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Assange says that he won't go to Sweden because they will extradite him to the US, which I believe is true. But even if it isn't true, your comment needs to ac

Assange says that he won't go to Sweden because they will extradite him to the US, which I believe is true. But even if it isn't true, your comment needs to acknowledge his side of the story to be taken seriously.

Steer 13y ago
I apologize and agree that I should have written that he believes that, regardless of that I do not think it is true. If it helps I do not think he's crazy and I do see why he could think that he could be extradited.
tptacek 13y ago
It is actually harder to extradite Assange from Sweden than from the UK, in that such an extradition would require the approval of both the UK and Sweden.
- pathy 13y ago
  Exactly this. There is no way it is easier for US to extradite him from Sweden than UK, even ignoring the law about requiring the approval of both UK and Sweden. I sympathise with Assange and his original Wikileaks goals but I do feel he is just trying to dodge prosecution for a (alleged) crime. Right now he spent a year in, pretty much, prison and for what reason? The possibility for a shorter stay in Swedish prison? US extraditing him (assuming he arrives in Sweden some time) would cause a shitstorm of untold proportions, it would be political suicide IMO.
- belorn 13y ago
  I doubt there is anything harder than to extradite Assange from an embassy which has granted Assange asylum. Since that’s the actually reality, if an extradition is made, UK isn't as much in the picture expect that the embassy is technically located inside the UK.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    No, that argument moves the goalposts. He's in the embassy because he didn't want to go to Sweden. He claims not to have wanted to go to Sweden because of the ease of extraditing him from Sweden. But it was easier to extradite him while he was walking the streets of the UK.
    - b6 13y ago
      But the reality of ease of extradition may be very different than what the laws would suggest. The US has been secretly breaking its own most basic laws. Maybe Sweden does, too.
      - tptacek 13y ago
        I'm amused by the meme emergent from the Assange debacle that Sweden is some US client state, but the UK is fiercely independent. Like Sweden is Belarus, and nobody really knows anything about them.
        b6 13y ago
        I wasn't aware of any such meme. I don't think many Assange supporters have a positive view of the UK. I certainly don't. The lying criminals in one government are willing to work with the lying criminals in other governments.
        tptacek 13y ago
        Instead of answering directly, I just waited for someone else to answer for me; look at my comment's sibling.
        whodoneit 13y ago
        You're being obnoxious. I've followed Swedish news for over twenty years. My conclusions about Sweden has nothing to with Assange.
- whodoneit 13y ago
  The UK has some degree of independence and many people who would support him if it came down to a legal battle. Sweden on the other hand is more of a US client state. The law probably wouldn't even be a factor.
- andrewljohnson 13y ago
  I think he went to the embassy, to avoid being extradited from either the UK or from Sweden, to the US. The point is not to be extradited; avoiding the interrogation for the trumped up rape charges, which would have resulted in a Swedish slap on the wrist even if convicted, was not his fear. Are you really arguing that since he could have been extradited from the UK at some point before going to the embassy, that going to the embassy wasn't to avoid ultimate US extradition? I don't even get why you might draw that conclusion.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    "Trumped up" rape charges? How would you know that?
    - mpyne 13y ago
      It's only misogyny when it's football players and other "jocks" raping women. We all know that us techies have a much better moral framework than everyone else, so obviously the Occam's Razor explanation is that those rape charges must be the U.S. oppressing Assange from behind the scenes.
    - andrewljohnson 13y ago
      That's just my conclusion - does that really surprise you? I hope it does, because I find your conclusion that the USG and all of its agents and allies are acting totally legally and ethically towards Assange absolutely flabbergasting. I'm also saddened that you decided to argue the rhetoric instead of the substance, being that Assange going to the embassy is a good way to avoid eventual extradition to the US, which would carry far higher consequences than a Swedish rape charge.
      - tptacek 13y ago
        He was walking around the UK in broad daylight exactly up until it looked like he'd be sent to Sweden to face rape charges.
    - vinceguidry 13y ago
- Andrew_Quentin 13y ago
  Repeated talking points ad nauseum. Wasn't Manning tortured? Isn't Snowden going from one country to another? What makes you think the case of Assange is any different? Have we all forgotten how 3 years ago when the revelations first appeared we here on HN were discussing in what manner he will be vanished or smeared? Only a few weeks later the news of some dropped charge re-instated appeared. He has now been in confinement for almost 3 years. One wonders how much longer. Would he have been given a greater punishment even if he was found guilty by the Swedish court? I doubt it. If it looks like a duck, it is more probable than anything else that it is a duck.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    Not one sentence in this comment is responsive to the comment it replies to.

