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UK Said Assange Would Not be Extradited If He Leaves Embassy Refuge

posted by martyb on Friday October 26 2018, @09:31PM   
from the Come-out-come-out-wherever-you-are dept.

Fluffeh writes:

The United Kingdom told Ecuador in August that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would not be extradited if he left the country's London embassy, where he has lived under asylum since 2012, Ecuador's top government attorney said on Thursday.

[...] Salvador said Ecuador passed on the UK's response to Assange's lawyers, but noted that if Assange stayed in the embassy Ecuador would put new conditions on his stay. "Mr. Assange had a choice between turning himself in to British authorities with those assurances, or staying in the embassy of Ecuador, but given that the asylum had lasted six years with no signs of immediate resolution we were going to place certain rules." Salvador said at a news conference.

[...] The relationship between Assange and Ecuador has grown increasingly tense in the past year. Assange filed a lawsuit in an Ecuadorean court last week claiming the new asylum terms, which require him to pay for medical bills and telephone calls and to clean up after his pet cat, violate his rights.

Previously:
Julian Assange Sues Ecuador for "Violating His Fundamental Rights".

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Original Submission

• oh noes, cleaning up after a cat oh noes, cleaning up after a cat (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @10:14PM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @10:14PM (#754269)

  Excellent rhetorical construction:

  which require him... to clean up after his pet cat, violate his rights.

  In the face of mounting threats, the working class must defend Julian Assange [wsws.org]:

  The US and British media have picked up on this theme, portraying the restrictions imposed by the Ecuadorian government as trivial matters such as laundry and cleaning up after a pet cat. In reality, Assange had been subjected for more than five months, beginning on March 28, to conditions more onerous than those imposed on prisoners condemned to solitary confinement in maximum security lockups.

  In an attempt to silence the WikiLeaks editor and prevent him from making any comment on world political developments, Ecuadorian authorities cut off all of his communications and visits, outside of his lawyers, preventing him from communicating even with his own children and parents.

  This total isolation came on top of confinement inside the small embassy, without access to direct sunlight, for over six years. The clear intention is to break Assange and force him out.

  ...The government of Lenín Moreno, which, in sync with other Latin American regimes identified with the so-called “Pink Tide” and “Bolivarian Revolution,” has turned sharply to the right. Its principal concern appears to be cementing a rapprochement with US imperialism, which is demanding Assange’s head as the price of admission.

  This was spelled out bluntly a week ago in a bipartisan letter to Moreno drafted by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a senior Republican on the House Foreign Relations Committee and its former chairperson, and Eliot Engel, the panel’s ranking Democrat. The two affirmed that Congress was “eager to move forward in collaborating with your government,” but that the precondition was resolving “the status of Julian Assange.”

  Assange, the letter continued, is “a dangerous criminal and a threat to global security, and he should be brought to justice.” It concluded that “it will be very difficult for the United States to advance our bilateral relationship until Mr. Assange is handed over to the proper authorities.”

  Yankee imperialism has delivered its marching orders, and by every indication Lenín Moreno is falling into line.

  Hmm. I'm certain that the UK would never lie or mislead.... I guess the USA will just have to let him get away....

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• Re:oh noes, cleaning up after a cat Re:oh noes, cleaning up after a cat (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @11:15PM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @11:15PM (#754292)

  Citing a "source" that amounts to one persons blog doesn't hold much water. That post doesn't contain a single reference, not one.

  Parent

  • Re:oh noes, cleaning up after a cat (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @11:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @11:34PM (#754295)

    Where may I find the sources cited for the Reuters article?

    Parent