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posted by martyb on Sunday October 21 2018, @04:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the be-nice-to-your-hosts dept.

Julian Assange Says He's Suing Ecuador for 'Violating His Fundamental Rights'

Julian Assange announced on Friday that he was suing the Ecuadorean government for "violating his fundamental rights," claiming that his longtime hosts at the country's embassy in London are limiting his contact with the outside world and censoring his speech.

His legal team in the matter, led by the former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, revealed the suit at a news conference in Quito, where the lawsuit was filed. The action aims to prevent strict new rules governing Mr. Assange's visitors and online activity from taking effect.

The policies were laid out in a nine-page memo that was published by a news site this month. (They include directives to clean his bathroom and look after his cat.)

Clean up your room and brush your teeth before you go to bed.

Also at Reuters, CNN, and USA Today.

Previously: Julian Assange has His Internet Access Cut Off by Ecuador
Ecuador Spent $5 Million Protecting and Spying on Julian Assange
Ecuador Reportedly Almost Ready to Hand Julian Assange Over to UK Authorities
Associated Press Publishes Supposedly Leaked WikiLeaks Documents
The Guardian: Russian Diplomats Planned to Sneak Julian Assange Out of the UK


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by canopic jug on Sunday October 21 2018, @04:55PM (20 children)

    by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 21 2018, @04:55PM (#751712) Journal

    Well, he is being unlawfully detained [un.org] by Sweden and the UK. Now Ecuador is in on the act at behest of the US. Notice that the smear campagin against him ramped up once Ecuador cut him off from all outside communication?

    It's interesting, in a disappointing kind of way, that the social media have been so sucessful in misrepresenting the whole case [foreignpolicyjournal.com] even to the point of frequently spreading outright lies far and wide. I'm normally quite happy with SN but this topic is where the editors seem to drop the ball. They're not alone though, the mainstream media has been piling on against their fellow journalist for a long time.

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    Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
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  • (Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @06:49PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @06:49PM (#751742)

    Well, he is being unlawfully detained [un.org] by Sweden and the UK.

    What a bunch of garbage. Assangel is free to leave the embassy whenever he wants. The fact that he skipped bail in the UK is his doing, and if he doesn't want to be held accountable for that he needs to find a way to get out of the UK without stepping foot on their soil. Maybe the Ecuadorians can get him over to the Saudi embassy. They seem to be able to help people vanish.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @08:16PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @08:16PM (#751761)

      I don't think it is fear of punishment from the UK that is preventing him from leaving the embassy. It is extradition to the U.S., which the U.K. will roll over and allow to happen, that frightens him. Why don't you speak to that?

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @09:13PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @09:13PM (#751771)

        I don't think that is unreasonable, but Assange's fear of being grabbed by the UK is what could possibly get him sent to the US. If he hadn't skipped bail the UK would not be sitting outside the embassy eating donuts and drinking coffee.

        Also, keep in mind that the current occupant of the White House does not want Assange questioned by US law enforcement. If Assange spills the beans on Stone and the Trump campaign - and Assange will sing like a bird because he has no loyalty to anyone other than to himself - it won't look good.

        Assangel's best chance is to avoid the US is to start acting like a grateful guest of the Ecuadorian embassy. But his sense of entitlement prevents him from doing that.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Sunday October 21 2018, @07:02PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Sunday October 21 2018, @07:02PM (#751744) Journal

    All things considered, I think we (SN) have been pretty fair to Assange. Want to be more specific?

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    • (Score: 5, Informative) by canopic jug on Monday October 22 2018, @04:13AM

      by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 22 2018, @04:13AM (#751864) Journal

      I offer the links in the summary under "Previously" as well as the commentary in the summary itself as evidence. The articles against him are light on facts and heavy on casting aspersions. The link about Ecuador spending $5 million on him stands out. It is all about perspective. The UK has been spending around £10.4k per day on his siege, which could be ended by their word not to extradite him to the US. Since the siege has been going since 2012, the sum is probably going well over £40M (about €46M or $52M USD) by now [smh.com.au]. It is also notable that the Australian government refuses to defend him, a citizen [sydneycriminallawyers.com.au]. Even the reasons for the Swedish prosecution have not been covered well. The women involved state that the case was trumped up by the police. The original investigator dropped the case, and a new investigator only picked up the case and strangely issued an Interpol red alert after Assange had requested permission to leave the country, got it, and left. Then, in violation of their standard practice, the Swedish prosecution consistently refused to interview him either on-site or via phone, dodging questions about it for years.

