Assange arrested

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Looks like Equador withdrew Julian Assange's asylum and allowed the London police to enter the embassy to arrest him.

 

Quote

London's Metropolitan Police said the Ecuadorian government had withdrawn asylum for Assange, adding that officers had been "invited into the embassy by the ambassador."

Footage shot by the Ruptly news agency showed a bedraggled Assange being carried out of the building by seven men.
As he was bundled into a waiting police van, Assange shouted: "You must resist. You can resist ... the U.K. must resist."

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-arrested-police-london-n991236

 

Curious to see how this ends up going.  Sweden already dropped the charges, but the UK still wanted him for skipping bail.  The US still wants him to hang as well. 

I'm guessing he'll be extradited to the US, where he'll get 30+ years but a presidential pardon at some point in the next 10 years. 

 

I'm well aware that this is bordering on not being tech news.  However there have been Assange-related topics in the past.

 

 

 

 

UPDATE : London Metropolitan Police confirm that he has been arrested at the request of the U.S., with the intention to be extradited. 

So this arrest is indeed directly related to the Wikileaks leaks.

Quote

Julian Assange, 47, (03.07.71) has today, Thursday 11 April, been further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53hrs after his arrival at a central London police station. This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act. He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as possible.

[duncannah]

Bye felicia

[Stefan Payne]

A sad day for Journalism and the west...

He should never have gone to the UK.

[Master Disaster]

Theres no chance the UK will extradite him to a death sentence. He will be tried in England and spend the rest of his life behind bars.

 

Shame really, while I don't agree with his methods what he did was pretty necessary.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

3 minutes ago, duncannah said:

Bye felicia

I wouldn't go that far. 

 

I personally don't like the guy's attitude and some of the stuff Wikileaks has done was outright reckless. 

However Wikileaks did uncover some serious war crimes that the US government tried to sweep under the rug.  He also managed to get Snowden out of Hongkong whilst being stuck in the embassy himself.

[RejZoR]

They'll get him convicted. They'll make shit up for as long as it takes until they bring him down through legal channels. UK is pretty much a dictator state at this point given how they are behaving for the last several years.

[Master Disaster]

4 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

They'll get him convicted. They'll make shit up for as long as it takes until they bring him down through legal channels. UK is pretty much a dictator state at this point given how they are behaving for the last several years.

Err no. We have a very well founded legal system here. "They" (I love how conspiracy nuts call everyone they) cannot "make things up until they bring him down".

 

Besides which, the fact of the matter is, he is guilty. You don't have to invent anything to convict a guilty person.

[mr moose]

6 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Theres no chance the UK will extradite him to a death sentence. He will be tried in England and spend the rest of his life behind bars.

 

Shame really, while I don't agree with his methods what he did was pretty necessary.

I'm the exact opposite, I don't exactly agree with what he did (long debate I won't go into), I do completely disagree with the fact there is even an arrest warrant or extradition request in place.

[Master Disaster]

14 minutes ago, mr moose said:

I'm the exact opposite, I don't exactly agree with what he did (long debate I won't go into), I do completely disagree with the fact there is even an arrest warrant or extradition request in place.

Let's ignore the contents and context of his leaks, I agree this isn't the place for that debate.

 

The guy leaked confidential US military documents, the US government has a legitimate claim for him to stand trial. He also did skip bail here in England which again is a legitimate reason for an arrest warrant.

 

As I said, I seriously doubt the UK will agree to extradite him to anywhere pending a death sentence (although to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if I was proved wrong) but you can't deny that he did commit the crime. The evidence of that is public knowledge at this point.

[Delicieuxz]

Assange has only spoken the truth, and leaking confidential documents isn't a crime but is something freely done by US news organizations.

 

Assange is a hero. The US government seeking him is entirely due to wanting retribution for exposing a lot of truth about the US government and undermining its image and reputation. There is nothing legal about what the US government is doing towards Assange.

 

'He did nothing wrong' - Giuliani Says Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted

 

Stealing documents is a crime. However, releasing them after having received them from someone who stole them is not a crime.

