MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Swedish authorities turn down offer to question Assange in Ecuadorian embassy
Ecuador wants to prevent Julian Assange's extradition to Sweden because it is disappointed that the Scandinavian country has turned down an offer to question the WikiLeaks founder in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, a minister said on Wednesday. Read full article
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Aug 02nd, 2012 - 07:48 am - Link - Report abuse 0Do they side with a friend accused of sex crimes or lose face by bowing to the pressure of world powers.
I'm guessing they will give him asylum but have no way of getting him out of the country. Painters and decorators required at the embassy soon. I wonder what colour he'll chose to upgrade his self imposed cell to?
It is obvious the ultimate aim is to send him to the US. His sex romps, while foolish, do seem to have produced some questionable charges. Surely there must be a way to get him out of the country if they give him asylum.
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 08:09 am - Link - Report abuse 0It's obvious the swedish authorities are using these alleged sexual crimes as a cover to get him extradited so he can then be passed on to the Yanks.. it's a no brainer.
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 08:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0There's no way whatsoever for him to leave the UK as he has to pass through UK territory to do so. He has now skipped bail so is also subject to sanction in the UK. There's precedents from the 60's where those seeking asylum have spent years holed up in embassies. Saves anyone else from paying to bang him up.
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 08:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0Nobody really knows whether this is a grand plan to extradite him to the USA or not - but there are plenty of legal procedures to ensure that it is done lawfully. They can hardly use the exraordinary rendition process in this case.
Even Jemima Khan is unhappy about his latest actions and she was one of his biggest supporters. People need to discern between Wikileaks and Julian Assange. They are not one and the same.
“People need to discern between Wikileaks and Julian Assange”.
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 09:28 am - Link - Report abuse 0Absolutely. The people that worked with him at Wikileaks can't stand him.
4
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 09:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0Nobody really knows whether this is a grand plan to extradite him to the USA
If there is maybe Wikileaks could leak it.
People need to discern between Wikileaks and Julian Assange.
You are absolutely right.
3.
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 10:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0There is no grand plan to extradite him to the US, its his rather farcical excuse to prevent him being held to account for depraved sexual deviance in Sweden, the man is a coward of the highest order like that kiddy fiddler Roman Polanski.
Why would he fear being extradited from Sweden which has no extradition treaty with the US, rather than the UK which does have an extradition treaty, and anyway the US has pressed no charges and doesn't intend to since he committed no crime releasing those files, and he certainly won't be executed as he pathetically claims, Bradley Manning the US Military intelligence operator who breached national security and oath of allegiance to the US and gave that shower of shites the files in the first place is only facing a 25 year stint in jail...which will probably be reduced to 5 years.
Though he can be charged with receiving classified documents, he himself has not been charged with anything and the USA does nt have an arrest warrant issued. As for the death penalty thats crazy. We haven't (the Federal govt) put anyone to death for espionage in ages. Individual states carry out death sentences that the whole world always hears so much about, Texas in particular. It is extremely rear for the federal govenment to sentence someone death.
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 11:55 am - Link - Report abuse 0He made his beed........now it's time to lay in it to see if it's as comfortable as he had planned it to be.
I'd laugh if he spent years in the embassy then gave up - only to find the Swedes asked him a couple of questions and the Americans showed no interest in extraditing him. Maybe he's imprisoned by his own paranoia!?
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 12:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0He gets all the he is deserved for his so called morals.
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 12:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Again, a time to ask intelligent questions. Before he fled to the Ecuadorian embassy, Assange offered to be questioned, in London, either face to face with Swedish officials or by video conference. Now he's doing it again. What does this tell us? The first thing to recognise is thaqt Sweden has no jurisdiction in London, in England, in the United Kingdom or in Ecuador's embassy. The fact is that Assange could sit down, admit everything the Swedes accuse him of and still walk away free. There's only one place where he could be questioned and not be free to walk away. Sweden.
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 12:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As to his “fear” of extradition to the United States? Smoke and mirrors. Israel has already proved, more than once, that there is no real problem in abducting someone and either spiriting them out of a country or executing them in situ. The FACT is that if the U.S. wanted Assange, they'd already have him. And if they wanted him dead, he'd already be dead.
