I used to hate-admire Julian Assange, back in the day. I thought he was a bold truth-teller who had some kind of unconventional set of principles. But nowadays, I just think he’s a racist shill for Russians. He either knowingly chooses to be a tool of the Russian propaganda machine or he doesn’t care about being used because his principles have become twisted beyond belief. Assange has been in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for years – Ecuador gave him asylum in 2012. For years now, Ecuador has made noise about how this cannot be a permanent situation and they are no longer happy with Assange living in the embassy indefinitely. For years, we’ve heard that they were on the verge of revoking his asylum and expelling him from the embassy, regardless of the consequences. Well, it finally happened.
London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed on Thursday that they had arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in the British capital. The arrest came after Ecuador dropped Assange’s asylum status, effectively evicting him from their embassy. Assange hadn’t left the embassy since August 2012, fearing that if he stepped off Ecuador’s diplomatic soil he would be arrested and extradited to the U.S. for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks.
The police said Assange was detained “on a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 29 June 2012, for failing to surrender to the court” and taken to a central London police station “where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates’ Court as soon as is possible.”
Video captured by Russian news agency Ruptly showed police removing Assange, 47, from the embassy on Thursday in handcuffs. His hair appeared to have grown significantly longer and whiter since his last appearance, and he had a long grey beard.
The police said they were “invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government’s withdrawal of asylum.” Ecuador’s government said it had dropped it’s protection of Assange, “for repeatedly violating international conventions and protocol of coexistence.”
Everything is moving fast now – clearly, Ecuador worked out a deal with the British government, if not the Brits AND the Americans. Ecuador revoked asylum, invited British police in (on what was technically Ecuadorian soil) and allowed Assange to be arrested. Now American journalists are being tipped off that American authorities plan to seek extradition in connection with “sealed federal charges filed in the Eastern District of Virginia. Assange’s lawyer has also confirmed a US extradition request.” The sealed charges are likely in connection to the Chelsea Manning hacking, but honestly, Assange and Wikileaks have been involved in other plots in America, including the Russian campaign to elect Donald Trump.
Update: Yeah, Assange is already being charged in connection with the Chelsea Manning hacking.
Just In: The Justice Department says that Assange is being charged for assisting Chelsea Manning in hacking.
“Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on DOD computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network” pic.twitter.com/DBs3pN4uGm
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 11, 2019
Also I hope someone in the embassy takes care of Assange’s cat. The cat is innocent.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Hahahahahahaha! Enjoy prison!
+1000! I might end up breaking my “no alcohol til easter” rule to celebrate this…
He’s a coward. Pamela Anderson said words, “Britain is America’s bitch and blah blah Brexit” Oh the irony…Pamela is anyone’s bitch for $$$. She’s just mad that one of her John’s was arrested. I used to be a fan of Pam back in the day…and any girl can yacht if that’s how she chooses to make a living, just not with a rapist, traitor who is too much of a coward to face the music. You do the crime, be prepared to do the time.
And given how nasty the UK tabloids are I expect them to out her dirty laundry over these comments. It’s been rumoured for a few years that she is his (Assange) GF and the press have even referred to her as that.
Wow now this is tea 👀
I could watch looped footage of his cuffed and forcible removal all day long, and still laugh as hard and loudly as the first time I saw it this morning!
Yes to all the commenters here and especially @NotSoSocialButterfly so watchable. I especially loved how the judge and Ecuadorian president spoke out on him. District Judge Michael Snow noted the: “the behavior of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest.”
Yeah I would petition to take his cat, but that’s the only sympathy here. Poor Pamela just has the historically worst taste in men, bless her heart. Lastly I wanna loop o’ Assange & Stone getting roughed up and tossed in l’ jail, my only binge watch Of the season!!
Really??? I’m beyond shocked by the comments I can read here. Assange has exposed war crimes, bribery and other misconducts from many governments (OK, mainly US) and has been held prisoners and basically tortured for years in the Ecuador ambassy, and now you guys are happy he’s been sold by Ecuador to USA. This is a total shame! And for the record, rape charges against him have been dropped in 2017. (Sorry for my poor English, I’m French)
@Marie – Wikileaks has published materials hacked by foreign governments hostile to the US and likely cooperated with Russia to interfere in our 2016 elections in favor of Trump. Wikileaks has the right to publish whistle blower documents, but it does not have the right to obtain and publish materials stolen by foreign governments. That is when Wikileaks goes from media outlet to hostile non-state actor.
