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From what is publicly known, there's very little reason to believe Assange raped anyone and the Swedish authorities seem uninterested in questioning Assange, fi

From what is publicly known, there's very little reason to believe Assange raped anyone and the Swedish authorities seem uninterested in questioning Assange, filing charges, or anything besides extraditing him to Sweden for some reason. I don't really want to talk about the details and hijack the thread, but there's something Kafkaesque about how thing shave been handled. The terrifying thing about the case is people are ready to hate him because of flimsy rape allegations, even on Hacker News! Anyway, I guess the point of this post is Assange isn't all that obnoxious if you ignore the rape media circus. Maybe he is egotistical but most important hackers are.

rymith 14y ago
To quote Shakespeare "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" Fighting extradition was one thing, but asylum from Ecuador has me fairly convinced there is more to the change than I originally thought.
- barrkel 14y ago
  And 24-hour Met stakeout outside the embassy, cost running into the millions, is standard for an arrest warrant?
  - rymith 14y ago
    Good point.
  - citricsquid 14y ago
    This has been discussed to death, but... it's not the arrest warrant that caused the large police presence, it was the fact that someone that is trying to avoid deportation was using embassy soil to do so, while flaunting it and being in the centre of a large amount of controversy. If Assange had just gone to Sweden like he was expected to then nothing would have happened with the police, if any high value media personality was wanted on an international arrest warrant and sought refuge in an embassy like Assange has done it would have warranted the same media attention and thus the same police presence. The Assange case may be full of suspicious circumstances, but I don't think the heavy police presence at the embassy is anything other than the result of the media circus surrounding the situation (which is of Assange's own creation).
    - rhizome 14y ago
      Are you implying that the police presence was demanded by the media so that they could have a better story, because there was "controversy?" I'm not sure that's a good justification for the use of public resources.
      - pyre 14y ago
        On a more reasonable note, try: - "The world is watching, so we better not let him get away." - "If he uses the embassy to avoid charges in such a public manner, could set a 'dangerous' precedent." - "The UK will have 'egg on its face' if they let him use this to get away." - "We need to save face, the world is watching." - "This guy is pissing me off. I normally wouldn't care too much, but he is flaunting his situation to the media, so I can't back down now." - etc... No one is saying that "The Media" specifically called for this sort of action. It's the "eyes of the world" that limit options. If this wasn't all over the news, it would be more likely that they might just let him go, but with the world watching "THEY ARE LETTING A CRIMINAL GET AWAY!!!" would be the next headline were they to let this slide.
      - citricsquid 14y ago
        I'm stating that with such a large amount of media and public present at the embassy police presence was required, due to the large crowds.
    - s_henry_paulson 14y ago
      Forget the embassy. This man had an Interpol Red Notice issued because he is wanted for questioning about why he did not wear a condom with someone he had been sleeping with regularly. Does that sound like standard operating procedure to you? And what's this "If Assange had gone to Sweden" nonsense. He was in Sweden, in fact he prolonged his stay for a month and a half longer trying to talk to police. They did not even want to interview him. Now months later they're trying to extradite him back into country. If you don't find this all suspicious, then you aren't paying attention. http://justice4assange.com/Prosecution.html http://justice4assange.com/Prosecution.html
- freshhawk 14y ago
  More than the threat of extradition to the US and a Guantanamo vacation?
  - johnny22 14y ago
    that was never going to happen. I have no idea why anybody would think it would. He is far too public for that.
    - freshhawk 14y ago
