UK 'threatens' to raid Ecuador embassy over Assange

That still doesn't address the question about why the Swedes refuse to question Assange (till their hearts content) in the UK ... i'd have to say that this is devastating proof that the extradition has nothing to do with answering any questions about sexual assault.

savvie??

 

yes.
lol - not sure why you think it's so complicated, but i'd hazard a guess that agents of/paid by the coercive government convinced them to play along or else they would disappear. savvie??

maybe not, but those wanting to following in Assange's footsteps would be a LOT more afraid for their own safety!

mate - once you can accept that western government are NOT the good guys who are there to represent their own people and do what's best of them - then it all becomes ridiculously easy to understand...

one day the scales will fall off the eyes. of perhaps not...

 

hope the bitches burn in hell

 

yep - the facts are pretty straightforward... unless of course one cant (or more likely don't want to) see further than their own nose.

 

she sure is ... can't stand the wench

 

savvie or clearer than water ?

 

bordsilver, I have not expressed myself correctly ^

Savvie, no, it is obviously clearer than water !

 

I'm not defending Western govts, I don't know why anyone would think I would.

I realise there isn't a lot of justice in the world and govts use the justice system to get what they want. Justice systems aren't independent, I get that.

There's just something with the story that the MSM is putting forward that doesn't sit right with me atm although I'm finding it hard to put my finger on exactly what it is. When there's this much drama and emotion about something it usually means people aren't thinking much. I guess we'll see if there is more or if it is exactly what it is being portrayed as.

 

Assange condemns WikiLeaks witch-hunt

http://www.theage.com.au/world/assange-condemns-wikileaks-witchhunt-20120819-24gys.html

 

I wonder if the Nobel Peace Prize winner will listen

 

I don't necessarily like Assange or what he has done, but I like what has been done to him a whole lot less. and where is the poor fuck Manning in all this ?

 

Thanks. This thread has put a lot of things into context.

I haven't seen anyone respond to hawkeye's question about why the Swedish girls are following through on all this so assiduously? Does anyone have good reasons (preferably besides fear of US reprisal unless based on direct quotes)?

 

Ecuador is hardly a shining light for citizen's right or freedom of the press...

.. so why do you think Ecuador is doing all this for Assange ?

How much money do you think they are going to get from Assange ?

Or is it just to stick it to the USA ?


I'm cynical about everyone involved in this whole thing.
Assange is no angel - he made public materials without concern of their consequences - who knows how many secret operatives/informants have been killed thanks to him - he doesn't care.
Sweden is not telling the whole story. The police action is costing the UK a lot of money - for what ?
The US are being their usual arrogant selves.
Ecuador must have a background motive for their actions.

 

The MSM benefits from wikileaks as a source of news.

The idea that an Australian could face the death penalty is newsworthy.

The threat to Assange is also a threat to the MSM - eg, this will happen to you too

However, you will notice a big difference between the reporting of the issue from US and non-US sources. I've say the US sources are just a bit scared, which is what the US Govt is trying to achieve after all.

I'm personally emotional about it as, despite the Swedish charges, this guy has the guys to stand up and release information that other people are too scared to. He is providing the public and the MSM with information they'd normally be too scared to get themselves. No newspaper would publish such information on it's own but if the information is freely available to many newspapers at once, they have safety and strength in numbers.

 

The Age said: "The Australian embassy in Washington has been tracking a US espionage investigation targeting the WikiLeaks publisher for more than 18 months.

"The declassified diplomatic cables, released under freedom of information laws, show Australia's diplomatic service takes seriously the likelihood that Assange will eventually be extradited to the US on charges arising from WikiLeaks obtaining leaked US military and diplomatic documents."

The article noted: "This view is at odds with foreign minister Bob Carr's repeated dismissal of such a prospect."

In other words, the Australian government is lying through its teeth about the threat facing Assange in a bid to justify abandoning an Australian citizen to please its powerful US ally.

The article said the Australian embassy in Washington reported in February that "the US investigation into possible criminal conduct by Mr Assange has been ongoing for more than a year".

It also said that "briefings for Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Senator Carr suggest the Australian government has no in-principle objection to Assange's extradition".

