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Julian Assange Appears in Court for U.S. Extradition Hearing
- setquk 8y agoIt’s amazing that the state moves so quickly when someone operates against its interests.
- duxup 8y agoThat seems logical that such a thing would happen.
- mtgx 8y agoNot necessarily. Climate change is arguably destroying the U.S. through droughts, hurricanes, floods, etc. But you don't see the U.S. react so swiftly. It's really when the interests of those in power that are affected, that the "state acts so quickly."
- duxup 8y agoFolks will argue how much and when, but the US state is still a democracy and people elected people who oppose action on climate change... it makes sense.
- idlewords 8y agoThe right to a speedy trial is a provision that safeguards individual liberty, not proof of the crushing might of the state.
- eof 8y agoYes, everyone who has had their life saving seized by civil asset forfeiture has had their trials move at an equally speedy pace!
- sandworm101 8y agoThe right to a speedy trial is held by the individual, not the state. It is not a safeguard to liberty if proceedings move so quickly that the individual cannot mount and adequate defense. This is particularly true of extradition, a situation where there is no room to correct an improper decision acted upon.
- threwawasy1228 8y agoLast time I was arrested it took 2 years of going to court once every 2 months, saying that there is no movement on my case before it was straightened out. This all for a very minor offense that I happily plead guilty to after the lawyers had sorted everything out. I could have just as easily plead guilty and paid all my fees on day one if the legal system in the US actually functioned.
- danso 8y agoNot necessarily disagreeing with you, but this doesn't seem to be a compelling example. He's in an extradition hearing for something that happened 9 years ago, and the article says "the extradition process could take years".
- maxlybbert 8y agoThis hearing is the beginning of the process, and unnecessary delay at this point would be unsettling (leaving him wondering whether the other shoe will ever drop). The fact that the very first hearing took place only weeks after Britain got him in custody doesn’t say anything about how quickly other hearings will take place, when a decision will be made, etc. It’s really silly to call for everyone to slow down at this point.
- resters 8y agoKeep in mind all the crimes by US officials that Assange revealed. In my view many of those crimes committed by officials are treason, yet all have been swept under the rug.
- milquetoastaf 8y agoWhat crimes are those again?
- idlewords 8y agoWhataboutism is not a defense.
- resters 8y agoI’d have no problem with Assange being punished if the other journalists were, or if the government officials were.
- idlewords 8y agoNonsense is not a rebuttal!
- coldtea 8y agoOne-liner slogans are not rebuttals either.
- Veen 8y agoAssange is accused of a crime. Should he be forgiven because some other people are also accused of crimes?
- resters 8y agoShould law enforcement focus on prosecuting a shoplifter who reported Jerry Sandusky’s crimes while ignoring Jerry?
- 8y ago
- mothsonasloth 8y agoAssange has found himself as political currency for the British government. I imagine his extradition will be "expedited" with a little nudge from Jeremy Hunt. Very saddening.
- bogomipz 8y agoWell I think he found himself as political currency for the Ecuadorean government and Rafael Correa first. The suspension of Assange's Ecuadorian citizenship was a card played by Correa's successor President Moreno. Correa has continued to support Assange and has excoriated President Moreno for this action.
- gcb0 8y agothis confirms that jumping bail was the right course of action. Sweden didn't produce a single evidence of the crime, and US extradition hearings are happening behind closed doors. how isn't this exactly what prompted him to ask for asylum, which the UK magistrate called paranoia at the time?
- Veen 8y agoIt's not behind closed doors. The article says some journalists were allowed in and what Assange said in the hearing is reported in the article.
- gcb0 8y agocool. hopefully we will have a transcript somewhere?
- danso 8y ago> Sweden didn't produce a single evidence of the crime This seems to be false. There was a hearing, and a judge believed there was probable cause. From the Wikipedia page, under "Review of detention order": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assange_v_Swedish_Prosecution_Authority#Review_of_detention_order https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assange_v_Swedish_Prosecution_... > On 16 July 2014, the Stockholm District Court reviewed the detention order on request by Assange. During the course of the proceedings, Assange's defence lawyers said that the prosecutors have a "duty" to advance the case, and that they had shown "passivity" in refusing to go to London to interview Assange. After hearing evidence, the district court concluded that there was probable cause to suspect Assange of committing the alleged crimes, and that the detention order should remain in place.
- eof 8y agoI wonder if the current political reputation of USA and Trump will play into Assange dodging extradition.
- simonh 8y agoThat doesn't really bear on the independence of the US courts which would be the main issue, and they have recently proved themselves quite independent of an often opposed to the will of the president and political interference.
- roywiggins 8y agoHe will argue that the prosecution itself is political. That US courts might take a dim view of a political prosecution seems neither here nor there- if the underlying prosecution were shown to be political, then I can't see the UK courts allowing the extradition.
- danso 8y agoIt might. Part of Ecuador's public justification for kicking Assange out was that it had received a "verbal" pledge [0] from the U.S. and the UK that the U.S. would not be seeking the death penalty. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who apparently agreed to this, is resigning. In 2010 [1], Trump commented that "there should be like death penalty or something" for Wikileaks. But obviously things have changed since then, and he wasn't a public official at the time. [0] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-gave-verbal-pledge-death-penalty-assange-sources/story?id=62414643 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-gave-verbal-pledge-death-... [1] https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/04/politics/kfile-trump-wikileaks/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/04/politics/kfile-trump-wikileak...
