UK and Ecuador working on Assange escape mechanism Ecuador's foreign minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa says the country is working with the UK to find a way for Julian Assange to leave its embassy. Espinosa is attending the 47th General Assembly of the Organization of American States in Cancun and told reporters there that Ecuador and the UK are talking about doing something …
"At least he avoided ending up in the territory of that famously sycophantic, US-lapdog, Sweden.
Instead he stayed in the UK knowing that they never kowtow to the yanks, or bow down to their imperialistic demands."
And he did this thoughout a period in which the US government showed absolutely no interest in him - no charges, no extradition requests, nothing. Now, there is some suggestion that the new administration sees things differently.
I recently listened to that very program and having turned sour on Assange it was both a good story and good confirmation that my early feelings were right (when friends were lauding his selflessness).
The recent article about his announcement of big news which he then said he would make later was
instructive less by the text than by the photo...it almost seemed as if the photographer had to take special care to make the few there seem to be just part of a larger group.
It was also wonderfully ridiculous to see him standing on the small balcony, just above the street. A position which if it were another floor or two higher might have conveyed a sense of privilege, of prestige but as it was, it was ludicrous. But he seemed to behave as if he were giving an audience rather than an abbreviated statement.
He may have a trove of previously acquired files but I don't know that he is accomplishing much now; more still beating an old drum. I don't think history will judge him kindly; I hope his warts and all will be a continuing part of whatever story is told. I think Dickens could have done justice to the final meanness of Assange's character.
Something no one has asked (on other forums about him) is what about the money people who trusted him lost when he jumped bail? Judging from the radio program he has a very bad habit of not paying his bills, especially those of his lawyers, so why would he treat friends differently? I wonder if they still consider themselves his friends?
It was also wonderfully ridiculous to see him standing on the small balcony, just above the street. A position which if it were another floor or two higher might have conveyed a sense of privilege, of prestige but as it was, it was ludicrous. But he seemed to behave as if he were giving an audience rather than an abbreviated statement.
Yes, I wasn't exactly taken by his Urbi et Orbi attitude either. Oh, how he wishes we would forget he's but a measly fugitive from justice and a potential rapist*.
* That the investigation has been suspended is by no means the exoneration he tries to spin it as. His frantic antics to avoid these investigations suggests there is definitely something to these allegations or he would have brazened it out in a blaze of publicity.
I didn't think there was any educated person who didn't notice anything suspicious about the timing or the Sweedish charges.
If you pretend there is a trial using the available information in the media, then by using the American standard of reasonable doubt, Assange is innocent. But even that is over thinking the issue. The accusation arose after Assange posted the Iraq leaks.
Getting out of the embassy shouldn't be a problem - the 24/7 police presence was abandoned in 2015, when the total cost had already hit £11m. It's reassuring to know that the Met Police are so well resourced that they can spend that amount of money on keeping one bail jumper holed up, isn't it?
Addressing the implicit dig here - at the moment the Met is so stretched that some officers are working 30 hour shifts and they've been working 14 day weeks. That's 30 hours with only toilet breaks and maybe munching a donut in the car, 11 hours rest (including commuting and eating), then 30 more hours day after day.
When that money was spent, he was more than just a bail jumper. There was a European Arrest Warrant on him, which we were obliged to honour. Now that warrant has been dropped, it is purely a local matter, so perhaps it can be resolved.
On the other hand, the case itself hasn't been dropped, and the Swedes have said they will revive it if Assange ever comes within their reach. I think Assange has to be careful here. If he spends any time in police custody, the Swedes might act.
When that money was spent, he was more than just a bail jumper. There was a European Arrest Warrant on him, which we were obliged to honour.
You reckon the Met would spend £11m trying to enforce random European arrest warrants? Whatever one's sympathy for Assange, or lack of it, it's difficult to conclude other than that there's been a strong political dimension to this from Day 1 - which has only served to make his paranoid arguments more credible.
