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Exactly. This is why the previous Ecuadorian government granted him political asylum - his legitimate fear of persecution by the American government for publish

Exactly. This is why the previous Ecuadorian government granted him political asylum - his legitimate fear of persecution by the American government for publishing their embarrassing secrets. The current government of Ecuador has not only handed him over, however, but has even handed over his personal belongings in the embassy to the US government. So much for protecting him from political persecution!

vorpalhex 7y ago
From what I gathered, this sounds more like it happened because he is somewhat grating as an individual, as opposed to a political statement. He would have probably been better off pulling a Snowden and disappearing into Hong Kong for a while...
- monocasa 7y ago
  I mean, and that $4.2B IMF loan secured by Moreno. Meeting with Manafort about Assange was one of the first things Moreno did when he was in power. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/04/manafort-tried-to-make-deal-with-ecuador-on-wikileaks-assange-report.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/04/manafort-tried-to-make-deal-...
- ppod 7y ago
  There's a new leader in Ecuador, more US friendly, and they leaned on him with the IMF --- they got a huge loan just as they gave him up. It does seem that he is a bit of an asshole, but I don't think it's conspiratorial to think there's more to it than that. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-imf/ecuador-inks-4-2-billion-financing-deal-with-imf-moreno-idUSKCN1QA05Z https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-imf/ecuador-inks-... https://www.wsj.com/articles/ecuador-jilted-assange-as-it-sought-to-build-ties-with-u-s-11555063200 https://www.wsj.com/articles/ecuador-jilted-assange-as-it-so...
  - throwaway743 7y ago
    This, and apparently he released a bunch of documents proving financial corruption among him and his friends/family.
    - monocasa 7y ago
      He didn't. Whoever's in charge of the WikiLeaks twitter had retweeted a news story about the leak (which was leaked by a third party).
- ddingus 7y ago
  I am not sure that would have worked. The stuff he and Wikileaks published ended up taking a lot of the narrative control away from very powerful interests. That is a straight up attack on legitimacy. And legitimacy is one of a few basic political powers. That makes it a big deal. (Others are having an army, ownership of the means of production, etc...)
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  That's what the government that handed Assange over, and which is now cooperating with his persecutors, claimed - without any evidence, of course. That government also happens to be pursuing friendly relations with the United States, and also just happened to receive a large IMF loan, not that those things could possibly be related to the decision to revoke Assange's asylum. Political asylum is not normally revoked because someone is a bad house guest, and one former embassy employee has gone on the record stating that the new Ecuadorian government did its best to make Assange's life in the embassy living hell, and that he was actually a courteous guest. It is in the interest of the Ecuadorian government to defame Assange and to make excuses for their sudden cooperation with American authorities.
  - dogecoinbase 7y ago
    That's what the government that handed Assange over, and which is now cooperating with his persecutors, claimed - without any evidence, of course. There's video.
    - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
      Not of any of the lurid claims made by the Ecuadorian government. The fact that the Ecuadorian government has shown itself willing to release videos of Assange that they consider embarrassing (like him exercising), without that video actually substantiating any of their salacious claims, suggests that those claims are false.
    - ibeckermayer 7y ago
      Video of what?
      - hedora 7y ago
        [redacted], presumably.
- CriticalCathed 7y ago
  That's the reason they gave, but the reality is probably that it's no longer politically expedient to keep him.
- cc439 7y ago
  >From what I gathered, this sounds more like it happened because he is somewhat grating as an individual, as opposed to a political statement. All that means is the propaganda worked on you.
- ibeckermayer 7y ago
  You are being totally naive in taking the government’s claims about Assange at face value. The world would be a much better place if people would learn to distinguish between “a person with political power said so” and actual evidence.
anbop 7y ago
It’s a different leader of Ecuador. Assuming a consistent position is like assuming consistency between the Obama and Trump administrations. Unrealistic expectation from a past that no longer exists.
- the_af 7y ago
  I agree, but it's a bit more complex than that. Obama and Trump are officially political enemies and stand for different visions for the US. In contrast, Lenin Moreno (current president of Ecuador) was the political succesor of Rafael Correa (previous president) and was in line with Correa's policies... until after being elected. He then turned around many of Correa's policies and is seen as a traitor by the latter. This is more as if Hillary had won (ok, I know, not a perfect analogy!) and afterwards tore down everything Obama stood for.
  - ibeckermayer 7y ago
    I wonder who’s paying him...
mLuby 7y ago
It's unfortunate Ecuador went back on its promise of asylum, but I will give them some credit that they granted it in the first place, against what was surely strong USA pressure, and protected Assange for 7 years.
- the_af 7y ago
  For context: Ecuador changed governments in between. While the current president was officially the continuation of the previous one (the one who granted Assange asylum), in effect he turned soon after being elected, to the point the prior president considers him a traitor to all he initially stood for. So you must give credit to the prior government, not the current one.
  - cwkoss 7y ago
    I wonder if any external foreign forces played a role in that Ecuadorian election...
    - bonestamp2 7y ago
      /s
  - auiya 7y ago
    The executive branch of the US government did as well. Drastically. The opinion of the US Justice department through each of those two wildly different presidents however, did not change.
    - the_af 7y ago
      The difference is that before the election, Lenin Moreno was seen as the successor of Rafael Correa (unlike the Trump and Obama situation). Correa's grant of asylum to Assange was seen as a political/ideological stand, and his successor was expected to continue it. When Moreno got elected he reverted enough of Correa's policies that the latter considers him a traitor [1]. That was unexpected. ---- [1] https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/11/rafael-correa-ex-ecuadorian-president-slams-succes/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/11/rafael-corr... > "“The greatest traitor in Ecuadorian and Latin American history, Lenin Moreno, allowed the British police to enter our embassy in London to arrest Assange,” Mr. Correa tweeted. “Moreno is a corrupt man, but what he has done is a crime that humanity will never forget.”
docker_up 7y ago
It sounds like he either arrogantly or through mental illness drastically wore out his welcome. I'm leaning on his mental illness being the reason. If his safety were so important to him he wouldn't have bit the hand that fed him.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  The new Ecuadorian government - the same one that handed him over and which has a clear interest in justifying this action by defaming him - has not provided any evidence to substantiate their lurid claims, despite their apparent willingness to leak various surveillance videos of him to the press. It's sad to see people taking baseless accusations by an involved party at face value.

