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> Julian Assange has a history of, well, exaggerating about the threats against him. Do you care to substantiate that? Assange, who has not been charged with

by brl 16y ago

> Julian Assange has a history of, well, exaggerating about the threats against him. Do you care to substantiate that? Assange, who has not been charged with any crime, is currently the subject of an international arrest warrant which oddly (to put it mildly) specifies that he be held incommunicado without access to legal counsel or any other contact with the outside world. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8175255/WikiLeaks-British-police-asked-to-join-hunt-for-Julian-Assange.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8175255/...

kmfrk 16y ago
I vaguely recall the Twitter account before the Iraq Diaries sounding like they were basically trying to get as viral as possible and trying to paint as much of a conspiracy as possible, before there was any proof of it. I don't think there's any reason to doubt that Assange is in some serious trouble now, though. However, I wouldn't put it past anyone to call him melodramatic a couple of months ago
eli 16y ago
In May, he made headlines around the world when he claimed his passport had been confiscated by authorities. It turns out this was a gross exaggeration -- his passport was held by customs for 15 minutes while they inspected it as part of a routine procedure. (http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/australian-wikileak-founders-passport-confiscated-20100516-v6dw.html http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/australi...) It seems every few months there's more signs of government harassment. One time it was that two state department employees were on the same flight as him while traveling to a conference. Another, it was a piece of checked luggage that was most likely "intercepted" and not merely lost by the airline. I haven't seen a whole lot of evidence of these supposed dirty tricks. Doesn't mean they aren't happening ... but I'm personally quite skeptical. I think Julian Assange is an especially gifted PR man.

by brl 16y ago

kmfrk 16y ago

I vaguely recall the Twitter account before the Iraq Diaries sounding like they were basically trying to get as viral as possible and trying to paint as much of a conspiracy as possible, before there was any proof of it. I don't think there's any reason to doubt that Assange is in some serious trouble now, though. However, I wouldn't put it past anyone to call him melodramatic a couple of months ago

eli 16y ago

In May, he made headlines around the world when he claimed his passport had been confiscated by authorities. It turns out this was a gross exaggeration -- his passport was held by customs for 15 minutes while they inspected it as part of a routine procedure. (http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/australian-wikileak-founders-passport-confiscated-20100516-v6dw.html http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/australi...) It seems every few months there's more signs of government harassment. One time it was that two state department employees were on the same flight as him while traveling to a conference. Another, it was a piece of checked luggage that was most likely "intercepted" and not merely lost by the airline. I haven't seen a whole lot of evidence of these supposed dirty tricks. Doesn't mean they aren't happening ... but I'm personally quite skeptical. I think Julian Assange is an especially gifted PR man.