5 ms·

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  The warrant was only withdrawn because without being able to interview Assange, the investigators cannot move forward.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.
        foldr 8y ago
        Well yes, obviously, they would question him and then determine whether or not to charge him. The point is that they couldn't charge him without first arresting him.
        nailer 8y ago
        And the point was they could have questioned him any time and refused to.
        foldr 8y ago
        Yes, the prosecutor can prosecute the case as they see fit. They're not obliged to question Assange on his own terms. From the original ruling on the EAW (p. 20): >Here is it necessary to focus clearly on the facts of the case. Clear and specific serious allegations have been made against Mr Assange in Sweden. Attempts have been made by the Swedish prosecutor as long ago as September to interview him. He has not been interviewed. The Swedish system anticipates detention and early questioning in allegations of this type, but this has not taken place. Mr Assange is not known to have returned to Sweden since September. I have no doubt that this defendant is wanted for prosecution in Sweden. On the information before me I cannot say when or what step was taken that can fairly be described as the commencement of a prosecution. What I can say is that the boundary between suspicion and preliminary enquiries on the one hand, and prosecution on the other, has been crossed. It may be that after interrogation and further enquiries the matter will not be pursued. As Ms Ny says, a formal decision to charge is taken at a later stage in Sweden than it is here. In this jurisdiction a person can be charged with rape or sexual assault by a custody sergeant and may then wait many months before the case is discontinued. In Sweden the decision to formally charge is followed very shortly by the trial itself, if the defendant is in custody.
        nailer 8y ago
        Yes I know the prosecutor can persue the case any way they want to. I find it odd that you don't understand this, but the point is very simple: if the purpose of the Swedish Prosecutor was to investigate a potential crime, they would have interviewed Assange. Instead they refused to.
  - jstarfish 8y ago
    Right, because investigation and prosecution of an alleged crime is impossible without the suspect's testimony. It was a trumped-up allegation. The timing and nature of it alone should have raised flags. Whatever truth there is to it does not warrant the diplomatic circus this has become.
    - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
      > It was a trumped-up allegation You’re quite callously dismissing two womens’ rape allegations.
      - jstarfish 8y ago
        No, I'm not. Whether their claims have any merit or not is not for me to say, but how many other womens' rape allegations result in an international extradition effort...just for questioning? The government wanted him already. Now they had a reason to bring him in, by making a bigger deal out of allegations they would otherwise ignore.
        GW150914 8y ago
        Most people don’t flee their country’s legal system, and if they do they’re quietly pursued. Even fewer loudly defy their country’s legal system, but when they do they tend to be loudly pursued as a deterrent. It doesn’t get more public and defiant than taking shelter in a foreign country’s embassy while declaring both your innocence, and that your home country is corrupt and lying about you. Very few countries would take that lying down. Then you add the prexisting desire to nab him, but only then.

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.
      - foldr 8y ago
        Well yes, obviously, they would question him and then determine whether or not to charge him. The point is that they couldn't charge him without first arresting him.
        nailer 8y ago
        And the point was they could have questioned him any time and refused to.
        foldr 8y ago
        Yes, the prosecutor can prosecute the case as they see fit. They're not obliged to question Assange on his own terms. From the original ruling on the EAW (p. 20): >Here is it necessary to focus clearly on the facts of the case. Clear and specific serious allegations have been made against Mr Assange in Sweden. Attempts have been made by the Swedish prosecutor as long ago as September to interview him. He has not been interviewed. The Swedish system anticipates detention and early questioning in allegations of this type, but this has not taken place. Mr Assange is not known to have returned to Sweden since September. I have no doubt that this defendant is wanted for prosecution in Sweden. On the information before me I cannot say when or what step was taken that can fairly be described as the commencement of a prosecution. What I can say is that the boundary between suspicion and preliminary enquiries on the one hand, and prosecution on the other, has been crossed. It may be that after interrogation and further enquiries the matter will not be pursued. As Ms Ny says, a formal decision to charge is taken at a later stage in Sweden than it is here. In this jurisdiction a person can be charged with rape or sexual assault by a custody sergeant and may then wait many months before the case is discontinued. In Sweden the decision to formally charge is followed very shortly by the trial itself, if the defendant is in custody.
        nailer 8y ago
        Yes I know the prosecutor can persue the case any way they want to. I find it odd that you don't understand this, but the point is very simple: if the purpose of the Swedish Prosecutor was to investigate a potential crime, they would have interviewed Assange. Instead they refused to.
- jstarfish 8y ago
  Right, because investigation and prosecution of an alleged crime is impossible without the suspect's testimony. It was a trumped-up allegation. The timing and nature of it alone should have raised flags. Whatever truth there is to it does not warrant the diplomatic circus this has become.
  - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
    > It was a trumped-up allegation You’re quite callously dismissing two womens’ rape allegations.
    - jstarfish 8y ago
      No, I'm not. Whether their claims have any merit or not is not for me to say, but how many other womens' rape allegations result in an international extradition effort...just for questioning? The government wanted him already. Now they had a reason to bring him in, by making a bigger deal out of allegations they would otherwise ignore.
      - GW150914 8y ago
        Most people don’t flee their country’s legal system, and if they do they’re quietly pursued. Even fewer loudly defy their country’s legal system, but when they do they tend to be loudly pursued as a deterrent. It doesn’t get more public and defiant than taking shelter in a foreign country’s embassy while declaring both your innocence, and that your home country is corrupt and lying about you. Very few countries would take that lying down. Then you add the prexisting desire to nab him, but only then.