Bottom line? Assange IS GUILTY of the offences Sweden is investigating. And he's a COWARD for not facing justice. And there's every chance he'll be running and hiding for years.
I just want the slimeball out of Britain. He's contaminating our air!
Easy tried and tested solution:
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 07:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0He should grow a beard, convert to islam and preach hate of everything Swedish from the embassy front window.
Then he could claim that he wouldn’t receive a fair trial, hence never be extradited.
Reality TV solution:
Cage fight: Assange vs Hamid Karzai – loser gets a one way ticket to Guantanamo bay.
I feel sorry for the man, a martyre in the process. A future example to schoolchildren to show western democracy and freedom of expression...
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 07:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0#12
Aug 02nd, 2012 - 09:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The reality tv solution....that was funny.
Well, l wouldn't judge him as most of you seem to.
Aug 03rd, 2012 - 09:07 am - Link - Report abuse 0Why did Sweden refuse to question him in the Embassy?
Doesn't anyone find that suspicious.?
if Sweden promises not to send him to the US, then he should go to Sweden to answer the charges.
Have any of you wondered why Sweden will not make that promise?
He has every right to fear the US justice system.
Do any of you actually know what goes on in American prisons?
No risk for you people if he ends up in a US prison.
What will you say then? Oh l was wrong! Then forget about him, while he spends the rest of his life in a wild jungle hell-hole.
And for what? Publishing cables that probably shouldn't have been sent anyway.
Do you remember what the US said about our soldiers in lraq?
Wasn't very complimentry, was it? And we are their staunchest ally.
British lads being killed, helping the Americans & they're bad mouthing us in private.
Can't stand people putting the boot into someone when they're down.
“Judge not, lest ye be judged”.
I'm American please, tell me what goes on in an AMerican prison, obviously you know?
Aug 03rd, 2012 - 12:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Sweden is a sovereign nation and has the right to question him in their own jurisdiction.
The federal government's legal system virtually never puts to death people for espionage. The world does not seem to understand the term United States and each are sovereign. ANd most importantly, accused (which he has not been nor even wanted in the USA) has rights built into the constitution. He is also judged by a jury, not judges. The to often complaint here in the United States is that criminals have too many rights. So unless you experience the judicial system of the United States from either a sovereign state or the federal government, your empty points are invalid.
Most importantly, if he did not want to end hs life as he knws it, he should not have published classified documents. While some were plain old embarrassingly dumb, others were military positions.
And of all places for him to go, were the president is currently limiting publicity only to friendly media outlets.......such freedom......lol
The US extradition theory makes no sense.
Aug 03rd, 2012 - 02:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It would be much easier for the US to extradite him from the UK than from Sweden. The Uk has signed up to a pretty dubious extradition treaty with the US, one that all UK citizens should question. If the US wanted him, they would just issue an extradition request. Why wait till he is in Sweden to issue such a request?
Wikileaks does the world a big favour. Governments / organisations have the right to keep secrets, but it is healthy that individuals in those organisations keep in mind that they might be judged one day for what they do.
They did the US a favour too with the cable leaks. They showed that rather than a plotting to overthrow governments, the US ambassadors are just doing what they are supposed to do.
Imagine that America is not the evil empirte SA professes them to be.
Aug 03rd, 2012 - 04:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Its quite clear now the Sweedes aren't really just investigating the rape case, its a backdoor to the US, otherwise they would have been happy to question him at the embassy. This now makes his asylum bid stronger, a silver lining I suppose; it seems the Ecuadorians have been clever in closing playing everything by the book to expose the westerners.
Aug 03rd, 2012 - 05:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0#3 We agree on something, great =)
#5 Suppose you met them on another of your Argentine trips! Even if true that doesn't mean he has no rights of course!
#9 Maybe that outcome becomes more likely the more solidarity he gets from world public opinion and progressive governments like Ecuador, as it would represent a big climedown from what the current plan seems to be
BK
Aug 03rd, 2012 - 06:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0We have already established that your moral code permits corruption when perpetrated by left wing politicians.
Now we can add that rape charges may be waived if the alleged perpetrator is perceived to be an enemy of the US.