      If there were reasons to criticize him, then that would be a different matter but there aren't. However, that has not stopped politicians and fellow journalists from making insinuations. Anyway, all those insinuations are working well as distractions from the material that Wikileaks has been publishing over the years. The attacks on the messenger and the resulting noise have successfully drowned out the anti-war / anti-corruption message.

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      Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
  • (Score: 1, Troll) by looorg on Sunday October 21 2018, @08:10PM (8 children)

    by looorg (578) on Sunday October 21 2018, @08:10PM (#751760)

    Sweden dropped its case over a year ago. He is now claiming asylum from the UK and their charge of skipping bail, or something along those lines or whatever paranoid fantasy he is trying to escape from. Do try and keep up with how the events unfold. He is free to leave the embassy any day he wants.

    • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Sunday October 21 2018, @09:22PM (7 children)

      by exaeta (6957) on Sunday October 21 2018, @09:22PM (#751774) Homepage Journal

      I don't think he was ever afraid of the actual charges against him per se. Any charge which he could be arrested under is reason to fear leaving.

      The fact he hasn't be allowed to return without charges yet is illustrative of how the system is working against him, justified or not.

      Though in fairness, this man is paranoid and delusional. A half decent lawyer would easily be able to defend him from whatever U.S. prosecution would bring.

      --
      The Government is a Bird
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 22 2018, @12:14AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 22 2018, @12:14AM (#751819)

        Though in fairness, this man is paranoid and delusional. A half decent lawyer would easily be able to defend him from whatever U.S. prosecution would bring.

        I disagree - we don't know what the US government has on Asange. It could be much more than we know about (not everything leaks, and false accusations may not exist ... yet) Also, with the speed (or lack thereof) of the federal courts Asange could be held in prison for a year or two. They wouldn't let him out on bail based on what he pulled in the UK. And who knows what the US's relationship with Ecuador will be if/when Asange ends up in the US (because the current administration's heart and soul is all about "winning" or being petty).

      • (Score: 2) by Pav on Monday October 22 2018, @01:33AM

        by Pav (114) on Monday October 22 2018, @01:33AM (#751841)

        Isn't a big part of the Russia narrative that Wikileaks was collaborating?

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by shortscreen on Monday October 22 2018, @09:28AM (4 children)

        by shortscreen (2252) on Monday October 22 2018, @09:28AM (#751917) Journal

        Lawyers eh? Just like they defended all those gitmo prisoners from all those charges that US prosecutors (didn't even bother to) bring?

        • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Monday October 22 2018, @06:38PM (3 children)

          by exaeta (6957) on Monday October 22 2018, @06:38PM (#752085) Homepage Journal

          It's a bit harder to extradite a public figure and detain them without trial than a random Muslim.

          --
          The Government is a Bird
          • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 23 2018, @12:54PM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 23 2018, @12:54PM (#752452)

            He should join islam! Isn't that what desperate people do in desperate circumcisions?

            • (Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday October 23 2018, @09:04PM (1 child)

              by looorg (578) on Tuesday October 23 2018, @09:04PM (#752588)

              A lot of people do seem to find Jebuz or Mohammed or whomever during their "wrongful incarceration". Now I'm actually starting to wonder what would happen to the whole circus of JA just converted and came out as super religious. Would he then be doubly persecuted? On the other hand muslim that are enemies of Uncle Same have booked rooms at the Gitmo Hilton ...

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Murdoc on Sunday October 21 2018, @08:17PM (4 children)

    by Murdoc (2518) on Sunday October 21 2018, @08:17PM (#751762)

    I was interested in what you said about "misrepresenting the whole case" and wanted to know more, so I checked out that link. First of all, the title of that article was disappointing: "The Persecution of Julian Assange Proves That Western Values No Longer Exist" Really? They don't exist anywhere? In any amount? That's just immature hyperbole. But still I read on. It was shaky writing that didn't instil me with a lot of confidence in what they were trying to say. Finally they lost me at the part about the 'mainstream media dedicated to demonizing Russia and Trump' and I'm left wondering what the heck kind of site is this? I got my answer to that pretty quick when I spotted an article in the sidebar that was anti-vax. So I think I'm going to request a better source of information about this Assange thing.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @11:40PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @11:40PM (#751811)

    no doubt it's a smear campaign but some of it must be true. I mean the guy should be also breaking down over the years of pressure and isolation, that thing takes a toll on his mind