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Julian Assange is not "effectively imprisoned". He can leave the Ecuadorian embassy any time he chooses. Ecuador is under no obligation to provide him domicil

Julian Assange is not "effectively imprisoned". He can leave the Ecuadorian embassy any time he chooses. Ecuador is under no obligation to provide him domicile.

dmix 8y ago
How about nominally imprisoned absent fair treatment upon extradition?
- mark212 8y ago
  How will we know he won’t get fair treatment upon release until he’s actually released?
  - glogla 8y ago
    Because he's wanted by the US?
  - jstarfish 8y ago
    That isn't how prosecution for high crimes works these days. No nation exerts so much effort recovering someone with a bench warrant for failure to appear unless there's an empty cell in a black site with your name on the door. They even tried playing the "...but he's a filthy rapist!" card to turn the public against him. It's disgusting. There are actual murderers on the lam who aren't being pursued as aggressively as this. They want him this badly and they don't even have any substantial charges to bring. It's an unfair fight by any measure.
panarky 8y ago
If you spend 8 years confined to a small space, unable to travel freely due to a well-grounded fear of physical harm, you're most definitely "effectively imprisoned".
- Blindedwino 8y ago
  But then... is he really fearing for his life? Is it really about him knowing secrets or him trying to avoid the rape charges in Sweden?
  - panarky 8y ago
    Sweden withdrew their arrest warrant. Ecuador granted asylum not to shield Assange from justice in Sweden, but to prevent the US from using the Swedish case as an avenue to extradite him to the US.
    - donarb 8y ago
      The warrant was only withdrawn because without being able to interview Assange, the investigators cannot move forward. They have also reserved the right to reopen the case should Assange return to Sweden before the statute of limitations expires in 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/swedish-prosecutors-drop-julian-assange-investigation https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/swedish-prosec...
      - nailer 8y ago
        He also wasn't charged with rape, he was sought for questioning. And he consistently offered the Swedish Prosecutor to answer all questions from London, which the Swedish Prosecutor declined.
        foldr 8y ago
        >He also wasn't charged with rape He couldn't be charged without first being arrested. That's why Sweden issued the EAW.
        nailer 8y ago
        Again: the EAW was to arrest Assange for questioning.
oculusthrift 8y ago
Ok how about i tell you that if you leave your house you’ll be killed instantly. Are you free to leave whenever? Under your logic yes.
rndgermandude 8y ago
Assange is a naturalized citizen of Ecuador[1]. Now the question is whether Ecuadorian law allows to extradite it's own citizens to the UK, and for a minor UK charge of "failure to surrender". [1] https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/11/julian-assange-is-made-ecuadorian-citizen-in-effort-to-resolve-impasse https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/11/julian-assange...
- raverbashing 8y ago
  "its own citizens", now for the issue of extradition, I'm not sure it even counts as an extradition in the case of an embassy (though theoretically at first glance it would count)
dane-pgp 8y ago
He can leave the Ecuadorian embassy any time he chooses, which would immediately lead to him becoming... effectively imprisoned. Perhaps "effectively under house arrest" describes his situation better. Also, Ecuador may have no obligation to provide him domicile as such, but it does have a duty to grant asylum to legitimate asylum seekers. Without a way to safely transport him from their embassy to their country, I think there is a logical (if not moral) obligation to provide him domicile in the embassy where he claimed, and was granted, that political asylum.

Julian Assange is not "effectively imprisoned". He can leave the Ecuadorian embassy any time he chooses. Ecuador is under no obligation to provide him domicile.

dmix 8y ago

How about nominally imprisoned absent fair treatment upon extradition?

mark212 8y ago
How will we know he won’t get fair treatment upon release until he’s actually released?
- glogla 8y ago
  Because he's wanted by the US?
- jstarfish 8y ago
  That isn't how prosecution for high crimes works these days. No nation exerts so much effort recovering someone with a bench warrant for failure to appear unless there's an empty cell in a black site with your name on the door. They even tried playing the "...but he's a filthy rapist!" card to turn the public against him. It's disgusting. There are actual murderers on the lam who aren't being pursued as aggressively as this. They want him this badly and they don't even have any substantial charges to bring. It's an unfair fight by any measure.

panarky 8y ago

If you spend 8 years confined to a small space, unable to travel freely due to a well-grounded fear of physical harm, you're most definitely "effectively imprisoned".

Blindedwino 8y ago
But then... is he really fearing for his life? Is it really about him knowing secrets or him trying to avoid the rape charges in Sweden?
- panarky 8y ago
  Sweden withdrew their arrest warrant. Ecuador granted asylum not to shield Assange from justice in Sweden, but to prevent the US from using the Swedish case as an avenue to extradite him to the US.
  - donarb 8y ago
    The warrant was only withdrawn because without being able to interview Assange, the investigators cannot move forward. They have also reserved the right to reopen the case should Assange return to Sweden before the statute of limitations expires in 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/swedish-prosecutors-drop-julian-assange-investigation https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/swedish-prosec...
    - nailer 8y ago
      He also wasn't charged with rape, he was sought for questioning. And he consistently offered the Swedish Prosecutor to answer all questions from London, which the Swedish Prosecutor declined.
      - foldr 8y ago
        >He also wasn't charged with rape He couldn't be charged without first being arrested. That's why Sweden issued the EAW.
        nailer 8y ago
        Again: the EAW was to arrest Assange for questioning.

oculusthrift 8y ago

Ok how about i tell you that if you leave your house you’ll be killed instantly. Are you free to leave whenever? Under your logic yes.

rndgermandude 8y ago

Assange is a naturalized citizen of Ecuador[1]. Now the question is whether Ecuadorian law allows to extradite it's own citizens to the UK, and for a minor UK charge of "failure to surrender". [1] https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/11/julian-assange-is-made-ecuadorian-citizen-in-effort-to-resolve-impasse https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/11/julian-assange...

raverbashing 8y ago
"its own citizens", now for the issue of extradition, I'm not sure it even counts as an extradition in the case of an embassy (though theoretically at first glance it would count)

dane-pgp 8y ago

He can leave the Ecuadorian embassy any time he chooses, which would immediately lead to him becoming... effectively imprisoned. Perhaps "effectively under house arrest" describes his situation better. Also, Ecuador may have no obligation to provide him domicile as such, but it does have a duty to grant asylum to legitimate asylum seekers. Without a way to safely transport him from their embassy to their country, I think there is a logical (if not moral) obligation to provide him domicile in the embassy where he claimed, and was granted, that political asylum.