Abandoned by his own government, Assange has now been offered protection from a government that has shown itself on several occasions to be willing to stand up to the powerful in the interests of the powerless.

Correa was first elected president in 2006 on a platform of starting a "citizen's revolution" to tackle poverty and empower the poor.

His government oversaw the drawing up of a new progressive constitution that was adopted by popular vote in 2008. As well as guaranteeing the right of the poor to basic services such as health care and education, it also limits the ability of corporate interests to control the media.

His government has increased taxes on big corporations and raised social spending to the benefit of the nation's poor majority.

Strongly opposed by Ecuador's oligarchy, which controls much of the media, economy and state structures, Correa enjoys widespread popular support, with recent polls giving him an approval rating of more than 70%.

An attempted coup against Correa in 2010 was defeated, with supporters mobilising on the streets in his defence.

Correa's government is part of the left-wing bloc of nations organised into the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA), an eight-nation group that also includes Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia. It promotes regional integration to liberate Latin America from US domination.

Among other moves to strengthen Ecuadorean sovereignty, the Correa government has shut down a US military base inside Ecuador. Correa famously told US authorities they could keep their airbase "if Ecuador were allowed to have one of its own in Florida".

Correa's government is willing to stand up to powerful interests. Gillard's government is the exact opposite. In fact, Gillard rose to be prime minister in an internal Labor Party coup to placate powerful mining company interests.

The difference in approach is stark. A political outsider, Correa came to power on the back of growing popular rebellion.

To win progressive change in Australia, we need to build extra-parliamentary movements to challenge the widespread injustices fostered by the political elites of which the treatment of Assange is just one.

article here
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51918

 

Yep add the Australian govt to the list. Everyone involved in this are lying hypocrites, including Assange.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Pull the other one.

I'm waiting for the ultimate irony: when wikileaks (or a copycat site) is used to publish the private correspondence between Assange and Ecuador.

 

Quote
" limits the ability of corporate interests to control the media."
....................................
This is what we need in Australia.
There is no real democracy without it.

 

I've wondered the same thing, but it is true that hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned. Also it is easily possible that this has been magnified in their minds due to the power and persuasiveness of the state. The fact that they were both in casual sleeping arrangements with the number one hacking community poster boy could also mean that they were in positions where they could be compromised - "no jail on the hacking charges if you pursue your totally justified claim for us" sort of thing. It happens all the time.

The single flag for me is that Sweden appears interested in nothing more than getting Assange on Swedish soil. The cost of this witch hunt to Sweden and UK must be heading into the multi-millions and they already questioned and released him once. One would think that shipping him back to answer the same questions again for a newly appointed prosecutor who now wants to pursue the case, has more to do with shipping him back than getting a statement.

I believe it is all a move by the world's governments to close down critical points of view outside the mainstream where such points of view can be controlled and moderated. This is a real conundrum since I think that if they manage rendition on Assange and execute him or lock him up for 40 years then they will have achieved their purpose. If not, then I can see an engineered event that would control and restrict access and content on the internet. (e.g the NBN filters that Conroy wants).

Totalitarian governments (and that's almost all of them, no matter how they pretty up their iron fists with velvet gloves and elections), learned early last century to control the press to ensure the sheep remain docile in the face of government actions. The actions on the telephone hacking and British Parliaments pursuit of Murdoch is more related to pay back over the expenses scandal than justice I think, but the effect will be the same, once again more hesitancy to publish.

 

Thanks Julie. Maybe underestimating the "Hell hath no fury" angle. Are they married I wonder?

Unless I'm missing stuff, I wouldn't have thought that the costs would be in the multi-millions. Besides the recent policing efforts I would have thought it mainly involved a few additional weeks of (mainly media) time by a handful of people already on the payroll doing their standard jobs. Hence, irritating distraction time seems to be the biggest cost.

 

Never underestimate that angle Bordsilver LOL.

This has been going on since 2010 and everytime Assange moves they mobilise the riot squads. Now they've 20 or so police on 24 hour watch outside the embassy. I think the multi-millions is a fair estimate. In the meantime, budget cuts are rendering parts of the UK no-go zones, and murder and serious assault is on the rise.