralpolitik 11y ago
    In the UK extraditions, especially ones to the US, are usually won or lost in the court of public opinion. I suspect that Assange feels he would have a better chance of resisting extradition in the UK than in Sweden. See the case of Gary McKinnon as an example (although McKinnon had much stronger grounds to appeal on than I expect Assange would)
  - marrs 11y ago
    In fairness, most people only become afraid of something when they're facing it. As for the conspiracy theory, maybe it was the product of paranoid thinking. A more obvious conspiracy theory to me is that the US saw an opportunity to smear Assange and lent on Sweden to trump up the charges.
    - FireBeyond 11y ago
      And yet the best they could do was 'these girls who said that he had quasi consensual ('I was sleeping') sex with them and want him to do a HIV test'? That's a pretty low bar for a smear campaign.
rmc 11y ago
I never understood that. People claim "Sweden has links to NATO". Well the UK co-founded NATO and has a "special relationship" with the USA ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship ). Why go the UK if you're worried about extradition to the USA?
- agd 11y ago
  He wasn't leaving Sweden to avoid US extradition at that point. If I recall correctly, Wikileaks was particularly busy at that time working with the Guardian on several large stories. Hence, Assange would want to be in London for that reason.
youngtaff 11y ago
He was at more risk of extradition to the US from the UK than he was from Sweden
- kagamine 11y ago
  Says who? Sweden? The UK? Assange? The US?
  - jamespo 11y ago
    Is Sweden a member of "Five Eyes" ?
    - comrh 11y ago
      No, it is made up of anglophone countries (Canada, UK, US, New Zealand, Australia)
      - zz1 11y ago
        But is still a close ally of the US when it comes to intelligence.
  - rmc 11y ago
    UK is in Five Eyes, Sweden is not. The UK is a co-founding member of NATO, Sweden is not in NATO. The USA & UK have a "special relationship", Sweden & USA don't. UK helped the USA invade Iraq, Sweden did not.
    - kagamine 11y ago
      Half of which if not all of which had absolutely no bearing on whether or not Sweden were more or less likely to extradite Assange as a result of pressure to do so by the US. The "special relationship" is not a cover-all term for the US & UK to do anything on a promise like a teen couple in love. It covers a lot of military and trade stuff, which wikileaks is a part of, but in this case Sweden clearly acted as a player in a larger game. Assange seems to have presumed an ulterior motive in the charges brought against him and proceeded accordingly.

But wasn't he afraid of extradition?

fwn 11y ago

Yep. But that is often left out. (No accusation intended. It's just something people forget.)

mike-cardwell 11y ago
They don't forget. They leave it out on purpose because it destroys their argument. Oh. If only he'd have done this thing that I'm telling you, without mentioning the well known reason why he is against doing that thing!
cmdkeen 11y ago
Well he became afraid of extradition conveniently at the point at which he was facing extradition. Before then he was quite happy to spend lots of time in the West apparently unconcerned by the threat. Something that is often left out... The UK was happy to extradite him to Sweden, we extradite people to the US as long as they aren't going to be executed. So quite why the UK extraditing him to Sweden who would then extradite him to the US is a plausible conspiracy never really gets explained.
- PJDK 11y ago
  Particularly since he could still appeal back to the UK if Sweden tried to extradite him. Also weird this wasn't an argument he brought up while fighting the initial extradition to Sweden.
- spiralpolitik 11y ago
  In the UK extraditions, especially ones to the US, are usually won or lost in the court of public opinion. I suspect that Assange feels he would have a better chance of resisting extradition in the UK than in Sweden. See the case of Gary McKinnon as an example (although McKinnon had much stronger grounds to appeal on than I expect Assange would)
- marrs 11y ago
  In fairness, most people only become afraid of something when they're facing it. As for the conspiracy theory, maybe it was the product of paranoid thinking. A more obvious conspiracy theory to me is that the US saw an opportunity to smear Assange and lent on Sweden to trump up the charges.
  - FireBeyond 11y ago
    And yet the best they could do was 'these girls who said that he had quasi consensual ('I was sleeping') sex with them and want him to do a HIV test'? That's a pretty low bar for a smear campaign.

rmc 11y ago

I never understood that. People claim "Sweden has links to NATO". Well the UK co-founded NATO and has a "special relationship" with the USA ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship ). Why go the UK if you're worried about extradition to the USA?

agd 11y ago
He wasn't leaving Sweden to avoid US extradition at that point. If I recall correctly, Wikileaks was particularly busy at that time working with the Guardian on several large stories. Hence, Assange would want to be in London for that reason.

youngtaff 11y ago

He was at more risk of extradition to the US from the UK than he was from Sweden

kagamine 11y ago
Says who? Sweden? The UK? Assange? The US?
- jamespo 11y ago
  Is Sweden a member of "Five Eyes" ?
  - comrh 11y ago
    No, it is made up of anglophone countries (Canada, UK, US, New Zealand, Australia)
    - zz1 11y ago
      But is still a close ally of the US when it comes to intelligence.
- rmc 11y ago
  UK is in Five Eyes, Sweden is not. The UK is a co-founding member of NATO, Sweden is not in NATO. The USA & UK have a "special relationship", Sweden & USA don't. UK helped the USA invade Iraq, Sweden did not.
  - kagamine 11y ago
    Half of which if not all of which had absolutely no bearing on whether or not Sweden were more or less likely to extradite Assange as a result of pressure to do so by the US. The "special relationship" is not a cover-all term for the US & UK to do anything on a promise like a teen couple in love. It covers a lot of military and trade stuff, which wikileaks is a part of, but in this case Sweden clearly acted as a player in a larger game. Assange seems to have presumed an ulterior motive in the charges brought against him and proceeded accordingly.