- ChrisSD 8y agoThe US cannot seek the death penalty for people extradited from the EU. Well ok, they technically can break their own treaties but then no EU nation will ever extradite to them again. And many other countries require similar assurances which would now be worthless. Incidentally, the maximum penalty for the charges is five years, which is far short of a death sentence.
- idlewords 8y agoAt this point, I believe the best outcome by far is if Assange is extradited to Sweden.
- richardhod 8y agoexcept he might thence be extradited to the US after facing the Swedish charges
- duxup 8y agoNot much actual news being made here. The same question about the alleged offense remain unchanged as far as if you feel that trying to help someone break into something is something that would be legally protected. Nobody seems to have done or said anything new.
- ezoe 8y agoI guess this news gives Assange a valid reason for his bail-jumping. He was suspected of raping in Sweden. That was what he was bail-jumping for. But the real reason is the threat of his extradition to US for... what? revealing the war crime of the US? That shall never be a crime. War crime shall not be hidden. US shall be punished for obstructing the information of war crime.
- duxup 8y agoHe ran to the UK... that's not the place you go if you're fleeing the long arm of the US. Assange long ago lost any credibility as far as I'm concerned. I think his statements are about crafting his own public narrative than really revealing any of his motivations / actual choices. Wikileaks repeatedly claimed they would release X information, and then simply didn't and wouldn't say a word. I'm not sure if they still have a Facebook page but if you even asked about past claims the question would be quickly removed.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- justinmchase 8y agoHe didn't run to the UK. He waited in Sweden for 5 weeks to be questioned and left after he was told that he was not wanted for questioning. After leaving, InterPol issued a Red Notice for Assange. This raised a red flag with Assange’s legal team that this was not just about rape accusations, and they decided to fight his extradition to Sweden fearing that he was being set up to be extradited to the United States. Wikileaks releases all of the information that they receive after it has been vetted and deemed worthy of publication.
- duxup 8y ago>fight his extradition to Sweden fearing that he was being set up to be extradited to the United States. He was afraid of being extradited to the US... so he chose to do that from the UK? IIRC in Sweden it's actually harder to be extradited for crimes like espionage: >Sweden’s extradition agreement with the United States, signed in 1961 and updated in 1983, prohibits extradition on the basis of "a political offense" or "an offense connected with a political offense." The agreement does not specify what constitutes a "political offense." Whether the Swedish supreme court would rule to extradite Assange largely depends on what charges the secret U.S. grand jury brings against him. >If Assange is accused of espionage, Sweden most certainly would not comply, as its courts have consistently determined that espionage constitutes a political offense. For example, in 1992 Sweden refused to extradite Edward Lee Howard, the only CIA agent to defect to the Soviet Union, to the United States. Charged with espionage, Swedish courts ruled that those accusations amounted to the kind of "political offense" specified in the extradition agreement.
- mindslight 8y agoI am not surprised that USG has cooked up a tenuous conspiracy charge with which to try and stretch its jurisdiction ever further. But I am amazed at how many people in this community have accepted the government's narrative at face value. It rests not merely on the notoriously bad CFAA, but also on a theory that chatting during a criminal act is itself concrete furtherance of a conspiracy. USG's reasoning can be straightforwardly applied to persecute any journalist that interviews a whistleblowing source, as the source is breaking the law by leaking information to the journalist and the journalist is encouraging that crime. This is chilling.
- ekianjo 8y ago> Around two dozen activists gathered outside the court to protest against his potential extradition, waving signs that read “Free Julian Assange” and “Is this all just about shutting us all up?” as they demanded his release. That's not a very impressive show-up. I had hoped he would get more support than a few dozen people.
- mrleinad 8y agoIt's not like this has been getting much traction in the media anyway
- ChrisSD 8y agoSome notes: - This hearing is simply an early opportunity for Assange to volunteer to surrender to America. Which of course he didn't. - It won't be until June that a substantial extradition hearing will start. - He's still got his sentence to serve in the UK. - The maximum US sentence for the alleged crimes is five years.
- HashThis 8y agoIt is sad that they are sending this journalist to jail
- 1f60c 8y agoJulian Assange is not a journalist.
- justinmchase 8y agoYou are incorrect, he is a journalist. https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/smear-1-he-is-not-a-journalist-9ea4c6fa72fc https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/smear-1-he-is-not-a-journ...
- nisuni 8y agoHe is a journalist.
- username223 8y agoI don't really care which way this goes. Assange is a despicable person: he has been a pompous ideologue; he was accused of rape in Sweden; he acted as a "useful idiot" (at best) for the Russians; and he finally irritated the Ecuadoreans enough that they kicked him out of their embassy, which is why he is facing extradition. I'm not eager to punish him, but I wouldn't object to him spending some time in prison.
- justinmchase 8y agoYou may want to read this, you appear to have a couple common misconceptions about what is going on based on some highly publicized smears: https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/debunking-all-the-assange-smears-a549fd677cac https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/debunking-all-the-assange...
- nisuni 8y ago> he was accused of rape in Sweden Tell me how being accused of rape makes you a despicable person. I could accuse you of rape in this moment. Would you instantly become a despicable person?
- username223 8y agoI found the Swedish accusations credible at the time, at least enough that he should have stood trial. Maybe they were false, and he would have been acquitted after some time in court and jail, but he dodged the trial instead. Even if you weren't convinced by the accusations, there are plenty of other reasons to find Assange despicable, some of which I listed.
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