3 ms·

It's even worse than that. I believe before he was living in the Ecuadorian embassy, he offered to cooperate with the investigation in the UK. Swede could have

by netcan 12y ago

It's even worse than that. I believe before he was living in the Ecuadorian embassy, he offered to cooperate with the investigation in the UK. Swede could have sent investigators to interview him in person. The UK police would have assisted. They could have gone further with their investigation, without extradition. The worst part of this is Australia's role. Where are they in protecting their citizen? Can you imagine an American journalist (wikileaks is journalism) pissing off the German Government, then being subjected to these insane attempts at extradition without the US stepping in? Australia need to arrange safe passage for Assange to Australia and guarantee him his legal rights.

koenigdavidmj 12y ago
> Where are they in protecting their citizen? Australia fails to do anything when their citizens are killed for a bit of cannabis, about as blatantly disproportionate as a government could possibly get. They're in a perfect position to economically encourage Indonesia to be reasonable, and they would have the backing of a fair bit of the western world. And yet they don't do anything. Why would you think they would do anything when it's less politically expedient?
- pvnick 12y ago
  It's interesting you mentioned that. I'm backpacking around Europe right now (doing the whole digital nomad thing) and every Australian I've met has had zero sympathy for those guys who got caught in Indonesia. Could it be that the political pressure simply isn't there? It's also entirely possible that widespread opinion is much more diverse than the sunset of the population I've met while in Europe.
  - satori99 12y ago
    I would say the opposite based on all the people of I have spoken to about it in Sydney over the last month or so. Noone is saying they shouldn't be punished for their crime, but all indications are that the two Australians currently on death row in Indonesia have been genuinely reformed during their decade in prison. One is now a pastor, and the other has completed a fine arts degree. And many of their fellow prisoners speak highly of them. Some Indonesian prisoners have even offered to be killed in their place. I think the outrage about their imminient executions is due to the fact that Indonesia is about to execute two men who have shown they can both be valuable members of society. The Australian government is now offering to pay the costs of keeping them in prison for life, but I doubt that will have any sway with the Indonesian government.
- ecdavis 12y ago
  > Australia fails to do anything when their citizens are killed for a bit of cannabis When has this happened? I know Schapelle Corby served 9 years for cannabis trafficking, and I know there are two Australian men facing execution for heroin trafficking. Have Australians been executed for cannabis trafficking?

by netcan 12y ago

koenigdavidmj 12y ago

> Where are they in protecting their citizen? Australia fails to do anything when their citizens are killed for a bit of cannabis, about as blatantly disproportionate as a government could possibly get. They're in a perfect position to economically encourage Indonesia to be reasonable, and they would have the backing of a fair bit of the western world. And yet they don't do anything. Why would you think they would do anything when it's less politically expedient?

pvnick 12y ago
It's interesting you mentioned that. I'm backpacking around Europe right now (doing the whole digital nomad thing) and every Australian I've met has had zero sympathy for those guys who got caught in Indonesia. Could it be that the political pressure simply isn't there? It's also entirely possible that widespread opinion is much more diverse than the sunset of the population I've met while in Europe.
- satori99 12y ago
  I would say the opposite based on all the people of I have spoken to about it in Sydney over the last month or so. Noone is saying they shouldn't be punished for their crime, but all indications are that the two Australians currently on death row in Indonesia have been genuinely reformed during their decade in prison. One is now a pastor, and the other has completed a fine arts degree. And many of their fellow prisoners speak highly of them. Some Indonesian prisoners have even offered to be killed in their place. I think the outrage about their imminient executions is due to the fact that Indonesia is about to execute two men who have shown they can both be valuable members of society. The Australian government is now offering to pay the costs of keeping them in prison for life, but I doubt that will have any sway with the Indonesian government.
ecdavis 12y ago
> Australia fails to do anything when their citizens are killed for a bit of cannabis When has this happened? I know Schapelle Corby served 9 years for cannabis trafficking, and I know there are two Australian men facing execution for heroin trafficking. Have Australians been executed for cannabis trafficking?