Answer me one question: Why would the US want him in Sweden before commencing extradition proceedings, when the US has a fast-track extradition agreement with the UK? Why?
@16Captain Poppy,
Aug 04th, 2012 - 07:17 am - Link - Report abuse 0Yes as a matter of fact, l have been inside a US prison, as a visitor.
l was visiting a fellow countrywoman, who had been wrongly imprisoned.
She told me, & l believe her, of what she endured.
That is all l will say on that particular case.
Now, Captain Poppy, have YOU been inside a US prison?
Do YOU know the conditions there?
Anyway, this is neither here nor there.
lts always easy to kill the messenger.
l believe that he has done the world a service by publishing those cables.
lf your government didn't want others to know what it thought of them,
why they should never have sent the cables.
(especially about its CLOSE Allies)
You won't support us on the Falklands, tell me why we have to support you in Afghanistan?
Bring our boys & girls home, we need them in the Falklands.
lf the Americans want an empire, let them win it themselves.
Nope I am a law abiding citizen and as a law abiding citizen I do not want prisons to be country club. And thats all I have to say on that particular case. BTW, everyone in USA prisons are wronged imprisoned.
Aug 04th, 2012 - 01:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0We won't support you on the Falklands because they are not yours.
@22Captain Poppy,
Aug 04th, 2012 - 09:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0And lraq was not yours, yet you looted it.
And Afghanistan is not yours either, you haven't looted it yet.
But thats coming.
lf as you admit, you have never been inside a US prison then you don't know what you are talking about.
Being sarcastic about your prison population is not constructive to this discussion.
You have the highest percentage in the world of people in prison.
Are Americans that much more criminal than anyone else?
l dont think so. ls there something wrong with your society, or maybe the prison system is a lucrative business for some?
l know that some of you don't support us on the Falklands.
You hold the high moral ground & believe in doing the right thing.
So when do you intend returning California, Arizona,New Mexico & Texas to Mexico? Sometime soon?
We've been in the Falklands(which we claimed in 1765, when you were still a collection of British colonies on the east coast)since 1833.
lf we have to get out, then so do you.
l'm sure Mexico will be delighted that your country is doing the right thing.
I've traveled maybe placed, yet I can't recall when I was in Iraq nor Afghanistan. You know so much of our prison system,you know the problem that comes from south american then.
Aug 05th, 2012 - 12:35 am - Link - Report abuse 0As I say about the Falklands, Mexico lost that land in war. 2nd place gets no prizes, besides, if they really want it, they can consult with Argentina on how in conquer and invade like Argentina did in the Falklands.
Correct me if I am wrong, I believe Argentina turned 200 in 2010. My math takes that birth back to 1810. 1765, Argentina did not exist. Prior to that you were, as you phrase, a collection of colonies. Unless KFC is re-writing that history.
@24Captain Poppy,
Aug 05th, 2012 - 07:24 am - Link - Report abuse 0Hey, Cap'n, l think that you should re-read what you have just posted.
lt doesn't make a lot of sense.
Anyway, my argument is not with your country.
lt is with our belligerent, aggressive neighbour to the west.
Peace
It makes sense to me expect my typo and I think you do have a problem with the USA. You specifically addressed me as looting Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps you do not realized that I am American.
Aug 05th, 2012 - 02:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@26 Captain Poppy,
Aug 05th, 2012 - 08:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0l know that you're American, you said so.
Do you deny that the USA, looted lraq?
They did so. Your country sold lraq's oil when they were in occupation.
l did not accuse you of looting Afghanistan, yet.
l do not mean you, personally. l mean your country.
The self-appointed Policeman of the World.
l don't have too much of a problem with the USA.
That country is the one with the problems, big ones too.
How much money does your country owe to China?
Your last couple of sentences in post # 24 are illogical.
1) We were not a collection of colonies, YOU were(as Americans).
2) l realise that Argentina did not exist in 1765(when we claimed the Falklands)that was my point.
3) No doubt CFK, IS re-writing history.
Awaiting your prompt reply.
Looted no. If you know so much of America without ever visiting it, you would also know that of 316 million citizens, that it is quite polarized and that many do not and did not want to be there, in the middle east. You would also know that we citizens do not control the government in the short run, over the long run by voting out of office incumbents. As for debt......we pay our bills. PERIOD
Aug 05th, 2012 - 09:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Police of the world is not what most Americans wan,you should know that if you know the American people so well.
