7 ms·
Not sure about 'secret charges' but there are these recent charges. [1] [1] http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/julian-assange-wikileaks-us-charges/ htt
by k-mcgrady 9y ago
Not sure about 'secret charges' but there are these recent charges. [1]
[1] http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/julian-assange-wikileaks-us-charges/ http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/julian-assange-wi...
- ginko 9y agoWhat base do these have? Assange isn't a US citizen, so he can't be charged for treason like Snowden and Manning. He just gained information and published it.
- idlewords 9y agoNeither Snowden nor Manning was charged with treason.
- ekianjo 9y agoopponents to the US In many countries around the world were captured and sent to Guantanamo. Do you need any rules when you are the one with the largest power In the world?
- k-mcgrady 9y agoAFAIK they could try and charge him under the Espionage Act but it would be difficult and unlikely to succeed. I think there are one or two other possible charges but both are also unlikely to succeed. As long as they can make his life a living hell though (long trial, loss of freedoms until found innocent) that would hopefully (from the USG perspective) discourage other leakers.
- josteink 9y ago> AFAIK they could try and charge him under the Espionage Act but it would be difficult and unlikely to succeed. So you are saying the US has laws which within US jurisdiction says that it's OK to file for extradition of non-US citizens anywhere in the world, if the US doesn't like what they do? Good for them, I guess, but why should the rest of the world comply? If we should comply with this for the US, surely we should do so too for Iran, China and Russia, just to mention a few. Is that a direction which anyone have any illusions about ever ending well?
- k-mcgrady 9y agoThis is nothing new. We comply with the US because it's politically good and vice versa for those other nations. However the UK does have a decent record denying extraditions to the US from what I've seen (Gary McKinnon for example).
- exidy 9y agoHave you not heard of Kim Dotcom? He's battling extradition to the USA despite never having set foot in the country nor registered a business there.
- ddalex 9y agoYes, but he deprived MPAA and RIAA of revenue, so that's fair game.
- dragonwriter 9y ago> So you are saying the US has laws which within US jurisdiction says that it's OK to file for extradition of non-US citizens anywhere in the world, if the US doesn't like what they do? The US certainly has laws which criminalize behavior outside of the US by non-US citizens; and certainly has attempted extradition (and simple forcible seizure, even in the presence of an extradition treaty with the country where the target was located) based on those laws. > Good for them, I guess, but why should the rest of the world comply? That depends on the specifics of the particular case.
- Sir_Substance 9y agoI believe the US traditionally sidesteps this legal thorn by detaining people without charge at gitmo for as long as they like. Non-US citizens have minimal to no rights under US law, so it's all just peachy
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoDoesn't the US Bill of Rights talk in several places about "any person": Fifth Amendment to USA Constitution: >nor shall any person [...] be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; Sounds like quite a strong right. FWIW this contrasts with the pages referring to "the people" which are limited and not universal, "any person" means any person.
- toyg 9y agoI'm not a US legal scholar but I wouldn't be surprised to know the US Supreme Court might have ruled that such rights do not apply to non-US citizens.
- ekianjo 9y agoyeah otherwise it would be hard to justify the invasion of Iraq among other things.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoDeclaration of war comes under "due process of law" surely.
- ekianjo 9y ago> such laws generally don't apply to war. they don't even apply to soldiers. No declaration of war was made on Iraq.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
- codedokode 9y agoThere were many cases when USA kidnapped citizens of other countries and put them to jail.
- dghughes 9y agoIf other countries did that to US citizens we all know the uproar it would cause in the US. Incredible hypocrisy.
- nanistheonlyist 9y agoMight makes right, and so the wolf cares not for the opinion of sheep. Those with power do with it what they like. It has always been this way, to think otherwise is to fall prey to the just world fallacy.
- tptacek 9y agoIt would be extraordinarily difficult to charge him with treason even if he was an American citizen.
- Sephr 9y agoThey don't specifically state what they are charging him with in that article, just that they "seek to put him in jail".
- k-mcgrady 9y agoThat's even worse imo. They can't find something he has done wrong but still want to imprison him.
- tunap 9y agoI cannot help but suspect the recent "stealthing" headlines following Comey's(?) 180° turn against Wikileaks is part of the campaign. Sure, it is an abhorrent act and justifiably prosecutable, and just so happens to be what Sweden was wanting to question Assange about, but when WSJ, WaPo, Fox, USA Today, CNN & Fox run the same headlines for two weeks on a prior low-priority subject(for them & their advertisers), I cannot help but wonder at the genesis for this particular MSM meme of late.
- _fizz_buzz_ 9y agoInteresting. So, they are not trying to charge him for publishing documents, but for helping Snowden.