vorpalhex 7y ago

From what I gathered, this sounds more like it happened because he is somewhat grating as an individual, as opposed to a political statement. He would have probably been better off pulling a Snowden and disappearing into Hong Kong for a while...

monocasa 7y ago
I mean, and that $4.2B IMF loan secured by Moreno. Meeting with Manafort about Assange was one of the first things Moreno did when he was in power. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/04/manafort-tried-to-make-deal-with-ecuador-on-wikileaks-assange-report.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/04/manafort-tried-to-make-deal-...
ppod 7y ago
There's a new leader in Ecuador, more US friendly, and they leaned on him with the IMF --- they got a huge loan just as they gave him up. It does seem that he is a bit of an asshole, but I don't think it's conspiratorial to think there's more to it than that. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-imf/ecuador-inks-4-2-billion-financing-deal-with-imf-moreno-idUSKCN1QA05Z https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-imf/ecuador-inks-... https://www.wsj.com/articles/ecuador-jilted-assange-as-it-sought-to-build-ties-with-u-s-11555063200 https://www.wsj.com/articles/ecuador-jilted-assange-as-it-so...
- throwaway743 7y ago
  This, and apparently he released a bunch of documents proving financial corruption among him and his friends/family.
  - monocasa 7y ago
    He didn't. Whoever's in charge of the WikiLeaks twitter had retweeted a news story about the leak (which was leaked by a third party).
ddingus 7y ago
I am not sure that would have worked. The stuff he and Wikileaks published ended up taking a lot of the narrative control away from very powerful interests. That is a straight up attack on legitimacy. And legitimacy is one of a few basic political powers. That makes it a big deal. (Others are having an army, ownership of the means of production, etc...)
DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
That's what the government that handed Assange over, and which is now cooperating with his persecutors, claimed - without any evidence, of course. That government also happens to be pursuing friendly relations with the United States, and also just happened to receive a large IMF loan, not that those things could possibly be related to the decision to revoke Assange's asylum. Political asylum is not normally revoked because someone is a bad house guest, and one former embassy employee has gone on the record stating that the new Ecuadorian government did its best to make Assange's life in the embassy living hell, and that he was actually a courteous guest. It is in the interest of the Ecuadorian government to defame Assange and to make excuses for their sudden cooperation with American authorities.
- dogecoinbase 7y ago
  That's what the government that handed Assange over, and which is now cooperating with his persecutors, claimed - without any evidence, of course. There's video.
  - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
    Not of any of the lurid claims made by the Ecuadorian government. The fact that the Ecuadorian government has shown itself willing to release videos of Assange that they consider embarrassing (like him exercising), without that video actually substantiating any of their salacious claims, suggests that those claims are false.
  - ibeckermayer 7y ago
    Video of what?
    - hedora 7y ago
      [redacted], presumably.
CriticalCathed 7y ago
That's the reason they gave, but the reality is probably that it's no longer politically expedient to keep him.
cc439 7y ago
>From what I gathered, this sounds more like it happened because he is somewhat grating as an individual, as opposed to a political statement. All that means is the propaganda worked on you.
ibeckermayer 7y ago
You are being totally naive in taking the government’s claims about Assange at face value. The world would be a much better place if people would learn to distinguish between “a person with political power said so” and actual evidence.