Assange was never a prisoner in the Ecuadorean embassy and nothing about his treatment remotely met the standards of torture. He was voluntarily seeking sanctuary to evade deportation back to Sweden after a credible warrant was issued for his arrest. The charges were dropped against him because Sweden determined there was very little likelihood he would ever return to the country and stand trial.
LOLOLOLOL “Has been held prisioners” “tortured” LOL. He was given asylum and then treated Ecuador with complete disrespect. And rape charges are possibly incoming again. Being French doesn’t excuse your spinning effort, Marie.
As of two years ago, the lead prosecutor said that there is enough evidence in the rape cases to prosecute:
“I can conclude, based on the evidence, that probable cause for this crime still exists,” Marianne Ny, the lead prosecutor in Sweden, 2017
He managed to outlast the practical limit on prosecution. That’s it. That’s all. They didn’t drop the charges due to his innocence.
He slithered away from the rape accusations like a poisonous snake.
He’s a rapist who ran the clock out. Anything that happens to him at this point is fair.
@marie. Hahaha. Assange tortured the Ecuadorean embassy FOR YEARS. I’m sending them gift certificates for therapy and foot massages!!!!
Assange is rather sleazy. The Swedish charges came from two different women. I don’t think it was officially called rape, although it actually was, but it was quite illegal in Sweden. In both cases, the women had had consensual sex with him while awake, but they insisted on condom use.
In both cases, his girlfriend had made it clear that she did not want to have unprotected sex with him. No condom, no sex. In both cases, he waited until they were asleep and then had unprotected unilateral sex with them. No possibility of continuing consent. That actually seems like rape to me. Not to mention extremely weird and sleazy.
It is quite possible that in more recent years, he has been knowingly working with Russian intelligence. He hates Hillary Clinton for whatever reason and he was not exposing anything noble on Wikileaks in the interest of truth. I’m sure he knew the real origin of the stolen DNC emails and that they were intended to be used to interfere with the US election to help elect Russian stooge Donald Trump for the benefit of a hostile foreign government. The emails were pretty weak stuff and had to be hyped considerably to be weaponized.
It is not unusual for governments to spy on each other and to collect information by hacking. It is very unusual for them to publicize the information they obtain. But Putin also hated Hillary Clinton, since she was tough and knowledgeable and knew what he was. Putin wanted to neutralize Hillary if she were elected, and preferably to get marshmallow Donald in the White House. Then Donald could lift sanctions against Russia (which he tried to do as soon as he was in office) and also weaken NATO and other alliances so Putin could pursue his own plans without much interference.
Anyway – Assange definitely has not been acting like a noble warrior defending transparency. In these recent events, he has been acting as an intermediary to promote Putin’s agenda and interfere in an election. I don’t think the Manning case is like that, but the DNC case definitely is. If Assange does get extradited to the US, I would like to see him subpoenaed in the matter of Russian interference in the US election. Perhaps Congress will do this, since our Department of Justice has been corrupted to protect the Russian stooge.
@Marie
The rape charges have not been dropped. I can’t even begin to respond to the rest of this ignorant comment.
The rape charges are still on the table in Sweden – the weren’t actively pursuing them because they didn’t think he’d leave Ecuadorean protection.
Ecuadorean officials have complained for a couple of years that Assange is a lazy slob who doesn’t cleanup after himself or his cat & expects embassy staff to clean his rooms, do his laundry, prepare & serve his meals, clean the cat litter box, and other chores most people do for themselves.
He’s hardly been a gracious guest & I’m sure they’re glad to get rid of him.
@Marie –
while I am no fan of Assange as a person, I find this horrid, too – and a very very dangerous precedent, potentially leading to reinforcing police-state policies around the world.
But never mind that: the “woke” conformist brigade cannot forgive him for exposing the truth about some of their pets (and the USA in general).
