SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Ecuador has granted a request from Swedish prosecutors to question WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange at its embassy in London, where he has been holed up for over four years.
Assange was given asylum by Ecuador in 2012 after he slipped into the country’s embassy in the U.K. He is wanted by police in Sweden for questioning in connection with a sexual assault investigation.
U.K. police have said that they would arrest Assange to meet an extradition request from Sweden if he steps out from the Ecuador embassy. But Assange and his supporters have expressed fear that from Sweden, he could be transferred to the U.S. to face charges under the country's Espionage Act.
It is not clear whether the restraints on Assange proceeding to Ecuador or some other destination from the U.K. will be removed after the Swedish prosecutors' proceedings.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled in February that the time Assange has spent in the London embassy amounted to arbitrary detention by the U.K. and Sweden. The decision by the body is not binding on the two countries but would have put some pressure on them to resolve the outstanding issue of Assange’s prolonged stay in the embassy.
Ecuador said Wednesday it stands by its offer of asylum to Assange as long as fears of political persecution continue. It said a date for the questioning by the investigators from Sweden is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. Ecuador said it had offered to facilitate Assange's questioning at the embassy for over four years.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday August 12 2016, @06:12PM
One or both sides have said this in the past, only for the meeting to never happen.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday August 12 2016, @06:36PM
Assange should just claim to be a Muslim refugee, because Europe (and Sweden especially) doesn't mind if those commit rape.
All joking aside, Assange is a deadman the second he steps outside those embassy doors whether or not the UN endorses his freedom, dead-mans' switch or not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 12 2016, @09:48PM
Knowing what Wikileaks did for Seth Rich [soylentnews.org], no one will dare to touch Assange.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday August 13 2016, @02:54AM
"$20k? Sure, we did it. We'll even donate the money so you don't have to pay. What's that? You'll pay when the's a *prosecution*. Oh, okay. We'll all keep our money, then." (Possible quote from someone, who may or may not, represent a TLA, commenting after Assange's death-by-accidentally-swallowing-a-laptop)
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex