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Given the politicized nature of the crimes he's charged with in the US, neither country was likely to extradite him unless they had a politically safe reason to

Given the politicized nature of the crimes he's charged with in the US, neither country was likely to extradite him unless they had a politically safe reason to arrest him in the first place.

foldr 8y ago
So why is the US requesting extradition now? He has not been arrested in relation to the rape allegations.
- cyphar 8y ago
  It's for an alleged "conspiracy to commit computer intrusion" with Chelsea Manning where the US claims he helped Manning get access to a passphrase so they could get some more documents[1]. We found out -- though it was criminally under-reported -- in 2018 that a case had been filed by the DOJ[2], but it's now public. [1]: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-arrested-at-ecuadorian-embassy-london-police-say-20190411-p51ddg.html https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/wikileaks-founder-julian... [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/16/julian-assange-charged-in-secret-mistake-on-us-court-filing-suggests https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/16/julian-assange...
  - foldr 8y ago
    No, I mean that the US doesn't have any more of a "politically safe" reason for extraditing him than it ever did, so far as I can see.
wklauss 8y ago
Or an electoral campaign around the corner...