The rape charges – which have been highly suspect to political investigative journalists in the know, BTW – HAVE been dropped, in May 2017.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39973864
The Swedish prosecutors are now asking for a renewal, which is not the same thing.
(And and BTW, speaking of dropping charges… why has there been no mention of the recent developments in Geoffrey Rush’s case?)
I cannot believe the ignorant fools on this thread. No matter what you think of him personally if you think it’s OK for the government to hide the killing of innocent civilians while military personnel laughed then you are all idiots. Way to say stuff you to freedom of speech. Yay let’s keep out governments lying to us without journos being able to report on it. Shame shame on you all.
Good. Now extradite him and try him for treason.
YES! And maybe re-open the TWO rape cases against him in Sweden.
Those charges were only dropped because they gave up on the idea of him ever leaving the Embassy.
He’s a rapist and a treasonous bastard. I hope he is extradited.
He totally missed a trick by not going back to Sweden to face the rape charges because 1) sentences for rape/sexual assault are dismally low in Sweden – most likely 1-2 years and out after ½ sentence (compared to the 7 years he has spent on voluntary house arrest), 2) Sweden was far less likely to deport him to the US than Britain, 3) the tide has turned now on pro-Russian hacking and he will get a much less sympathetic hearing compared to 2012
Is that a good idea right now though? Don’t you think trump would pardon him?
If he is brought to the US, Congress can subpoena him.
Dislike this man but isn’t he a citizen of Sweden? Can’t try a non American citizen for treason.
Try Australia, babe
Espionage.
Wow I hadn’t heard about that.
He’s not an American national so he can’t be charged with treason. He’ll be charged with computer fraud, and that’s a minimum of 5 years. They’ll probably add charges of dissemination of stolen data, too.
I suppose what happens to Assange will hing on how the American courts interpret Wikileaks. It is a media organization or a non-state actor? If it is the former, he may get off scot-free, and, if it is the latter, he faces serious criminal charges.
As for his asylum claim, I have always found it to be dubious because he had no claim of credible fear if he returned to Sweden. He was facing sexual assault charges in a country where the judiciary is recognized as legitimate, independent, and impartial. He was not facing trumped up charges for political purposes. I know a lot of organizations are screaming about how illegal it is to revoke his asylum, but he was never entitled to it.
“. It is a media organization or a non-state actor? If it is the former, he may get off scot-free,”
His lawyers are spreading fake news. The charges against him have to do with helping Manning *hack* into US intelligence files. Essentially breaking and entering then passing on the stolen goods. Hacking is illegal regardless of who does it, even The NY Times, CNN, NBC, Washington Post etc. So he can call himself a journalist if he wants but journalists have to follow the same laws as anyone in America.
Also this guy has pure hate for HRC and was also acting out of self interest to stop her from being elected. He admitted on the Bill Maher show. Unfortunately a lot of liberal friends ignored this.
He won one of his home country’s highest journalism awards. So yes he can call himself a journalist.
He’s not an American citizen. So no treason then.
I’m so glad this asshole is going to finally have to answer for what he’s done. He’s no hero. This explains why Mueller didn’t go talk to Assange to get info, Assange was probably a target of the investigation.
He must be as unpleasant to deal with as I imagine, if Ecuador hand-delivered him in the embassy to the police. I wonder what he did to become the unwelcome guest (aside from living in their building rent-free for 7 years.)
I think he trashed the embassy with indoor skateboarding and wouldn’t clean up after himself or his cat. Also, he was granted asylum under another government and the current Ecuadorian president is much more conservative and considered Assange as an inherited problem. There were rumblings that he wanted Assange out and they cut off A’s internet access a number of times, then this president’s, and his wife’s, private emails, what’s app, and other correspondence were leaked online. So A’s days were numbered.
I love that the Ecuadorians cut off his internet access, like a regular frustrated parent would do in response to their kid refusing to clean their room or clean up after the family pet.
indoor skateboarding? he really was just a giant unruly child the ecuadorians got stuck with.
God, I thought the indoor skateboarding was one of our Celebitchy satirical jokes. He really is just an overgrown adolescent.
And Ecuador was handed quite a large sum of money, a “loan” recently.
