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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: 2, Interesting) by jdccdevel on Thursday April 11 2019, @02:53PM (6 children)
Despite what some people say, I think this is a good thing for Assange.
The man has been in a prison of his own making since 2012. He's been confined the same area as a small apartment. Sure, it's not solitary confinement, but it was still a jail of sorts.
The situation he placed himself in was completely unsustainable. Something had to give, and (especially given the personality of the man, and the stories of his stay in the embassy) I'm not surprised his asylum was revoked.
According to the CBC article [www.cbc.ca] I just read, he's being extradited to face charges for "conspiracy to access a classified US Government Computer" in the USA. The same article indicates the charges come with a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.
So, 5 years from now, he's almost certainly going to be a free man.
I honestly believe, given the charges he's facing, that he's been making a spectacle of himself to keep WikiLeaks and his own name in the news and public consciousness.
Now, is this a good thing for Journalism? No, but conflating spying with journalism isn't good for journalism either. That's why the USA couldn't just let him walk free.
One thing's for certain, the spectacle isn't over yet.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Freeman on Thursday April 11 2019, @03:47PM (3 children)
I have a swamp in New Mexico I'd like to sell. You interested? Comes with a free bridge.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by jdccdevel on Thursday April 11 2019, @05:30PM (2 children)
You do remember that Chelsea Manning was charged, convicted, and already released for her part in this so-called conspiracy? (Yes, She's in jail again, but that's for a different set of charges.)
Considering that she's the one who actually gave WikiLeaks the documents, I'd say the chances of him getting out in 5 years or less are actually pretty good.
The only thing this whole asylum escapade actually accomplished for Assange is it raised his celebrity profile high enough that he's probably not just going to disappear into a third-world jail somewhere. If he disappears, countries like Equador will have the ammunition they need to deny U.S. extradition requests. Considering how much geopolitical power the USA wields through extradition, I can't see the USA wanting to damage that for someone like Assange.
He's raised his profile high enough that having him disappear isn't practical from a publicity standpoint. Good for him. Now it's time to move on to the next chapter, and there's no way this was going to go any differently.
Of course, that doesn't mean he can't die in some "random accident" or prison riot. That's the risk you run when you expose government secrets. That said, I really don't think that they want to martyr the founder of WikiLeaks. The conspiracy theorists would go NUTS, and it would play too much against their own purpose, (i.e. Making whole thing fade from the public consciousness).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday April 11 2019, @06:01PM
I'll raise it and offer you some beautiful oceanfront property in Kansas, too.
And no, there is no way they will let him die from Bubba. They need him to be degraded first so he won't be a martyr.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @08:43PM
You mean Alabama [vox.com]?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @04:07PM
Also the charge is pretty weak. They say he conspired with Manning to crack a SIPRnet password (SIPRnet is like a DoD classified internet but classification is just SECRET level). He failed to crack the password so the conspiracy didnt even yield results. Even a failed conspiracy is a crime (just like trying to murder someone is a crime even if you don't succeed) but its relatively weak.
Dude had a sweet setup in the embassy. Also he's certainly a multi-millionaire because of all the bitcoin people donated to wikileaks before the price skyrocketed. And if you think a guy like Assange hasn't been "paying" himself generously from the funds of the organization he has complete control over, then you don't know people.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 11 2019, @06:50PM
He failed to clean his cat's litterbox which is tantamount to animal cruelty. So now he has to answer to the NSA *and* the SPCA.