MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Assange prepared to remain in Ecuadorean embassy in London another five years
Ecuador will continue to grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum at its London embassy, the foreign minister said on Monday after failing to reach a solution to the case with Britain. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesThat modest apartment is going to get smaller and smaller as the years go by.
Jun 17th, 2013 - 07:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 05 years??? Stuart Hall has only been sentenced to 15 months!!
Jun 17th, 2013 - 07:57 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I wonder why Ecuador thought they could negotiate safe passage out of the embassy. It would be interesting to kmow what they thought they could blackmail...err, 'negotiate' with.
I don't know why the government does not just boot them all out of the country, after all Correa is no friend to the UK anyway. I assume keeping an embassy running in Equador is worth the price of the police watch over here.
See you in 2018 then Julian, enjoy yourself.
Jun 17th, 2013 - 08:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Let him stew in his own juice, Correa messed up big time. He wanted to appear the big man of South America, well he got his wish. Assange is there problem now, they know how to resolve it. Open the front door and kick his ass out.
Jun 17th, 2013 - 08:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Perhaps they could smuggle him out in parts?
Jun 17th, 2013 - 08:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0No prizes for guessing what the biggest part will be?
Jun 17th, 2013 - 08:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0His head!
So he'll be effectively in prison for 5 years then will leave, stand trial and then go to real prison. A bit like Ronnie Biggs except I doubt any pop groups will write a song about him nor will he enjoy sunning himself on beaches.
Jun 17th, 2013 - 08:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Ricardo Patiño said the Australian was prepared to remain in the embassy for another five years if necessary until a diplomatic solution was found, insisting he had no plans to flee.”
Jun 17th, 2013 - 08:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0No shit Sherlock.....what the hell else is he going to say, get him the hell out of my apartment!! We'll see how happy they are as snug as a bug in a bed in a few years from now. The funny thing is, I don’t see the Brits as the type to do an about face. This can be a VERY long self-imposed sentence all to feed his ego. The Sweds may have only asked two questions then say adios amigo. But he made this into a multiyear deal. I hope ASSange loves his host and how much they believe in the freedom of the press. I assume he gets news and read the new control over the media by dictocrat correa.
Will he be happy in year 5? Year 10? Or even 15?
ASSange……no women to rape…..I hope you grow hair on your hands and go blind.
I can tell you one thing for sure, this guy is the best thing that has happened to the Met Bobbies for years, the overtime is going to pay off many a mortgage and put the kids through Uni!!
Jun 17th, 2013 - 08:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Stay put Julian, don't listen to them, the Met boys and girls love you!
@8 Captain Poppy
Jun 17th, 2013 - 08:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yup both Assange and the Ecuadorians have made a huge miscalculation here.
As you said, he was wanted for questioning by the Swedish authorities, and there is a good chance that it may never have gone to court. But he now also faces criminal charges in the UK, namely breaching his bail conditions.
Tut, tut. The British will out wait both Ecuador and Assange because we can be that bloody minded. No only that, but British Law itself doesn't allow for this, and this so called diplomatic asylum isn't recognised as legal in the UK or anywhere outside of South America.
The Ecuadorians will get fed up of the annoying ego maniac long before the British do.
And what if 5 years go by and the British still won't let him go? The UK doesn't have a statute of limitations, so whether he comes out in 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months, 5 years or 50 years, the result will be the same - namely Assange being arrested.
Personally I think if he came out in 50 years we would not extradite him om humanitarian grounds.
Jun 17th, 2013 - 09:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Assuming he comes out before then, the swedes can put him in a lovely cell with Sky, Internet access, conjugal visits and his own mini bar.
Self imposed exile at Ecuadors expense, no problem having the police parked outside the embassy, perfect excuse to keep an eye on the comings and goings of an enemy state of the UK. Is Alicia Castro still visiting or did she get bored when the the worlds cameras did.
Jun 17th, 2013 - 09:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0All yesterdays news now, but he will stay in his hamster ball as long as he chooses to.
I bet he comes out within 12 months!
Jun 17th, 2013 - 09:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0If you really think about it Assange is right where the USA and others want him: off active duty.
Jun 17th, 2013 - 09:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Whilst he can shelter in the Embassy there is much he cannot do - much they will not let him do.
Assange is in what amounts to limbo and can do very little 'harm' where he is...at least in the eyes of many.
The “case” against him isnt exactly solid and one does wonder why he did a runner - the legal system in the UK will chase him forever as he's breached bail and thumbed his nose at the courts - regardless of whatever governments come and go.