To be honest it had to do with the change of government in Ecuador, Correa was the one that granted him the political Asylum and he was far left. The new president surprised everyone by distancing himself from those views and political practices and revoked his asylum. Assange then was given notice to go but he has refused to do it for years. I think Ecuador had enough and assange violated the terms of his P, A stay hence why legally he could finally be removed.
They’ve been trying to get rid of him for years; he treated everyone like sh!t, trashed his room/building repeatedly and continued to work for Russia while under their roof. He repeatedly violated the terms of his asylum, plus as the others have it was down to a change in gov but IIRC the previous Pres of Ecuador who granted him asylum started to regret it (due to his behaviour).
Assange has ALWAYS ALWAYS been about himself and has
been a Russian operative for years as well, they funded Wikileaks and stroked his ego from the beginning.
He’s an arrogant a$$hole who deserves whats coming to him and as for Pamela Anderson – shut up you brain dead bimbo, you know nothing.
Also, its interesting that reports are saying that the US is looking to extradite him – will be interesting to see what happens there. Me thinks Barr will make him ‘disappear’, he knows where Trumps bodies are buried and its clean up time now that Mueller has finished his report. But he deserves what he’s got coming – how many innocent lives has he and his actions been responsible for taking..
Even if Correa hated him, his anti american stance and politics would always prevent him from handing Assange to the US. That’s how hypocrisy works.
Cee, Correa tried to help Assange flee from the embassy to Russia at least twice. That was his allegiance.
I read he wasn’t cleaning the catbox. Plus he’s clearly a self-absorbed asshole, and they’re extremely tiresome.
Glenn Greenwald is beside himself today. Everyone is beneath contempt! Do you hear me! LOL Oh at least I get some laughs out of this long nightmare.
Greenwald is histrionically mischaracterizing the situation. Like all of the sudden Russian, China, and Iran are going to start extraditing US journalists. I guess Greenwald doesn’t understand how extradition works.
At least he’s finally talking about something other than (as he calls it) #RussiaGate.
Maybe he can go on Tucker Carlson’s show and they can have a circle jerk over the Deep State forces that led to Assange’s arrest?
Right? WTH is up with Glenn Greenwald? I agree with Kaiser. In the beginning, it just seemed like he (and let’s not forget Edward Snowden) were kind of David against Goliath. Now I just think they’re traitors who have been literally bought and paid for by the Russians. All three of them have become very shady since the release of Citizen Four.
Are you serious, Anon? What I’m learning from all this is Russian paranoia is a really effective trigger button when you want to control the masses.
Assange is dreadfully disappointing. Glenn Grennwald is hilariously disappointing & Snowden is just naively disappointing. I had so much interest in Wikileaks & Snowden especially after NSA doco & Citizen Four release. Now, they’ve become versions of white privileged libertarian/cyber-douches. And in the case of Assange, also a sexist & bigoted Trump supporter too who no ethics or morals but self interest & hubris. Of course he treats woman like trash & doesn’t care about consent. It’s true that they revealed terrible war crimes committed by the US & other spying on citizens by UK & South Pacific. Yet, they didnt accept any accountability for the people put at risk who were jailed or put to death in China etc, from their huge data dump.
For a revealing laugh, watch ‘Assange: Bad Housemate’ on you tube about a nice couple who had no idea their houseguest was Assange until he basically did siege of their couch & wouldn’t leave their apartment for weeks. Lol, he’s that guy. Sorry to say it to lovelies Aussies, but Assange is SO THE ugly Australian guy abroad. Except he looks like a Sessions-middle earth troll.
Finally. He is a narcissistic sociopath. And his principles could probably be best summed up by being anarchist. He just wants to be in the middle of chaos. He does not believe in a state and the rule of law, hence he does not believe in accountability, which is why he ultimately is an opportunist. He saw how Russia and Trump are tools to further the destruction of the world order and he took it.
In related news, Trump may have found his new National Security Advisor here.
Agreed.
I liked this article on the subject:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-heffernan-assange-stone-20181103-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2SmrEBJWQCSGYdon7p01v_J-QR9kceULslf0l2ChquifW-Us74-VoTdrk
Assange deserves whatever he’s got coming to him.
