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Swedish prosecutor has decided to discontinue the investigation against Julian Assange, who has been accused of sex crimes in Sweden. If this means that Julian is free to leave the embassy to go to Ecuador or not remains to be seen.
takyon: It does not mean that Assange is free to leave the embassy at this time, although his lawyer is asking for an arrest warrant to be dropped:
The London Metropolitan Police, however, made it clear in a statement that there is an outstanding arrest warrant for Assange. "Westminster Magistrates' Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange following him failing to surrender to the court on the 29 June 2012. The Metropolitan Police Service is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the Embassy," it read.
The maximum penalty for breaching bail is up to a year in prison or a fine.
The police also recognized that Assange is now "wanted for a much less serious offense" and said they would "provide a level of resourcing which is proportionate to that offense."
It remains unclear whether there is a standing U.S. extradition order for Assange. The policy of Britain's Home Office is to neither confirm nor deny extradition orders until such time as a person has been arrested in relation to an order. Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he was stepping up efforts to arrest Assange as part of a broader fight against those who leak secrets into the public domain.
Also at BBC and The Guardian.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by jmorris on Friday May 19 2017, @06:31PM (32 children)
Doesn't really matter other than now there won't be a fight between the US and Sweden when Assange turns himself in. Remember? He promised President Obama that if he let Manning out that he would give himself up. It is time to fulfill that promise. Now that we are in bizarro world it will the the Democrats baying for his blood and Trump's people probably calling for a lighter sentence. And at any moment Assange could drop a word on the Seth Rich murder and blow the current political world into orbit, and know he would almost certainly suffer the same fate as everyone else who pissed off the Clintons. Interesting times.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @06:39PM (13 children)
In other news, Anthony Weiner pled guilty and is going to federal prison. Cry murder all you like but it's always a weiner that finishes the Clintons.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 19 2017, @07:45PM (12 children)
Anthony Weiner will not go to prison. High Court. Low Court.
But your remark about the Clintons could be correct.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug into other computer. Right-click paste.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday May 19 2017, @07:51PM (11 children)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/nyregion/anthony-weiner-guilty-plea-sexting.html [nytimes.com]
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(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 19 2017, @07:58PM (8 children)
For people who go to Low Court.
0 <= sentence <= 10
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug into other computer. Right-click paste.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday May 19 2017, @08:05PM (7 children)
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 19 2017, @08:13PM (6 children)
Ok. I just wouldn't expect justice for someone who was a congress critter. But strange things happen.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug into other computer. Right-click paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @08:52PM (5 children)
> Ok. I just wouldn't expect justice for someone who was a congress critter
Seems like it happens often enough. Here's an incomplete list of recent sitting members of congress who were sentenced to prison:
Michael Grimm - 8 months in prison
Rick Renzi - 3 months in prison
William Jefferson - 13 years in prison
James Traficant - 8 years in prison
Nicholas Mavroules - 15 months in prison
Mel Reynolds - 6 years in prison
Walter R Tucker III 27 months in prison
Dan Rostenkowski - 15 months in prison
Joseph Kolter - 6 months in prison
Bob Ney - 17 months in prison (this was the guy who invented freedom fries)
And of course Dennis Hastert got a 15 month prison sentence, like Weiner he was not in congress at the time of his indictment.
There are probably more former congress members who got prison sentences too, I'm just too lazy to look for them.
The point being that for all of our flaws, in America we still do hold power to account on a regular basis.
We aren't perfect, but we are better than most other countries. Don't let them trick you into believing otherwise.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @01:15AM (4 children)
Heh. Haha. That's a good one.
The people you vote for are not the people running things. The career bureaucrats of the "shadow government" who can be drained from the swamp are not the people running things, either.
You are all cows, etc.
(Score: 1) by charon on Saturday May 20 2017, @04:41AM (3 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @05:24AM (2 children)
Nice strawman
(Score: 1) by charon on Sunday May 21 2017, @01:35AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @02:48PM
AC upvote for insightful
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 19 2017, @08:00PM (1 child)
If Mr. Weiner does get prison. I won't shed a tear. It's not that I like the guy.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug into other computer. Right-click paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @08:05PM
Best example of nominative determinism ever.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @06:39PM
If you really believe all this, I have a vacuum to sell you. It blows.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @07:03PM
It is time to fulfill that promise.
He/his lawyer already weaseled out of it because Obama didn't exactly fulfill his part of the deal.
I argue semantics for trivial things even when my ass isn't on the line, so I can't really fault him. IIRC Manning was supposed to receive a full pardon immediately in exchange for Assange turning himself in for a trial.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Grishnakh on Friday May 19 2017, @07:31PM (1 child)
Now that we are in bizarro world it will the the Democrats baying for his blood and Trump's people probably calling for a lighter sentence.
What are you talking about? It looks like Trump wants Joe Lieberman to be the next FBI head, and Lieberman is already talking about how badly he wants to prosecute Assange.
