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from the shoulda-taken-the-tea-chest-option-years-back dept.
Breaking: Met police confirm that Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy.
Mr Assange took refuge in the embassy seven years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that has since been dropped.
The Met Police said he was arrested for failing to surrender to the court.
Ecuador's president Lenin Moreno said it withdrew Mr Assange's asylum after his repeated violations to international conventions.
But WikiLeaks tweeted that Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Mr Assange's political asylum "in violation of international law".
[...] Scotland Yard said it was invited into the embassy by the ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum.
After his arrest for failing to surrender to the court, police said he had been further arrested on behalf of US authorities under an extradition warrant.
He doesn't look happy, to say the least.
Update: As this is a breaking story, more information is coming out regularly - one source that updates their reports frequently is Zero Hedge - thanks boru!
Previously: New Analysis of Swedish Police Report Confirms Julian Assange's Version in Sweden's Case
Ecuador Reportedly Almost Ready to Hand Julian Assange Over to UK Authorities
UK Said Assange Would Not be Extradited If He Leaves Embassy Refuge
Inadvertent Court Filing Suggests that the U.S. DoJ is Preparing to Indict Julian Assange
U.S. Ramping Up Probe Against Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Says
Ecuador Denies That Julian Assange Will be Evicted From Embassy in London
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bradley13 on Thursday April 11 2019, @02:31PM (12 children)
"When was the appropriate time for Assange to stride out?"
At latest, he still could have done this when they came to get him. Did you not see the video? They literally had to carry him out of the embassy, him thrashing and fussing the whole way. Seriously, have some dignity, man.
As for the extradition - it was long suspected that the US would try, but it's not a slam dunk. Even though the UK is the US's little puppet, the UK still has laws. And (AFAIK, IANAL, etc.) one of those laws is that extradition only happens if the act of which he is accused is actually a crime in the UK. They'll have to prove that in court, before they can extradite him.
On the US side: You have to love all the secrecy. Secret charges, a secret extradition request. Secret government, the hallmark of a functioning democracy. /sarc And what, exactly, are they going to charge him with? It can't be espionage, because he's not the one who stole the secrets, he's just the publisher. And as a publisher he is not answerable to US law, because he's not a US citizen, and did not do his work in the US.
Assuming he gets some good legal help, which is likely (if he can stop being an entitled a**hole, and not piss off his helpers), he is in a position to make the governments look really stupid here, which can only help Wikileaks' cause. Frankly, he should have walked out of the embassy this years ago, voluntarily, instead of cowering in the Ecuadorian embassy until he overstayed his welcome.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @03:27PM (1 child)
He was holed up in a room with almost daily harassment from the embassy officials. His only companion a cat was forced up for adoption. He kept his sanity under such pressure a lot of people commit suicide. A lot. And he undertook a task that had the fucking biggest big brother wanting to unperson him. Several countries that routinely roll over innocent people's dead body like it is the fuel of their economy. He doesn't owe a damn class to anyone. I am willing to believe that from his perspective the people who have come to get him have a lot less class than him. What have YOU done in your life that you are passing judgments on him, though?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:39PM
(Score: 4, Informative) by canopic jug on Thursday April 11 2019, @04:11PM (9 children)
At latest, he still could have done this when they came to get him. Did you not see the video? They literally had to carry him out of the embassy, him thrashing and fussing the whole way. Seriously, have some dignity, man.
You appear to be mistakenly assuming that the cops are there to do things fairly or justly.
Swollen knees are among the ailments he is suffering from as a result of illegal confinement. I'd expect he can barely walk, perhaps only a shuffle. The whole purpose of frog marching him out the door is to make him look bad. That's what perp walks are for, to humiliate and harrass the person being detained, as well as to provide fodder for a propaganda campaign against him. So even if his legs had been healthy, they'd have still walked him out like that. Being semi-crippled and in pain just makes it that much easier to rough him up and make him look bad. Already mainstream media is doing what it can to parrot flat out lies and fill in with insinuations where a lie would get caught out.
Again, a perp walk is not about getting a suspect to the vehicle, it's a showy, public display put on by the arresting officers. The frog march is done to deny him a dignified exit, and they'll do that no matter whether he is healthy or not. The screwed up knees just allow the cops to hurt him badly in the process while pretending not to, as you can see in some of the photos with the cops apparently snickering at the display.
Whatever. After a kangaroo court in the UK, it'll be off to the US for a secret trial with a secret court and secret evidence. The "hacking" accusation is just a placeholder to allow the UK court to claim plausible deniability for later when the US throws the book at him.
How many tens of millions has the UK wasted staking out the embassy? It's not like there's a series of crime waves there due to slashed police funding.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:36PM (8 children)
Now I'm confused. I thought that Assange voluntarily entered the Ecuadorian embassy after requesting (not being offered, asking for) asylum there.
How is that "illegal confinement." By that logic, every time I enter my home (where I chose to be), I'm being illegally confined, right? Those deep state fuckers are really oppressing me!
Do you even read the stuff you write, or is it all just stream of consciousness that's flies out, never to be considered (or previewed) again?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:43PM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by sjames on Friday April 12 2019, @04:05AM (1 child)
Much in the way we are all free to dive into the wood chipper at any time.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Friday April 12 2019, @04:20AM
l'appel du vide^Wdéchiquetage de bois
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @09:00PM (2 children)
Come back when the United Nations agree with your case, you whiny little nazi bitch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @10:13PM (1 child)
WTF are you blathering on about?
illegal (adj.) [oxforddictionaries.com]:
confinement(n) [oxforddictionaries.com]:
Let's start with "illegal." Assange was granted asylum by the government of Ecuador. A grant of asylum [wikipedia.org] is not illegal, nor is the person (in this case, Assange) granted asylum prevented from revoking such asylum. What's more, The UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights [un.org] (Section 14) states:
So. Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador. That is, according to the UN, Assange's right and perfectly legal.
On to your claim that Assange was confined [oxforddictionaries.com]. Assange was never restricted by the Ecuadorians from leaving the embassy. In fact, they've wanted him to leave for quite some time. Assange was free to leave at any time, so he was not confined.
Whatever you may think about Assange, the UK, the US and Sweden and the efforts to prosecute him, Assange was never "illegally confined" in the Ecuadorian embassy.
tl;dr: You're talking out of your ass and it smells that way too.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Friday April 12 2019, @04:07AM
He was constructively confined by the UK. Look up the legal concept of "construction".
(Score: 1, Troll) by canopic jug on Friday April 12 2019, @04:14AM (1 child)
How is that "illegal confinement." By that logic, every time I enter my home (where I chose to be), I'm being illegally confined, right? Those deep state fuckers are really oppressing me!
Not confused, just lying. I recognize that you are paid to spread specific lies. That particular lie was debunked again three years ago by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which said that the various forms of deprivation of liberty to which Julian Assange has been subjected constitute a form of arbitrary detention [ohchr.org]. Arbitrary detention is illegal and the positions of the UK, Sweden, and the US which kept him there formed conditions for abitrary detention.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @12:46PM
Paid? Really? I wouldn't mind getting paid. What other "lies" should I tell so I can get paid?