(that may not mean much to those from banana republics where the legal system is state-owned, but where its fully independent it means a lot: the courts will let many a man thumb their nose at governments, but not at the law itself)
Those poor consulate staffers! Having to put up with a celebrity douche day after day after day after day after day after day after day...
Jun 17th, 2013 - 10:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Once again, if the staffers really wanted to, and had (here's the irony!) whistleblower protection which somehow I doubt they have to the delight of Assange, I bet they would have one heckova hostile work environment suit.
Ah so the stone will remain in the shoe? Not our stone Ecuador, not our shoe.
Jun 17th, 2013 - 10:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Cardinal Mindszenty was holed up in the US Embassy in Budapest for 15 years after the Hungarian Uprising because the Communist regime wouldn't guarantee his safe passage out of the country - http://tinyurl.com/n4ssrwz. Five more years in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for Assange may not sound as bad, but it's much more claustrophobic .
Jun 18th, 2013 - 02:31 am - Link - Report abuse 0Sounds like they need to lease larger premises.
Jun 18th, 2013 - 05:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0Can they bring pets?
What happens if there is a fire alarm? Plus the Ecuadorians can never move their embassy while he is there.
Jun 18th, 2013 - 06:17 am - Link - Report abuse 0@19 Redrow
Jun 18th, 2013 - 07:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0Maybe the Ecuadorians will move in the night without telling Assange? :)
@20 LOL! I suggested this yesterday when I read the report. If I were running the embassy I would be quietly moving everything out whilst telling Assange we were just decorating. I haven't visited the embassy but by all accounts it is just a few rooms.
Jun 18th, 2013 - 09:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0Isn't the Embassy in rented space? Does their lease go that long? Can't the landlord evict them?
Jun 18th, 2013 - 10:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0@22 Most leases on property in London are long. There is also a law protecting tenants which gives them the right to renew. If it is purely rental property it may be very different.
Jun 18th, 2013 - 12:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@22 yankeeboy
Jun 18th, 2013 - 12:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0alas the embassy is sovereign territory and to do that kind of thing undermines the principle of embassies. It is Ecuador's problem to keep him on their territory but this is not a political asylum, he is evading justice, though everyday that goes by is like the sentence being carried out. Assange is the new messiah and the Ecuadorian ambassador and President are supreme twonks.
Señores Correa y Patiño - You must surely understand now that in Law precedent rules. No matter your gestures of sympathy towards Assange it is imperative that you respect that Swedish, UK and EU Laws take precedence over your immature gesture of granting asylum to Assange based on Ecuadorean jurisprudence which does not apply outside Latin America.
Jun 18th, 2013 - 02:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There have been assurances from both Sweden and the US that should Assnge have the “huevos” to face his accusers in Sweden he will not be subject to extradition to the US. So - climb off your ridiculous hobbyhorse and insist on his departure from your embassy in London. All he has to do is step out the front door and his existence will change for the better immediately.
@10 Sorry. There is a statute of limitations for an extradition request. It's ten years. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2343037/The-asylum-bid-cost-40m-Julian-Assange-prepared-hide-Ecuadors-London-embassy-NINE-YEARS.html Still, as Ronnie Biggs found out, we Brits never give up.
Jun 18th, 2013 - 04:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@24 Sorry. See here. ”Contrary to popular belief, diplomatic missions do not enjoy full extraterritorial status and are not sovereign territory of the represented state. Rather, the premises of diplomatic missions remain under the jurisdiction of the host state while being afforded special privileges (such as immunity from most local laws) by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
@20. JA: “Uh what's in those boxes?”
Jun 18th, 2013 - 05:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Staffer: “Uh... Nothing.”
JA: “I uh... noticed that the secretaries picture of her kids aren't on her desk anymore”
Staffer: “Oh, they're not talking anymore.”
JA: “Where are all the good lunches you people bring in that I eat?”
Staffer: “We clean the fridge every once in the Islands.”
JA: “Gosh I have to go to the bathroom.” (walks in shuts the door.)
Staffer: (whispers) “OK Let's go guys... but quietly...”
Other Staffer: “Should we tell the ambassador?”
Staffer: “Ummmmm..... No. We see how long it takes for him to figure it out.”
Justa future thought ..
Jun 18th, 2013 - 07:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Today april 1st 2043-
Tis was announces that mr Julian Assange
Who passed on yesterday will be removed today,
And slabbed up until he is packaged back to his homeland,
A man who may have got a slap on the wrist, thus decided to stay put in a state of frustration,
The equatorial government after remembering who he was, stated that he may r.i.p.
Still,
It was Justa thought,
Nasty mmmm still a thought..
.