It's funny how the Trumpists all think that Trump is somehow different and better from the regular politicians, and is going to do things differently instead of being beholden to various moneyed interests. Trump has already proven that wrong many times.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Friday May 19 2017, @10:02PM
Joe Lieberman has wanted Assange's head on a pike since 2010 or so when Wikileaks released the Collateral Murder video. And I'm speaking only somewhat metaphorically here: He was among those calling for drone strikes and shooting Assange on sight. He was also at the forefront of attempting to silence Wikileaks by cutting off their funding by calling up the major credit card processors and demanding that they refuse to process transactions for Wikileaks (you still can't donate directly).
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Friday May 19 2017, @07:36PM (10 children)
> He promised President Obama that if he let Manning out that he would give himself up.
The offer was made on Twitter:
If Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case
-- https://mobile.twitter.com/wikileaks/status/819630102787059713 [twitter.com]
After clemency was granted, however, Wikileaks stated that it wasn't what Assange had asked for or meant.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wikileaks-julian-assange-extradition-pledge-chelsea-manning-clemency/ [cbsnews.com]
thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/314783-assange-lawyer-conditions-not-met-for-assange-manning-extradition-offer
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday May 19 2017, @07:40PM (3 children)
The U.S. hasn't officially sought Assange's extradition. Not under Obama anyway.
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(Score: 2) by butthurt on Friday May 19 2017, @08:31PM
The summary says
It remains unclear whether there is a standing U.S. extradition order for Assange.
Is it wrong?
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday May 19 2017, @10:11PM
That is correct.
Extradition implies that the US is going to put Julian Assange on trial. The problem with putting Assange on trial is that his lawyers could very easily (under a fair judge at least) get the case dismissed on the grounds that he's never been in US jurisdiction, and the Pentagon Papers case makes it very clear that what he did was legal even if he had been in US jurisdiction.
However, the Swedes very noticeably refused to question Assange without having him in physical custody, and refused in the UK courts to promise that they would not turn him over to the US. Which means that the US does want to get their hands on him.
That means the US wants to have him, but not to try him. Which means Assange wouldn't be headed to a US courtroom or even a US prison, he'd be headed to a facility where he could be tortured, or killed immediately.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday May 20 2017, @07:53PM
The US hasn't made a PUBLIC formal extradition request. These things aren't done in public, after all. One of the UK articles specifically notes that the Brits don't make them public, until after an arrest is made.
I, for one, believe that there is a standing extradition agreement over Assange, between the US and the UK. The day he walks out of that embassy, he'll be grabbed, attend a couple hearings, then soon be on a plane to the US.
(Score: 1, Troll) by jmorris on Friday May 19 2017, @08:11PM (4 children)
What? You are trying to say the Lightworker bought a bag of magic beans from Assange and when he opened it only found rocks? No way! Obama is smarter than his own advisors, a better speechwriter than his speechwriters, no way the smartest man to ever sit in the Oval Office got took in a bait and switch. A man who put a thrill up the leg of serious, seasoned journalists. Look at my shocked face!
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Friday May 19 2017, @08:27PM (3 children)
No, I wasn't trying to say that. I don't know Mr. Obama's motivations.
(Score: 0, Troll) by jmorris on Friday May 19 2017, @09:40PM (2 children)
So you are implying Obama just turned a traitor out of prison because he hates America? Because it really does come down to one or the other as there was no legitimate reason to release the convicted traitor other than a trade.
(Score: 1) by butthurt on Friday May 19 2017, @09:56PM (1 child)
I wasn't implying that either. I only wanted to point out that there was something factual in what you had written.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @01:27AM
I only wanted to point out that there was something factual in what you had written.
You shouldn't have bothered. Including something factual was probably an oversight on jmorris' part. I'm sure he won't let it happen again.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:22AM
Another article explains the distinctions among a pardon, clemency, and commutation:
A "pardon wipes out the conviction while a commutation leaves the conviction intact but wipes out the punishment."
[...]
Commutation is a form of clemency [...]
-- http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3339765&page=1 [go.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @08:01PM
Doesn't really matter other than now there won't be a fight between the US and Sweden when Assange turns himself in. Remember? He promised President Obama that if he let Manning out that he would give himself up. It is time to fulfill that promise
It wasn't a promise, it was an offer which Obama rejected.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday May 20 2017, @12:30AM
He promised to turn himself in if Manning was PARDONED. Manning's sentence was commuted. That's not the same thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:53AM
No, the promise was to turn himself in if Manning was *fully pardoned*. He hasn't been pardoned.
But it still brings up the Rhetorical Question Of The Day:
If the Americans have nothing to do with this, and if - as claimed - there are no proceedings nor charges laid against him (other than bail-skipping, which is a British matter), then who exactly is he supposed to be giving himself up to in the US, and for what?