Every man has within him the seeds of his own destruction and so it is with Julian Assange.
Julian Assange is facing up to 12 months in a British prison after he was found guilty of skipping bail to avoid being extradited to Sweden in 2012 to face allegations of rape and sexual assault.
The Wikileaks founder finally appeared in court today after he was sensationally expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been claiming political refuge for the past seven years.
A judge branded Assange’s defence ‘laughable’ and his behaviour that of a ‘narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interests’ after he pleaded not guilty to breaching his bail conditions, claiming he did so because he could never expect a fair trial in the UK.
Ecuador’s decision to revoke his political asylum this morning saw a diplomatic falling of dominoes, with seven British police officers entering the embassy at 10am before restraining him as he tried to flee to his private room.
The Ecuadorians ran out of patience, it seems, and after seven years who can blame them? He was, apparently, a difficult house guest who outstayed his welcome.
I get what Sargon of Akkad is saying about all of this – a flawed man who did things for the greater good and all that, so on balance the good outweighs the bad.
However, despite all that, I find it difficult to have any sympathy for the man. Perhaps because he is such an incorrigible arsehole?
He imprisoned himself for seven years. If he’d been convicted of murder he’d be out on parole by now.
Probably.
With you on this one. Saw Sargon’s video. Assange might not be a particularly nice character and he may well have a bit of a God complex (that said, he seems a damned sight more honourable that 90% of the parliamentary squatters we have at the moment) but I think he has performed an invaluable service.
If they now have him, his life is basically over. I wonder if he’ll be quietly “vapourised”
I’m a bit fed up with these tin-pot crusaders who think their work is so important that they are above the law. Assange has been convicted of a clear breach of UK law, it seems likely that he was involved in some way with a serious offence regarding US national security and it is at least possible that he committed some sort of transgression in Sweden for which the Swedes quite reasonably wish to interview him about. Why on earth should he not face due process like the rest of us mere mortals?
Also, his behaviour seems to have been intolerable:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6917341/Assange-inside-fetid-lair-squalid-horror-drove-embassy-staff-finally-kick-out.html
I’d have kicked him out a long time ago. That they put up with this for seven years seems to me to show remarkable forbearance.
The only thing Assange did was jump bail, not a very serious offence, especially as at the time of the alledged offense, the prosecution service of the U.K. persuaded the Swedish prosecution authorities to drop the trumped up charges against him becase there was no evidence of any wrong doing. Under Internetional law supported by the U.N.,once asylum has been given it is permanent. What the recently elected Equadorian President has done by rescinding Assange’s asylum is not only illegal but sets a very dark precedent for anyone else who publishes information about illegal acts of war and crimes against humanity against civilians by any state, especially those who consider thenselves as the good guys. No one commenting here has privvy to what went on inside the London Equadorian embassy, it is all hearsay. The same with Assange’s behaviour and character. Now I understand from the Skripal case, the missile launch on Syria and many other illegal moves against due process and the presumption of Innocence, that the U.K. is a banana state when it comes to obeying international law. However if it is to try to live up to it’s now badly tarnished reputation as a country where Justice must be seen to be done, it should be trying to protect him from a very vengeful, corrupted foreign legal system politically motivated for revenge. I’d quote Martin Niemoller but I think he’s a bit too profound for most people commenting here.
The Ecuadorians have been complaining about his behaviour for some while now. Given that it’s been a repeated theme, I’m inclined to believe them. Not least because these complaints predate the election of the new president. It’s one thing to grant asylum to someone entering your embassy. It’s entirely another to have a house guest for the next seven years who shows no signs of leaving. Sure, I wasn’t there, but the balance of probabilities is in their favour here.
I do not accept that there is a precedent being set here. The Ecuadorians faced a specific set of circumstances. They appear to have run out of patience. It does not automatically follow from this that another whistle-blower will be handed over to a hostile state in future.