      Really? There is at least one politician, who's name completely escapes me at the moment but she was either a rep in the EU parliament or the swedish one, who confirmed that extradition to the US from Sweden was the entire point of the circus. And Bradley Manning is still being tortured in military prison right now. I haven't seen anything to make this seem ridiculous or even unlikely. If he was convicted of treason, as he would be, I can't imagine being public would mean anything other than more media attention. edit: as pyre pointed out by torture i mean extended solitary confinement. I call it torture because everyone who studies it calls it so. However it is true that people think the hypothetical Joe "ignorant american voter stereotype" Average disagrees. If you feel my use of the word "torture" was unfounded then do look at the literature and read the statements of people who have experienced both extended solitary confinement/sensory deprivation and physical torture. I am very certain you will agree with me afterwards.
      - pyre 14y ago
        > Bradley Manning is still being tortured in > military prison right now. Until more people consider solitary confinement a form of torture, you're not going to win in-roads with this, as people equate torture with physical violence.
        weisser 14y ago
        > Bradley Manning was stripped and left naked in his cell for seven hours. This was according to the New York Times[1] in March of 2011 and it took place at the Marine brig in Quantico, Va. Might not be torture by most standards (though personally I think solitary confinement is torture) but I would hardly consider it proper conduct. Also, who can say what really happens at Guantanamo... [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/us/04manning.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/us/04manning.html
- primitur 14y ago
  Yes, I think its something like "do not want to rot in American Gulag, do want to continue exposing crimes of the Imperial Criminal Gang.."
MemorableZebra 14y ago
What's interesting to note is that Sweden doesn't extradite for political crimes. So, legally, there's nothing that Assange has to worry about. Honestly, the more I looked at it the more I started to wonder if he was just being paranoid.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- vidarh 14y ago
  Sweden has in the past illegally handed political asylum seekers over to the CIA without extradition requests, knowing these people would be handed back to the regime they escaped from, to be tortured. Later Wikileaks released documents that showed that years after this had supposedly been stopped, Swedish military intelligence uncovered that CIA rendition flights were still ongoing, with the cooperation of Swedish airport staff. So there might not be much for Assange to worry about legally, but that doesn't say much. He might very well be paranoid, but Sweden hasn't exactly acted in a way that does anything to give someone in his position reasons to trust they'll even follow their own laws.
mtgx 14y ago
He's not not accused of rape, actually.
johnny22 14y ago
I wish i could understand why anybody would defend Assange for anything.
Atropos 14y ago
Even apart from the rape allegations, I have lost all respect for him because of this "hiding in the embassy" thing. He can't go to Sweden because he "might" be extradited to the US? Even if he is extradited, he still has access to the US judicial system and as an Australian citizen can count on some basic diplomatic support, furthermore the attention of the international media... There are thousands of political activists in third world countries, who take much greater risk of bodily harm for themselves and their families every single day, without the perks like having a platform to portray themselves as a "civil rights hero" in the world media, or receiving donations for "legal defense and bail money", or being able to sleep with several groupies on a short Sweden trip. Grandstanding speeches in the media combined with cowardly behavior is not something I can admire...
TheAnimus 14y ago
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2012/09/assange-and-legal-myths http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2012/09/... There are so many myths arround Assange, we might never really know whats going on. Afterall sexual molestation claims could be true, could be black helicoptor crew or even just a piss of lady. What I would say, and what angers me about him is how any message about freedom of information has been utterly lost. He has shacked up with someone who directly opposes his (former?) cause, all I see now is a self publishing type hiding in the shadows.

