Newsflash: Julian Assange is actually a shithead

[MadBurgerMaker]

A) I thought Assange was pretty much known to be a shithead already. 
B) What's this about Russians?
C) What did Berk say about Wikileaks?

[DGuller]

Is Wikileaks some kind of Russian backed org?

It wouldn't surprise me at this point.  At first I thought that Assange was a useful idiot who was scared of messing with Putin, knowing the inevitable outcome of that, but given what we now know about Russian troll operations, he may be more directly linked to Russians than that.

[garbon]

I know a bit of necro but wanted a thread with his name in the title and this one was good for me to say:



https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/13/judge-refuses-to-withdraw-julian-assange-arrest-warrant

Judge refuses to withdraw Julian Assange arrest warrant

Julian Assange will continue to face detention if he leaves the Ecuadorian embassy in London after a British judge upheld a warrant for his arrest.

Handing down her judgment before a packed courtroom at Westminster magistrates court, senior district judge Emma Arbuthnot said she was not persuaded by the argument from Assange's legal team that it was not in the public interest to pursue him for skipping bail.

She said: "I find arrest is a proportionate response even though Mr Assange has restricted his own freedom for a number of years.

"Defendants on bail up and down the country, and requested persons facing extradition, come to court to face the consequences of their own choices. He should have the courage to do the same. It is certainly not against the public interest to proceed."

Assange, 46, skipped bail to enter the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault and rape, which he denies.

Though Swedish prosecutors dropped the investigation against him, he faces arrest if he leaves the building in Knightsbridge, London, for breaching his former bail conditions in the UK.

Lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder had asked for the warrant to be withdrawn since Sweden no longer wants him extradited, but the judge rejected their request last week. Representing Assange, Mark Summers QC went on to argue that arresting him was no longer proportionate or in the public interest.

Summers said that the years Assange has spent inside the embassy were "adequate, if not severe" punishment for his actions, and cited a report by a UN committee which said the Australian national was being arbitrarily detained.

Summers also argued Assange was justified in seeking refuge in the embassy because he had a legitimate fear that US authorities were seeking to arrest him for WikiLeaks' publication of secret documents.

He said Assange had made attempts to cooperate with the investigation in Sweden but had been refused, and that emails uncovered by a freedom of information request showed the Swedish prosecutor had been advised by a case lawyer at the CPS that Assange should be interviewed in Sweden.

"It [the correspondence] records that the CPS had already advised that it would not be prudent for Sweden to try to interview Mr Assange in the UK," he said.

In October 2013, Summers added, Sweden advised the CPS lawyer that it was time to withdraw the European arrest warrant on the grounds of proportionality, but it was four years before it eventually was.

"Obviously these emails are of interest to the court," Arbuthnot said last week.

Assange also suspects there is a secret US grand jury indictment against him and American authorities will seek his extradition.

Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, said before Tuesday's hearing that the US government had made clear its intention to bring a prosecution against WikiLeaks.

"The UK FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] refuses to confirm or deny whether there is an extradition request for Mr Assange," she said. "In our recent FoI challenge against the CPS [...] the CPS refused to disclose certain material because it would 'tip off' Mr Assange about a possible US extradition request. It is time to acknowledge what the real issue is and has always been in this case: the risk of extradition to the US."

[Eddie Teach]

Wouldn't that be more satisfying if your audience was here to see it?

[garbon]

Are you suggesting Mart is my audience? No on all accounts.

[Josquius]

Wouldn't it be funny if he eventually does leave, is shipped to Sweden to stand trial... And gets 3 months or so.

[garbon]

I believe Sweden dropped the charges. He's just wanted by British for having skipped put on his arrest warrant (back when Sweden still wanted him). His claim is that a British arrest is...I guess not fair and he might still be saying it will lead to British handing him over to the US.

[The Brain]

Assange's legal team argues that self-punishment is a viable thing? Fascinating.

[Josquius]

Assange's legal team argues that self-punishment is a viable thing? Fascinating.

It would set an interesting legal precedent.
"My client accepts the harm that he has caused with his crimes and the judgement of 10 years imprisonment. It just so happens my client has prepared an island in the Bahamas especially for this eventuality..."