While the middle east and I would surmise SA as danced in the streets at 9/11..........the world knew the retribution is an awfully high cost when one decides to kick at a hornets nest. Personally I would like to see the UN out of my country as I am tired of 22% (4 billion) of the cost for a useful entity.
@28Captain Poppy,
Aug 06th, 2012 - 08:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0You & l are monopolising this thread. But its great fun, don't you agree?
l have been to the USA many times & have a lot of friends there.
l don't disagree that many people danced in the streets at 9/11.
And that is disgusting.
lnvading lraq had very little to do with 9/11.
lt was only the oil.
Saddam was as much an enemy of Al Quaida as the west was.
We do not have to get into an in depth argument about that here.
The subject of our original “discussion” was about the treatment of Julian Assange.
However l did take offence when you said that the Falklands were not ours.
Who do you believe these lslands belong to then?
Surely not Argentina?
lf you believe that Argentina owns our land, then you cannot deny that Mexico owns your own south-west.
They may have lost them in war, as you say. Does that decide ownership?
Well then, we defeated Argentina, so by your logic, we own the Falklands.
We are supposed to be allies.
lf you won't support us in the Falklands, then give me a good reason why we should support you in Afghanistan?
You can't have it both ways, can you?
lsolde where are you from? Arizona was purchased, Texas was it's own country before they became a state.....and yes I believe victors of war, which is the end means of failed diplomacy, unless it was started by an attack or an invasion, earn the right to keep what they acquire. Oftenmore than not, democracies return the country.....sometimes not as in China.
Aug 06th, 2012 - 10:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0I never felt we had a justified means to enter Iraq, and later proved correct. The war touched me in more ways than one. But as for Afghanistan, I do not believe we are looking for support as much as trying to get out.
Capitan P & Isolde:
Aug 06th, 2012 - 04:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Just wanted to pick you up on this thing that the Iraq war was about oil. This conclusion has never convinced me because there are much easier ways to get oil, ie buying it.
If you just look at the numbers and think about it, it really is implausible. It is nice and easy to believe that the war was for oil, but it just doesn’t hold up:
In 2002 US oil imports were as follows:
monthly year %
saudi 56 672 24.5
venezuela 20 240 8.7
nigeria 19 228 8.3
kuwait 6 72 2.6
algeria 1 12 0.4
canada 46 552 20.1
mexico 54 648 23.6
uk 12 144 5.2
iraq 11 132 4.8
norway 4 48 1.7
229 2748 100.0
That is right, less than 5% came from Iraq.
Cost of the Iraq war to US tax payer: $800,000,000,000 ($800 Billion)
At 2002 prices, this could buy 40 billion barrels of oil.
40 billion barrels would keep the US in oil for 42 years!
Or look at it another way, the cost of the war could have paid for Iraqi imports alone for 303 years.
#31
Aug 06th, 2012 - 06:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Your point to my statements what? My statement was that I did not believe we should have been in Iraq, your statement reconcile with that how? Your nationality please, it's help context.
Capitan P,
Aug 06th, 2012 - 10:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0My comment was really directed at Isolde's assuption that the Iraq war was about oil.
Due to the fact that you were both involved in a discussion, I thought it would be polite to address you both. That's all.
I'm Chilean for the record.
For the record.......I supported the war for maybe a month......out of nationalistic leanings, but realized my support was wrong. A lot of americans protested that war.
Aug 07th, 2012 - 12:13 am - Link - Report abuse 0@31 Condorito,
Aug 07th, 2012 - 06:08 am - Link - Report abuse 0l've always thought that it was all about oil.
lraq has a lot of it.
lt was also unfinished business over Kuwait & the 1st Gulf war.
lraq's disinformation on WMD, worked only too well.
We believed that they had such weapons although none have ever been found.
l suppose some kindly souls in the US & UK governments were also disturbed about what Saddam was doing to his own people.
Much like Argentina were doing to their own citizens.