rymith 14y ago

To quote Shakespeare "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" Fighting extradition was one thing, but asylum from Ecuador has me fairly convinced there is more to the change than I originally thought.

barrkel 14y ago
And 24-hour Met stakeout outside the embassy, cost running into the millions, is standard for an arrest warrant?
- rymith 14y ago
  Good point.
- citricsquid 14y ago
  This has been discussed to death, but... it's not the arrest warrant that caused the large police presence, it was the fact that someone that is trying to avoid deportation was using embassy soil to do so, while flaunting it and being in the centre of a large amount of controversy. If Assange had just gone to Sweden like he was expected to then nothing would have happened with the police, if any high value media personality was wanted on an international arrest warrant and sought refuge in an embassy like Assange has done it would have warranted the same media attention and thus the same police presence. The Assange case may be full of suspicious circumstances, but I don't think the heavy police presence at the embassy is anything other than the result of the media circus surrounding the situation (which is of Assange's own creation).
  - rhizome 14y ago
    Are you implying that the police presence was demanded by the media so that they could have a better story, because there was "controversy?" I'm not sure that's a good justification for the use of public resources.
    - pyre 14y ago
      On a more reasonable note, try: - "The world is watching, so we better not let him get away." - "If he uses the embassy to avoid charges in such a public manner, could set a 'dangerous' precedent." - "The UK will have 'egg on its face' if they let him use this to get away." - "We need to save face, the world is watching." - "This guy is pissing me off. I normally wouldn't care too much, but he is flaunting his situation to the media, so I can't back down now." - etc... No one is saying that "The Media" specifically called for this sort of action. It's the "eyes of the world" that limit options. If this wasn't all over the news, it would be more likely that they might just let him go, but with the world watching "THEY ARE LETTING A CRIMINAL GET AWAY!!!" would be the next headline were they to let this slide.
    - citricsquid 14y ago
      I'm stating that with such a large amount of media and public present at the embassy police presence was required, due to the large crowds.
  - s_henry_paulson 14y ago
    Forget the embassy. This man had an Interpol Red Notice issued because he is wanted for questioning about why he did not wear a condom with someone he had been sleeping with regularly. Does that sound like standard operating procedure to you? And what's this "If Assange had gone to Sweden" nonsense. He was in Sweden, in fact he prolonged his stay for a month and a half longer trying to talk to police. They did not even want to interview him. Now months later they're trying to extradite him back into country. If you don't find this all suspicious, then you aren't paying attention. http://justice4assange.com/Prosecution.html http://justice4assange.com/Prosecution.html
freshhawk 14y ago
More than the threat of extradition to the US and a Guantanamo vacation?
- johnny22 14y ago
  that was never going to happen. I have no idea why anybody would think it would. He is far too public for that.
  - freshhawk 14y ago
    Really? There is at least one politician, who's name completely escapes me at the moment but she was either a rep in the EU parliament or the swedish one, who confirmed that extradition to the US from Sweden was the entire point of the circus. And Bradley Manning is still being tortured in military prison right now. I haven't seen anything to make this seem ridiculous or even unlikely. If he was convicted of treason, as he would be, I can't imagine being public would mean anything other than more media attention. edit: as pyre pointed out by torture i mean extended solitary confinement. I call it torture because everyone who studies it calls it so. However it is true that people think the hypothetical Joe "ignorant american voter stereotype" Average disagrees. If you feel my use of the word "torture" was unfounded then do look at the literature and read the statements of people who have experienced both extended solitary confinement/sensory deprivation and physical torture. I am very certain you will agree with me afterwards.
    - pyre 14y ago
      > Bradley Manning is still being tortured in > military prison right now. Until more people consider solitary confinement a form of torture, you're not going to win in-roads with this, as people equate torture with physical violence.
      - weisser 14y ago
        > Bradley Manning was stripped and left naked in his cell for seven hours. This was according to the New York Times[1] in March of 2011 and it took place at the Marine brig in Quantico, Va. Might not be torture by most standards (though personally I think solitary confinement is torture) but I would hardly consider it proper conduct. Also, who can say what really happens at Guantanamo... [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/us/04manning.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/us/04manning.html
primitur 14y ago
Yes, I think its something like "do not want to rot in American Gulag, do want to continue exposing crimes of the Imperial Criminal Gang.."

MemorableZebra 14y ago

What's interesting to note is that Sweden doesn't extradite for political crimes. So, legally, there's nothing that Assange has to worry about. Honestly, the more I looked at it the more I started to wonder if he was just being paranoid.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
vidarh 14y ago
Sweden has in the past illegally handed political asylum seekers over to the CIA without extradition requests, knowing these people would be handed back to the regime they escaped from, to be tortured. Later Wikileaks released documents that showed that years after this had supposedly been stopped, Swedish military intelligence uncovered that CIA rendition flights were still ongoing, with the cooperation of Swedish airport staff. So there might not be much for Assange to worry about legally, but that doesn't say much. He might very well be paranoid, but Sweden hasn't exactly acted in a way that does anything to give someone in his position reasons to trust they'll even follow their own laws.

mtgx 14y ago

He's not not accused of rape, actually.

johnny22 14y ago

I wish i could understand why anybody would defend Assange for anything.

Atropos 14y ago

Even apart from the rape allegations, I have lost all respect for him because of this "hiding in the embassy" thing. He can't go to Sweden because he "might" be extradited to the US? Even if he is extradited, he still has access to the US judicial system and as an Australian citizen can count on some basic diplomatic support, furthermore the attention of the international media... There are thousands of political activists in third world countries, who take much greater risk of bodily harm for themselves and their families every single day, without the perks like having a platform to portray themselves as a "civil rights hero" in the world media, or receiving donations for "legal defense and bail money", or being able to sleep with several groupies on a short Sweden trip. Grandstanding speeches in the media combined with cowardly behavior is not something I can admire...

TheAnimus 14y ago

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2012/09/assange-and-legal-myths http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2012/09/... There are so many myths arround Assange, we might never really know whats going on. Afterall sexual molestation claims could be true, could be black helicoptor crew or even just a piss of lady. What I would say, and what angers me about him is how any message about freedom of information has been utterly lost. He has shacked up with someone who directly opposes his (former?) cause, all I see now is a self publishing type hiding in the shadows.