Steer 13y ago

I apologize and agree that I should have written that he believes that, regardless of that I do not think it is true. If it helps I do not think he's crazy and I do see why he could think that he could be extradited.

tptacek 13y ago

It is actually harder to extradite Assange from Sweden than from the UK, in that such an extradition would require the approval of both the UK and Sweden.

pathy 13y ago
Exactly this. There is no way it is easier for US to extradite him from Sweden than UK, even ignoring the law about requiring the approval of both UK and Sweden. I sympathise with Assange and his original Wikileaks goals but I do feel he is just trying to dodge prosecution for a (alleged) crime. Right now he spent a year in, pretty much, prison and for what reason? The possibility for a shorter stay in Swedish prison? US extraditing him (assuming he arrives in Sweden some time) would cause a shitstorm of untold proportions, it would be political suicide IMO.
belorn 13y ago
I doubt there is anything harder than to extradite Assange from an embassy which has granted Assange asylum. Since that’s the actually reality, if an extradition is made, UK isn't as much in the picture expect that the embassy is technically located inside the UK.
- tptacek 13y ago
  No, that argument moves the goalposts. He's in the embassy because he didn't want to go to Sweden. He claims not to have wanted to go to Sweden because of the ease of extraditing him from Sweden. But it was easier to extradite him while he was walking the streets of the UK.
  - b6 13y ago
    But the reality of ease of extradition may be very different than what the laws would suggest. The US has been secretly breaking its own most basic laws. Maybe Sweden does, too.
    - tptacek 13y ago
      I'm amused by the meme emergent from the Assange debacle that Sweden is some US client state, but the UK is fiercely independent. Like Sweden is Belarus, and nobody really knows anything about them.
      - b6 13y ago
        I wasn't aware of any such meme. I don't think many Assange supporters have a positive view of the UK. I certainly don't. The lying criminals in one government are willing to work with the lying criminals in other governments.
        tptacek 13y ago
        Instead of answering directly, I just waited for someone else to answer for me; look at my comment's sibling.
        whodoneit 13y ago
        You're being obnoxious. I've followed Swedish news for over twenty years. My conclusions about Sweden has nothing to with Assange.
whodoneit 13y ago
The UK has some degree of independence and many people who would support him if it came down to a legal battle. Sweden on the other hand is more of a US client state. The law probably wouldn't even be a factor.
andrewljohnson 13y ago
I think he went to the embassy, to avoid being extradited from either the UK or from Sweden, to the US. The point is not to be extradited; avoiding the interrogation for the trumped up rape charges, which would have resulted in a Swedish slap on the wrist even if convicted, was not his fear. Are you really arguing that since he could have been extradited from the UK at some point before going to the embassy, that going to the embassy wasn't to avoid ultimate US extradition? I don't even get why you might draw that conclusion.
- tptacek 13y ago
  "Trumped up" rape charges? How would you know that?
  - mpyne 13y ago
    It's only misogyny when it's football players and other "jocks" raping women. We all know that us techies have a much better moral framework than everyone else, so obviously the Occam's Razor explanation is that those rape charges must be the U.S. oppressing Assange from behind the scenes.
  - andrewljohnson 13y ago
    That's just my conclusion - does that really surprise you? I hope it does, because I find your conclusion that the USG and all of its agents and allies are acting totally legally and ethically towards Assange absolutely flabbergasting. I'm also saddened that you decided to argue the rhetoric instead of the substance, being that Assange going to the embassy is a good way to avoid eventual extradition to the US, which would carry far higher consequences than a Swedish rape charge.
    - tptacek 13y ago
      He was walking around the UK in broad daylight exactly up until it looked like he'd be sent to Sweden to face rape charges.
  - vinceguidry 13y ago
Andrew_Quentin 13y ago
Repeated talking points ad nauseum. Wasn't Manning tortured? Isn't Snowden going from one country to another? What makes you think the case of Assange is any different? Have we all forgotten how 3 years ago when the revelations first appeared we here on HN were discussing in what manner he will be vanished or smeared? Only a few weeks later the news of some dropped charge re-instated appeared. He has now been in confinement for almost 3 years. One wonders how much longer. Would he have been given a greater punishment even if he was found guilty by the Swedish court? I doubt it. If it looks like a duck, it is more probable than anything else that it is a duck.
- tptacek 13y ago
  Not one sentence in this comment is responsive to the comment it replies to.