Niemoller really doesn’t apply here because Assange is not on a list of people being persecuted and we might be next. We are not living in a fascist state that rounds up dissenters, despite my concerns about things like free speech. He is very much the author of his own downfall. Sure, you can argue that what he did, he did for the greater good and I acknowledged that in the OP. However, actions have consequences. If you choose to take on the might of the establishment by breaking laws, then sooner or later it will come back to bite you and you have to accept that breaking the law – even if you believe the law to be wrong – may result in prosecution. It’s the chance you take. The greater good is unlikely to save you. In this case, I’m inclined to go along with Sargon – he is a narcissist who happened to do some good here, but brought this on himself. I find it really difficult to have any sympathy.
The jumping bail charge still stands regardless of the Swedish charges being dropped, so due process must follow. We can only wait and see on that one. As for any extradition proceedings, I would expect them to be followed according to the law.
You expect due process to be folloowed according to the law? In the U.K? What law is that then? The law of due process as applied to the Skripal case? The law as applied to the illegal war in Iraq? Assange’s asylum was recinded because the newly elected President of Equador wants an IMF loan, which he got with Assange as part of the deal. Yes, it’s true. They are a U.S. political entity after all. The ex President of Equador’s Facebook account has been anulled. It was he who gave Assange asylum in the embassy in London and he was posting a very different view than the present incumbent. Assange has a cat. He sent him away in November. Bloggers were messaging on twitter that the cat was a spy…Assange may or may not be a particularly pleasant person. His information however has always been correct. He pointed out govt. misdeeds in many countries, Russia amongst them. The Niemoller comment is particularly relevant here because when Assange published the information apertaining to the atrocities commited by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, he was no where near the U.S.A. Added to that it was his information that opened up the corruption scandal in DNC at the time of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It becomes more and more clear the real reasons for his ‘ light’ charges are nothing to do with any form of Justice but of revenge. He embarrased a lot of very vain and hubristic people, both in the U.K. and the U.S.A. This seemingly coincidental story also helps T. May out of a bind, which is why all due process has been ignored. Seems to be a T. May protocol. Once there they will be indicting him on many more severe trumped up charges. I also suggest you read what a lot of mentally impared Republican senators are saying about him. He’s ours now, as if he was some sort of slave to be tortured to appease their deranged imaginations. By supporting his arrest and extradition you are agreeing that the U.S.A. has the right to silence any dissident voice anywhere in the world.
I am neither supporting nor condemning the charges. I am pointing out the reality. If you break the law then expect to take the consequences regardless of the reasons for doing so.
And, yes, I do expect due process to be followed. The courts have not yet been taken over by the politicians.
Given what he did, criminal charges were a foreseeable risk. Rather than keep a low profile and avoid countries with an extradition treaty with the USA, he paraded himself about like a messiah. So, as I say, he has only himself to blame for his predicament. Any sympathy I have for the wikileaks project doesn’t change that.
You’re not privy to what went on in the bedroom between Assange and the Swedish women, but you are happy to refer to trumped up charges.
Most countries retain the right to revoke asylum irrespective of what the anti-Western UN might say.
From what Sargon is saying, the charges related not to rape but STD infection.
The skipping bail is a matter of fact and it is up to the British courts to deal with that according to the relevant due process. After that, well the USA will probably apply for extradition. I don’t like our extradition treaty with the US because it is somewhat one-sided. But again, Assange has only himself to blame here. Our treaty regarding extradition is hardly a secret, so keeping a low profile and avoiding the UK would have been sensible.
The fact that the UK has such a one-sided extradition treaty with the USA that makes it relatively easy for persons to be extradited to the USA always made Assange’s claims about not wanting to be extradited to Sweden because he feared extradition to the USA sound hollow.
One of the allegations against him is that one of the women woke up to find Assange having unprotected sex with her which would constitute rape.
imo
WikiLeaks: Good. Well done Assange & team – publishing donated material is not stealing/hacking. Assange – stop the juvenile martyr behaviour.
Hmm, sounds familiar
Littlejohn Brexit murderers like Mrs May put on trial at the Old Bailey?
Funny, but too true.
Edited to reflect Judge David Rennie’s favouritism