Haha! What he deserves.
Ummm, I get that sites are all using stock photos of the guy but I encourage everyone to google the video/images of his arrest. He looks crazy old…and also kind of crazy. I mean, good riddance, but that was sobering to see.
Uncle Albert is trending for a reason tbh (Google it if you’re not sure who that is… It’s a striking similarity)
He’s been compared to Grand Maester Pycelle too!
He’s got a ratty Letterman looking beard.
He probably stopped showering a long time ago.
is he bald now or was his hair just pulled back in a ponytail? either way it was a far cry from when we last saw him in a leather jacket with styled hair looking confident. now he’s ranting and he looked like saddam after he was pulled from the hole. i think he’s really, really lost it without internet access these last 2 years.
I actually had to watch the video twice! I was like “Who is this old man they’re dragging out where’s Assange??” 😂😂😂
He looks like a cross between Howard Hughes and Rumplestiltskin. They for sure found jars of his pee in that apartment.
I am only concerned about the kitty. Poor baby had to live with this whack job who never cleaned his litter box.
Julian Assange has never been in this for anyone other than Julian Assange.
He and 45 are cut from the same cloth – if they can’t get praise from who they want, they’ll just get it from literally anyone they can and they don’t care who it is or how negatively it will affect anyone else. I’m sure the Big Orange Splot and the GOP will start pulling strings to get this rapist extradited to the US to help serve in his administration in some way and they can spend the day jerking each other off about how great they are. Then Pam Anderson can find some appropriately tacky Jackie O cosplay to wear when she goes to see him, thus adding another level of vermin to the White House.
What is up with assange and pamela anderson, now? Someone tweeted at me that I should ask pam anderson when I said he looks like he stinks and I felt badly for the people arresting him.
She’s become one of his most passionate supporters for some reason. It’s bizarre.
My god that is bizarre and so random!
she was always papped in london outside the ecuadorian embassy dressed to the 9’s carrying in vegan lunch for him
Word on the streets is that she’s his gf 🤷🏾♀️
I thought she had a soccer bf!
Hmmmm… “violating protocols of coexistence”…. definitely gonna save that one to use later!
will someone please think of the cat?!
How did he get the cat, anyway? Did he bring it with him when he first came to the embassy?
His admirers gave him a cat to keep him company.
I don’t know, that cat looks guilty as sin to me. Lol!
lolololol!!!!!!!
Complicit.
My first thought. Hope the cat has a wonderful new home.
Brits are animal lovers to the end. His cat will be taken care of, I am sure.
#FreeAssange’sCat
The cat’s fine, he wasn’t looking after it so someone else adopted the cat.
Yes, I kept asking about Assange’s cat and someone assured me recently that the cat had been “re-homed” a few months ago.
So basically, the cat is in Witness Protection.
I read on twitter that the cat was given to a shelter ages ago apparently. Hopefully he’s enjoying his new Assange-free life!
Good! I hope he’s with someone who loves him and takes care of him.
Just imagine the secrets that cat knows. He and Choupette both could write great tell-alls.
I would SO read a Choupette memoir. Catnip tea!
They dragged him, kicking and screaming from the embassy. Amazing. And deserved.
It’s about effing time. To be honest, I won’t be surprised if something happens to him before he’s extradited here. I bet the Russians would prefer him to keep his mouth shut, and they aren’t exactly shy about “taking care of” people they don’t like. Maybe I’m being dramatic, but we’re living in a time where people have been poisoned for less. Crazy times.
I just saw a picture of him and whoa. He looked crazy. Like he went full Gandalf.
Full Gandalf! Lmao!
I’m having a hard time picturing how you live at an embassy. Are there living quarters there, or is it a “Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler” situation?
Same! Is he in a house or is it like a cell? I’m so confused….
It was basically one room. Though for awhile they have him access to like kitchens and such but I think they shut that down for the past two years.
F*ck him, who is going to take care of the cat? That is my ONLY concern.
The cat was given away 5 months ago. Cat is safe.