I am reflecting on the year or two since Assange was in line for the Time 'Man of the year'. What has changed to cause the sea-change in public attitude to his situation?
Jun 18th, 2013 - 08:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0At that time it was the consensus belief that the Swedish accusations were a 'put up job' to get him to a country where extradition to the USA was easy. Then he broke English bail and fled to the embassy, believing that England would pass him to Sweden, etc, etc.
This site's comments (above) have lost the substantive plot - Wikileaks - and focus entirely on the bail-break/personality.
The information-thief Bradley Manning might be a better focus of attention, rather than the publisher. I am a Manning 'Spartacus' because I like to know what is being said and done 'in my name'.
I have been able to take appropriate action in the knowledge of the realities of the 'facts'.
There should be a better way; there is not.
@26 Conquerer
Jun 18th, 2013 - 08:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There may be a shelf life on an extradition request, but there isn't on the fact that Julian Assange broke British law by evading his bail conditions. So even if he steps out of the embassy after 10 years he will still be arrested.
Besides Sweden can always renew it's extradition request whenever they want.
My guess it won't be even 10 years before people are saying “Julian who?”
Patino reports to Correa.
Jun 19th, 2013 - 09:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0“bloody British, refuse to talk unless Assange is at the table.”
@29 You already know my opinion about knowing everything. Diplomacy could not work under those conditions and many lives/sensitive situations have been saved/resolved quietly because the deals remain secret. I have no doubt this is abused at times but given the choice, and from personal knowledge, there has to be privacy for it to work.
Jun 19th, 2013 - 09:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0An example we all recognise here. The Maduro waving his balls to his people is not the Maduro doing deals in Washington D C. But he has to maintain his image to remain in power in Venezuela.
As for Assange, he is the famewhore who has made it all about him. If he had remained behind the Wikileaks cover he probably would have maintained his following. However by exposing himself, basking in the glory, and eventually because of his personality, he pissed off most of his supporters and friends, he has lost a lot of bandwagon support.
He had no valid reason to jump bail causing his (ex) friends to lose a lot of money. He played his hand wrong. If he had nothing to hide and no case to answer to he would have been perfectly safe going to Sweden to answer a few questions. Instead he chose the 'persecuted hero' and has failed miserably.
All great points, Elaine #32.
Jun 19th, 2013 - 01:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I re-read 1984 and Brave New World recently to see if they resonated with the old man differently than to the young man that first read them.
Now, as an old man in 2013, I fear even more the world of control and the increasing distances between the lives of the controllers and the controlled.
There should be a better way .. and meanwhile I first get up out of my chair, open the window, stick my head out, and yell, and say it: “I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”
No, for so many things that now happen, I shout out “Not in my name”.
@33 Yeah, I used to say, 'The more I know, the more I realise how much I don't know“. Now I say, ”The more I know, the more I realise how much I don't want to know”.
Jun 19th, 2013 - 01:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ultimately we live in a very complicated world. The US, as the world's only super power, has a responsibility way beyond other countries. They have to show muscle sometimes in order for there to be a semblance of peace elsewhere. Power comes from knowledge. The UK, by dint of the fact that it does hold a position of influence, often has to be a part of world policing. It is like the grown-up having to monitor the kids when most times they would rather be getting on with their own lives and taking care of their own needs.
When I question actions like the Iraq War I find it so hard to justify that it was anything but an ego trip for GWB and TB. One million people marched against it in the UK but it was already too late to stop it. The wheels were in motion years before. But I take comfort in the fact that one million people DID stand up and object and I have no doubt that it changed future decisions. I still believe in the will of the people. We outnumber the few in charge and if they step too far out of line we can stop them.
Keep yelling out of the window. The is nothing worse that apathy.
Elaine,
Jun 20th, 2013 - 11:10 am - Link - Report abuse 0we declare more attitudes in common than the other thing.
But I question your 'glaring' assertion that “power comes from knowledge.”
Surely it comes from the barrel of the gun, supported, inevitably, by the voting excess of the great unwashed.
(... this is just to catch Think's attention once more;
he is 'strangely quiet' ;-)
LOL! I guess.
Jun 20th, 2013 - 12:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0They are all strangely quiet. I don't actually believe any of them are paid to write here - although La Campora does monitor the internet. They would be foolish not to considering the power of social networks in rallying the people to bring down governments. But that is never going to happen from a site like this so it would be a waste to spend time here.
They are all strangely quiet, then then of all those trolls, perhaps there is actually only two or three.....lol. I assume they are all overwhelmed and dejected, demoralized are starting to smell the shit piles being tossed around by kirchner.
Jun 20th, 2013 - 03:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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