4 ms·

membership of a particular social group or political opinion

by malms 7y ago

envy2 7y ago
I'm relatively neutral on Wikileaks/Assange, but this is a stretch. I don't think "illegally leaking documents" counts as a political opinion any more than I should be entitled to asylum because I have a "political opinion" that MDMA synthesis should be legal and got caught for engaging in it. That's intended to cover things like persecution solely for being a member of a political party.
- malms 7y ago
  it's not so much a stretch to say "transparency" is a political opinion.. i'm not even so much agreeing with what he did and full transparency, but to me all of this is clearly political.
  - themacguffinman 7y ago
    Everything is political opinion, but the legal standards are much narrower. The idea that I can hold a political opinion that "I should not be arrested for breaking laws", break a law, and then expect not to be arrested because of my political opinion is ridiculous.
toby- 7y ago
I'm firmly against his potential extradition to any other country, but let's be honest -- he's not exactly in trouble with British authorities due to his "political opinions", is he?
- malms 7y ago
  why is he in trouble for then ?
  - foldr 7y ago
    Skipping bail.
  - toby- 7y ago
    Skipping bail. For refusing to surrender to the court after he was released on bail, following his arrest for questioning over sexual assault allegations.
    - djsumdog 7y ago
      From charges that were dropped.
      - peteretep 7y ago
        A central tenet of the UK legal system is that people on bail don't get to unilaterally decide they should just be able to skip it.
        DanBC 7y ago
        Also, the victims of crime don't get to "press charges" ro "drop charges", that's for the CPS.
      - sambe 7y ago
        The charges were dropped because the warrants could not be served.
      - sneak 7y ago
        He was never charged with a crime. There were no charges.
    - ryanlol 7y ago
      If he was anyone else the british authorities would’ve quickly forgotten about him jumping bail. They wouldn’t have spent this much money and resources on just anyone.
u320 7y ago
There is no obvious threat of persecution. Facing rape charges certainly doesn't qualify.
FireBeyond 7y ago
Assange is in danger of "persecution" based on his avoidance of the judicial process. That's not a protected class.

membership of a particular social group or political opinion

by malms 7y ago

membership of a particular social group or political opinion

I'm relatively neutral on Wikileaks/Assange, but this is a stretch. I don't think "illegally leaking documents" counts as a political opinion any more than I should be entitled to asylum because I have a "political opinion" that MDMA synthesis should be legal and got caught for engaging in it. That's intended to cover things like persecution solely for being a member of a political party.

malms 7y ago
it's not so much a stretch to say "transparency" is a political opinion.. i'm not even so much agreeing with what he did and full transparency, but to me all of this is clearly political.
- themacguffinman 7y ago
  Everything is political opinion, but the legal standards are much narrower. The idea that I can hold a political opinion that "I should not be arrested for breaking laws", break a law, and then expect not to be arrested because of my political opinion is ridiculous.

toby- 7y ago

I'm firmly against his potential extradition to any other country, but let's be honest -- he's not exactly in trouble with British authorities due to his "political opinions", is he?

malms 7y ago
why is he in trouble for then ?
- foldr 7y ago
  Skipping bail.
- toby- 7y ago
  Skipping bail. For refusing to surrender to the court after he was released on bail, following his arrest for questioning over sexual assault allegations.
  - djsumdog 7y ago
    From charges that were dropped.
    - peteretep 7y ago
      A central tenet of the UK legal system is that people on bail don't get to unilaterally decide they should just be able to skip it.
      - DanBC 7y ago
        Also, the victims of crime don't get to "press charges" ro "drop charges", that's for the CPS.
    - sambe 7y ago
      The charges were dropped because the warrants could not be served.
    - sneak 7y ago
      He was never charged with a crime. There were no charges.
  - ryanlol 7y ago
    If he was anyone else the british authorities would’ve quickly forgotten about him jumping bail. They wouldn’t have spent this much money and resources on just anyone.

u320 7y ago

There is no obvious threat of persecution. Facing rape charges certainly doesn't qualify.

FireBeyond 7y ago

Assange is in danger of "persecution" based on his avoidance of the judicial process. That's not a protected class.