There has also been a change of President in Ecuador. Former President Correa is a populist, aligned with Chávez/Maduro in Venezuela, Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina, and Lula/Dilma Rouseff in Brazil. Once the populist parties were voted out (with the exception of the now dictator Maduro in Venezuela), Ecuador shifted, too. These former presidents are all anti-America (in name only, as they love their ill begotten fortunes, in dollars) therefore a change in politics and a shift in US relations made this possible.
Chelsea Manning is the only brave one where the leaks were concerned. Assange has always been out for himself at the heart of it.
I have no sympathy for Assange but I’m not sure I can get in on the feeding frenzy with everyone else here. What he did was wrong but couldn’t a successful prosecution of Assange lead to a fairly scary precedent? I worry about what this would mean to people who expose war crimes and I also worry about what this could mean for freedom of the press. I’m not sure this is the direction we want to go in, given the fact that anti-Democratic forces are on the rise. I don’t know…I feel conflicted.
I guess I should just wait for the charges before I commit to a stance.
I agree. As a journalism student, I don’t know how to feel about this.
Glad I’m not alone.
Thanks Kitten and Rivkah. I agree with you both. Suspect Russian paranoia and unhappiness with 2016 POTUS election outcome are the driving forces. Assange is unlikeable as a person but he has some some questionable things but also some brilliant things for government transparency. In the end, he’s a publisher and journalist and I’ll wait in vain for the hard evidence he colluded with a hostile government entity.
Scotland Yard have just confirmed he is being held of behalf of the US authorities and on breaching bail conditions, there is talk of him being re-tried in person for the rape allegations.
Also the British gov has confirmed that it did NOT lobby the Ecadorian gov to revoke Assange’s status, that was a decision they took on their own; and considering the have just accused him and 2 Russian hackers of attempting to destabilise the country, I can see why this has happened. Seems Putin has pulled the rug from under him.
I hope never to see a Big Brother state and every gov should be held accountable for their illegals actions – however Assange has never been a hero to that cause, he has only ever sought to empower himself and cause chaos. Assange built his ego on the back of real hero’s who put their lives on the line to expose the truth.
I completely agree with your assessment of Assange but I still worry that this is exactly what Trump wants: to set a legal precedent where he can prosecute the press or The Enemy of The People, as he fondly refers to them.
All in all, I’m not sure my deep hatred of Assange supersedes my deep fear of fascism/authoritarianism.
This whole incident….it has me more scared than celebratory. Of course, that’s the default emotion in Trump America so….
Yes. There’s this too and I believe Ecuador was unhappy about Vatican leaks and I’m not opposed to cover-ups there seeing some light. But, still exactly as @Digital Unicorn said he’s no hero to anything other than his ego. He’s no Khashoggi and while it is concerning, I can’t help feel glad about his arrest.
His personal traits and motivations are less relevant than the precedent his punishment would establish for freedom of the press. They have already made an example of him and will continue to do so.
He is not been charged for doing normal journalism (otherwise all news outlets who released his stuff would also be under arrest. He is charged with helping to hack into secured intelligence information. His primary crime is the hacking and then releasing the hacked info (property of the US Government). That is completely different from what real journalists do which is work tirelessly on investigating, interviewing sources, compiling their work with good writing skills. He is too lazy to do all of that.
Besides, I doubt Trump will do anything to him. He wanted Trump to win so that the US goes easy on him. Trump will hire him and ask him to hack into stuff for him.
Assange didn’t hack into anything- he published material that has been hacked.
The hacking charge is actually about Assange allegedly assisting Manning with a password.
(1) According to legal experts, no evidence he succeeded with the password offer doesn’t matter; that he tried is enough to convict.
(2) HOWEVER, for the same charge to result in conviction, prosecutors ALSO need to prove “the case affected residents of the Eastern District of Virginia, the relatively conservative district where the case would be tried.”
(3) Statute of limitations ran out about 3 years ago so they’re claiming it’s a terrorist act to extend the timeframe.
Excellent article here: https://www.wired.com/story/julian-assange-arrest-indictment-hacking-cfaa/
It’s seemingly only Americans rejoicing in his arrest because how dare he expose their governments (dirty) secrets. In my mind, he’s simply a truth teller (on a grand scale), and we need as many of those as we can get these days. Big and small.
