SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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: 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.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(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]