anbop 7y ago

It’s a different leader of Ecuador. Assuming a consistent position is like assuming consistency between the Obama and Trump administrations. Unrealistic expectation from a past that no longer exists.

the_af 7y ago
I agree, but it's a bit more complex than that. Obama and Trump are officially political enemies and stand for different visions for the US. In contrast, Lenin Moreno (current president of Ecuador) was the political succesor of Rafael Correa (previous president) and was in line with Correa's policies... until after being elected. He then turned around many of Correa's policies and is seen as a traitor by the latter. This is more as if Hillary had won (ok, I know, not a perfect analogy!) and afterwards tore down everything Obama stood for.
- ibeckermayer 7y ago
  I wonder who’s paying him...

mLuby 7y ago

It's unfortunate Ecuador went back on its promise of asylum, but I will give them some credit that they granted it in the first place, against what was surely strong USA pressure, and protected Assange for 7 years.

the_af 7y ago
For context: Ecuador changed governments in between. While the current president was officially the continuation of the previous one (the one who granted Assange asylum), in effect he turned soon after being elected, to the point the prior president considers him a traitor to all he initially stood for. So you must give credit to the prior government, not the current one.
- cwkoss 7y ago
  I wonder if any external foreign forces played a role in that Ecuadorian election...
  - bonestamp2 7y ago
    /s
- auiya 7y ago
  The executive branch of the US government did as well. Drastically. The opinion of the US Justice department through each of those two wildly different presidents however, did not change.
  - the_af 7y ago
    The difference is that before the election, Lenin Moreno was seen as the successor of Rafael Correa (unlike the Trump and Obama situation). Correa's grant of asylum to Assange was seen as a political/ideological stand, and his successor was expected to continue it. When Moreno got elected he reverted enough of Correa's policies that the latter considers him a traitor [1]. That was unexpected. ---- [1] https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/11/rafael-correa-ex-ecuadorian-president-slams-succes/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/11/rafael-corr... > "“The greatest traitor in Ecuadorian and Latin American history, Lenin Moreno, allowed the British police to enter our embassy in London to arrest Assange,” Mr. Correa tweeted. “Moreno is a corrupt man, but what he has done is a crime that humanity will never forget.”

docker_up 7y ago

It sounds like he either arrogantly or through mental illness drastically wore out his welcome. I'm leaning on his mental illness being the reason. If his safety were so important to him he wouldn't have bit the hand that fed him.

DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
The new Ecuadorian government - the same one that handed him over and which has a clear interest in justifying this action by defaming him - has not provided any evidence to substantiate their lurid claims, despite their apparent willingness to leak various surveillance videos of him to the press. It's sad to see people taking baseless accusations by an involved party at face value.