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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: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 12 2016, @08:26PM
There really aren't very many truly valid opinions about whether Assange committed a sexual assault. Both women involved tell the same story - they were NOT raped, they were NOT assaulted. Both women have been very clear about that.
Assange may have committed a societal transgression related to his sexual escapades, but he is not guilty of a rape or an assault.
Now, this is where opinions become much more valid.
IMHO, whatever social more Assange violated is pretty damned petty in comparison to what he has gone through for the past four years. In a sane world, when the prosecutor declined to file any charges the first time, that would have been the end of everything. In a still somewhat sane world, those charges might have been refiled, as they were, and Assange may or may not have been found guilty of said social more. We're talking of something petty, that warrants ten days in jail, and/or 80 hours community service, and maybe a fine.
Personally, I really can't understand that he did ANYTHING wrong. Both women seduced him - he didn't come on to them. Both women stipulated that he use a condom, and he did so. Both women consented to "morning after" sex, after being informed that he had no more condoms. Consensual sex is consensual sex, with or without a condom. But, it did apparently violate a social understanding.
Different strokes for different folks, and all that. It's their country, if that's how society has agreed to do things, then so be it. But, it's not something for which a man is going to be sentenced to years of prison. It's not something for which international warrants are issued, and extradition hearing held for. No rapes, no assualts, no paternity issue, no harm, no foul.