MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
WikiLeaks Assange free on bail and tagged moves to ten bedroom mansion
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted bail Thursday by the High Court in London and will move from a prison cell in Wandsworth to a country retreat in Norfolk when he is released from custody. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesSomewhat ironically Assange requested that the court keep his bail address secret.
Dec 17th, 2010 - 09:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0I suppose his release was also as politically motivated as his capture.
Dec 17th, 2010 - 11:00 am - Link - Report abuse 0If pretty much any other nation had requested his extradition, I would have entertained the strong suspicion his arrest was politically motivated.
Dec 17th, 2010 - 12:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But Sweden?
Non-aligned, neutral, don't give a stuff what America thinks. I don't buy it. Whether he is guilty or not remains to be seen, one thing he will get in Sweden is a fair trial.
I agree, but obviously as usual the Argentinians were sure it was some master plan to send him to the US.
Dec 17th, 2010 - 02:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I suppose they'll come up with some way that his release was also motivated.
Whilst I agree that Assange should face the charges levelled at him, I respectfully disagree that getting released (it's only on bail remember, the charges haven't been dropped, he's tagged and monitored) proves that there is no political motivation behind the charges. It would be pretty hard to publicly try and justify refusing bail to someone who actually turned themselves in, and is represented by lawyers in various countries, despite there being no evidence presented for the extradition request. His face has been plastered just about everywhere too, so absconding without detection could prove tricky (although admittedly not impossible)
Dec 17th, 2010 - 02:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Swedish PM has stated his intention to improve transatlantic relations, and isn't exactly anti-American. It's been pretty widely reported that the U.S. are trying to build a case against him, so I expect them to at least try to get him to the U.S. And it would be easier to get him extradited from Sweden, than have to hunt the globe for him.
All any of us can do is speculate, as none of us know the full details, so I could be wrong, and I'm sure that I'll be told that I am in this thread!
I think some distinction needs to be made between Assange's charges and the wikileaks site. As I was discussing with Zethee on a related thread, it seems pretty clear that there is pressure being put on wikileaks to shut them down, but the rape charges take some of the attention away from the leaks and onto the character and morals of the leaker making wikileaks less credible.
As I say, we can all only speculate on the matter and we'll have to see how it all plays out.......
For the record, I'm not Argentine nor someone who thinks that the U.S. is responsible for all of the world's problems, nor am I much of a conspiracy theorist.
“I think some distinction needs to be made between Assange's charges and the wikileaks site.”
Dec 17th, 2010 - 06:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I agree with this. This man may have raped a woman in her sleep, if true it's just plain sick.
I Think that if the US could silence Wikileaks they would, but it's impossible to do so. Even with this man in jail for the rest of his life..or even dead. Wikileaks would not stop, they can't silence it.
The worst thing they could do is to bring more attention to it, which is exactly what this arrest does. Which is the main reason i don't think this is a cover up or silence operation.
I see what you're saying, but the attention was going to be on the leaks anyway, what the arrest does is bring attention to the man (or rather his alleged unsavoury character) at the expense of the contents of the leaks themselves. This is useful in that not only does it deflect people's attention away from the actual leaks, but it also places question marks in people's minds about the credibility and character of the man, thus somewhat discrediting his work. The fact that it was dismissed some time ago as there was not sufficient evidence, and that it has been resurrected, seemingly without any new evidence (they certainly haven't been forthcoming with it if there is) just as the leaks start coming out, suggests to me that there are other forces at work here.
Dec 17th, 2010 - 08:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Although, if he genuinely is a rapist, then he should be punished in the same way that anyone else is in Sweden for the same crime. But it's not like he's tried to run away or hide from the allegations.
If anything does happen to him, no doubt that someone will take his place, but if the U.S. can get him and make an example of him by dealing out an extremely severe punishment (look at Bradley Manning facing 50+ years in prison), then that would serve to potentially deter anyone from taking his place for fear of a lifetime in jail.
I think that the fact that American companies such as Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, Amazon all suddenly and almost simultaneously severing links with wikileaks, suggests them doing so under government pressure to try and surpress wikileaks. These companies are there to make money and not to make any sort of moral stand on the government's behalf (you can still donate to the Ku Klux Klan through Visa and Mastercard!).
You make a good point. I guess we'll have to see what happens.
Dec 17th, 2010 - 09:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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