Here here! Support the truth tellers!
when I saw his photo on CNN, I said to my husband “hey, they just arrested David Letterman”.
* dead *
My only complaint is that Ecuador should have never given him asylum in the first place. It was an gross insult to the millions of legitimate refugees around the world, many of whom would have loved to have the chance to rebuild their lives in Ecuador or even its London embassy!
Now…LOCK HIM UP!
He is an effing rapist – wayy too many people cast him as a folk hero..he is a RAPIST.
Is Amal Clooney still his lawer? Or somehow connected to his case?
Those high celeb will dump his as* faster than he ran away to Ecuador, no doubt. My Dad always said rich people are only loyal as far as how good you make them look. Its all about image.
His lawyer is Jen Robinson, who’s at the same chambers as Clooney. She has a twitter account and you can check it out for her take. Clooney was a supporting player (junior barrister) on his team years ago but Isabelle is right; she and her repulsive husband would not touch anything vaguely controversial much less something like this.
I agree with Edward Snowden’s point that, no matter how you feel about Assange, this establishes a terrible precedent. (On review, what Kitten said in the comments. It’s tough to be happy about this, schadenfreude aside)
+1
+1
Why didn’t this fool just hole up in Russia? Especially since he was basically their little lapdog. Wonder if celebs will visit while in prison? Bet they don’t.
What if?:
What if he actually chose to leave the embassy? What if he has reason to believe Trump will go easy on him if he’s extradited or he has reason to believe Trump will not push to get him extradited at all? What if Trump has already spoken to Assange through some third party like Putin?
Would anybody put that past Trump? Would Trump do it just to piss off Democrats especially Obama supporters? Has Trump called Assange a National hero yet or is that still to come?
Sorry. I meant to write Obama and Clinton supporters.
Assange’s indictment is very broad. It criminalises journalists asking sources for info and for deleting chat logs. Whatever you feel about Assange, this case is going to establish some scary precedents for journalism and freedom of the press.
So maybe Trump will want him extradited if he thinks it means he can f@*k with the press?
Obama’s DOJ knew all the same stuff and had the same exact evidence – on the password-related “hacking” – and ultimately in 2013 refused to / decided not to prosecute due to risk of serious threat to press freedom. This was after an (earlier) grand jury had been empaneled and an investigation conducted as well. There’s no doubt all the same evidence was available then because Manning was convicted on that evidence.
I don’t suppose a conservative Supreme Court would rule that the hackers should be held accountable and anyone who encouraged them to hack but the press that reports the information from the hack shouldn’t be?
He is not a hero, he sold his soul to the Russian for cash, but I’m really worried about his cat. 🙁
They say the cat is fine and was given to someone 5 months ago. 🙂
Takeaway here: If you gain asylum within a foreign embassy, be courteous to your hosts, don’t trash the premises, keep your person, your room & your bath clean, empty your own refuse, and help with the cooking & the dishwashing. Offer to wash the limos. Create & maintain an herb or vegetable garden for the household’s use. Don’t use your hosts’ computers and internet services without permission. It’s also nice to occasionally reimburse the hosts for some of their expenditures made on your behalf.
Pester & abuse them for 7 years & you may get bounced.
Don’t worry Kaiser! The cat already has been taken to a. New home bc the embassy staff had to take it away from assange bc he wouldn’t clean up after it. The kitty is free of him!!
Best news I’ve heard in months! Now evidence will be brought to light that proves Assange is no journalist and Wikileaks has always just been a Russian operation designed to weaken western liberal democracies. As for Chelsea Manning, I guess we know now why she refused to answer grand jury questions. This isn’t complicated. You just have to stop believing the lie that their situations have anything to do with the first amendment.
man, this dude hoodwinked us all for so long. just shows truth comes out eventually.
According to this NPR report, the cat was taken by Assange’s lawyers and family members are taking care of him for the time being.
“But according to Hanna Jonasson, whom the Washington Post describes as a member of the Assange legal team, Assange was incensed by the threat to put Embassy Cat in the pound. “He asked his lawyers to take his cat to safety,” Jonasson said. “The cat is with Assange’s family. They will be reunited in freedom.”
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/12/712719377/the-mystery-of-julian-assanges-cat