Credas,
There's no need for politics here. When was the last time a suspected criminal ran into a London embassy? This is something to be discouraged. So it needs to be seen to fail. Both to other crims, and embassies who might enjoy causing trouble.
Plus, if you very publicly take the piss out of the criminal justice system, it'll almost certainly try to bite you back.
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"There was a European Arrest Warrant on him, which we were obliged to honour. Now that warrant has been dropped, it is purely a local matter, so perhaps it can be resolved."
The original reason for him being given bail (the EAW) has disappeared, so his lawyers could probably get the breach of bail issue resolved fairly easily (e.g. he surrenders to the court, the government keeps the bail money from his friends, he walks free). He could then vanish to Ecuador or wherever, before the Yanks have a chance to dream up some charges and submit an extradition request.
> The original reason for him being given bail (the EAW) has disappeared, so his lawyers could probably get the breach of bail issue resolved fairly easily (e.g. he surrenders to the court, the government keeps the bail money from his friends, he walks free)
Possibly, but it's by no means a given. He did jump bail, which is contempt of court. It doesn't matter whether you think you're being tried for something that's bollocks, you're expected to comply with the court's orders. Deliberately ignoring them isn't something that will be looked on kindly, and that's all on Assange to be honest. He seemed perfectly happy with our legal system when taking his case through every level, and then legged it when it was obvious it wasn't going his way.
The bail money is gone either way, and I suspect he'll get more than a ticking off when he eventually presents himself to court. One thing is for sure, though, should he ever get nicked again, he's well and truly burnt any chance of getting bail ever again. Though that, of course, will also be part of a conspiracy against him...
"Possibly, but it's by no means a given. He did jump bail, which is contempt of court."
The standard penalty for a first time bail breach is a dressing down in court and "don't do it again"
This is usually the case even for habitual bail breachers (personal experience with a local thug causing trouble). Treating him differently would set things up for a messy set of appeals despite the publicity associated with what he did.
Unfortunately judges do treat high profile cases differently to low profile ones. So he might get a stiffer penalty, as it's public, in order to make a public point. Which is the downside of facing the criminal justice system if you're famous - the upside being you probably get better lawyers.
But it comes down to time. If he surrenders himself in the expectation of getting just a slapped wrist from the magistrate, he needs to be seen that day by the magistrate, and then deported to Australia that day. Otherwise he's going to be in cusody (being a bail-jumper he's an obvious flight risk) and at that point Sweden can nab him again. I can't see the wheels of justice turning that quickly.
Obviously if the conspiracy theories are to be believed, so might the US. Though even if true, they'd have to move pretty damned fast. If he genuinely believes the US stuff, and I think he is possibly that paranoid, then how's he ever going to leave the embassy?
"when the total cost had already hit £11m."
Unless that was a special job filled by officers on overtime, or they employed extra officers to account for that job, then the actual cost was a few less officers available for other duties. I'm sure it caused extra costs to be incurred but I take that £11m with a truck load of salt.
It is, but it doesn't have quite as much impact while he's holed up because the conspiracy theorists just say that he's holed up because the US want him. When it'll really make a difference, is when he's in easy, easy reach and they do nothing
The official line in the US might be that they are not interested in him. However, all it needs is one slimpy pole climibing DA to think that arresting Assange would be a sure fire route into the Governors mansion/a Senate seat or worse, President then all bets are off.
It think that Assange is affraid of is being [cough-cough] spirited away/removed by men in Beige Raincoats from a British Police Station, onto a US Jet and be out of UK Jurisdiction before any legal attempts to block it could be started. He'd probably surface in Gitmo a few years later.
We need to find a way to make it clear we're dumping him back on his Ozzie countrymen and not on Trump, then I'm sure we can take him into custody for the half hour it takes to dump him on a plane back to the land where everything is trying to kill you.
Not suggesting it will kill him, it's just his home.
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