Somehow the US(& probably the UK)connected Saddam's regime with Al Quaida. Just because they're both Arab doesn't make them allies.
ln fact Al Quaida & Saddam's regime hated each other.
All these were reasons for the West to invade lraq.
But l, personally believe that it was mainly the prospect of cheap or free, plentiful oil.
@30Captain Poppy,
l would have thought, by my posts, that it was obvious where l come from.
Very condensed, l am a British citizen living in land that Argentina,wrongfully claims.
I thought FI but try not to assume. Many also thought that Dr. Evil......I mean VP Cheney was the puppeteer who had his hand up Bush's ass during the first term. Second term he became more his own man but the damage was already done.
Aug 07th, 2012 - 10:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0Isolde: Great comments on Iraq (and Assange). You know despite our differences on Cristina (and who am I to intervene when women don't get on!) I really quite like you =)
Aug 09th, 2012 - 12:58 am - Link - Report abuse 0Thank you B_K.
Aug 09th, 2012 - 08:53 am - Link - Report abuse 0l don't dislike you, although l don't agree with your feelings about the Falklands & how you think we should even entertain the idea of any rapport with Argentina.
Especially knowing what they want & after what they have done.
Cristina is nothing.
l just don't like her because she perpetuates the malvinista lies for personal purposes.
She, of course(unless she is completely stupid)knows that they are lies.
#38 I could come back on most of your points about Cristina etc but I wont, in the spirit of our agreement on Iraq, Assange and I'm sure much more. I'd just like to clarify my feelings towards the Falklands are friendly and I'd never support Cristina if I saw her as a Galtieri, one of the things that first “attracted” me to her was that she and Nestor put the Galtieri gang in jail. I just wish you'd get on better with the neighbourhood and I blame Cameron and the oil companies for the latest tensions
Aug 09th, 2012 - 01:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0BK
Aug 09th, 2012 - 03:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Can you see how unconditional your love of CFK is?
Just because Nestor did the right thing re Galtieri doesn’t mean that you have to support CFK on everything.
You can’t profess friendship to the Falklands and support CFK’s harassment of them. I think the Islanders are much better placed to tell you what CFK means to them.
Nestor walked away from cooperation on oil, not Cameron.
I don’t care much for Cameron, but I don’t blame him for something he hasn’t done.
It is your kind of entrenched blind loyalty to a personality or a “side” that causes most problems in the world.
@35 Isolde
I agree with you that all you have listed (except oil) were factors in the decision to invade Iraq. I would add to your list:
Israeli and Saudi lobbying.
Encircling Iran and China.
Oil makes no sense. The numbers just don’t add up.
@39B_K,
Aug 09th, 2012 - 08:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Trot out your points, re Cristina.
My main dislike, is the stance that she has taken about the Falklands.
Being in her position, she would have access to all historical records, etc.
Therefore she KNOWS that the whole malvinista scenario is just complete rubbish. Yet she goes along with it & people could get killed for it, in the future.
l know that she is no spring chicken, but l, personally, do not consider her “lovely” as you have stated a few times.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course.
@40 Condorito,
Oil makes a lot of sense, when its free.
Isolde,
Aug 09th, 2012 - 10:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Cost of the Iraq war to US tax payer: $800,000,000,000 ($800 Billion)
That is not free oil.
PS: BK is blind when it come to CFK, he will never see that you are 100% correct. To ideologues of his ilk you are not people with rights, you are remnants of empire that must be disposed of. Note that he disapproves of Galtieri because he killed Argentineans, not because he invaded your home. I think it is called etho-masochism.
“To ideologues of his ilk you are not people with rights”
Aug 10th, 2012 - 12:35 am - Link - Report abuse 0Thats a lie
“Note that he disapproves of Galtieri because he killed Argentineans, not because he invaded your home”
Both actually, so wrong again
“I think it is called etho-masochism”
So thats what they call a Latin American who loves the IMF!
@42 Condorito,
Aug 10th, 2012 - 07:35 am - Link - Report abuse 0Thats true, Wars are not cheap. One of the reasons we had to give up on Suez in 1956 is because we ran out of money.
BK
Aug 10th, 2012 - 12:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ok, if that is a lie, answer this simple question:
Do the Falklanders have to right to choose not to be governed by Buenos Aires?
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