 

 

 

If it weren't for Snowden and Assange, we'd be in the dark about US surveillance and hacking activities, and people on LTT and elsewhere would still be calling those claims crazy conspiracy theories and laughing at people who say it's happening. We wouldn't even know that we need to be careful and protect ourselves, or how to, without those documents leaking. We'd also be more war-mongering if they hadn't leaked because we'd be experiencing a false perception of thinking that the US' geopolitical challengers are doing all these things but that the US (which is doing them more than anyone else) is some noble power that is not doing them.

 

Even with all the information released by WikiLeaks and those who delivered documents to them, people in the US and West are still strongly practising denial about what is going on and how extensive the US' bad faith practices go. And with all the information that has leaked, the extent of what the US is doing still goes leagues beyond what has been proven through leaked documents.

[Master Disaster]

4 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Well, the US and others committed war crimes.  But, the whistleblower groups are the ones being punished for letting it get out.  Just let that sink in for a moment.  It's okay to break the law as long as you're the government, but um if you're a normal citizen calling them out on it you're pretty much fucked.

Oh to clarify, I don't agree with it. Not one bit.

 

I'm fully aware of the hypocrisy going on.

[Master Disaster]

6 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

Assange has only spoken the truth, and leaking confidential documents isn't a crime but is something freely done by US news organizations.

 

Assange is a hero. The US government seeking him is entirely due to wanting retribution for exposing a lot of truth about the US government and undermining its image and reputation. There is nothing legal about what the US government is doing towards Assange.

 

Giuliani Says Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted

 

Stealing documents is a crime. However, releasing them after having received them from someone who stole them is not a crime.

 

 

 

If it weren't for Snowden and Assange, we'd be in the dark about US surveillance and hacking activities, and people on LTT and elsewhere would still be calling those claims crazy conspiracy theories.

That's not true....

 

Just look at what happened with Rockstar & Trusted Reviews.

 

Besides which, some of those files were military classified. Different rules.

[Totallycasual]

13 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

The guy leaked confidential US military documents

Well... no.  A government employee leaked the documents and then a journalist (Assange) simply published them, may seem nitpicky but there's a big difference.  

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, Newenthusiast said:

Well... no.  A government employee leaked the documents and then a journalist (Assange) simply published them, may seem nitpicky but there's a big difference.  

Again, no it's not a big difference. See Rockstar Vs Trusted Reviews.

 

Knowingly publishing stolen documents makes you an accessory after the fact.

[cj09beira]

40 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Err no. We have a very well founded legal system here. "They" (I love how conspiracy nuts call everyone they) cannot "make things up until they bring him down".

 

Besides which, the fact of the matter is, he is guilty. You don't have to invent anything to convict a guilty person.

just look at the tommy Robinson "trial", and this last one where he was suing the police, your legal system is everything but just

[Delicieuxz]

4 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

That's not true....

 

Just look at what happened with Rockstar & Trusted Reviews.

That case resulted in an out-of-court settlement, and an apology. There was no judgment against Trusted Reviews for publishing the allegedly-confidential material.

 

Look at the cases cited by Giulani in the video where other US media organizations published stolen confidential US government documents without being punished for it.

[Master Disaster]

Just now, cj09beira said:

just look at the tommy Robinson "trial", and this last one where he was suing the police, your legal system is everything but just

Our legal system is fine, our police are a different matter however.

[Master Disaster]

3 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

That case resulted in an out-of-court settlement, and an apology. There was no judgment against Trusted Reviews for publishing the allegedly-confidential material.

Because Trusted Reviews knew what would have happened had they tried to fight it. The out of court settlement backs up my argument, you think these journalists would apologise and donate a million because they felt generous?

 

I'm amazed how many users here think that knowingly publishing stolen documents isn't a crime. And not any documents either, military classified documents.

[cj09beira]

2 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Our legal system is fine, our police are a different matter however.

if that was true, he would not have been sent to jail, and the police would have lost in the last trial 

[Delicieuxz]

32 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Because Trusted Reviews knew what would have happened had they tried to fight it.

 

I'm amazed how many users here think that knowingly publishing stolen documents isn't a crime. And not any documents either, military classified documents.

According the US Supreme Court, which ruled against the US government regarding the Pentagon Papers, it isn't:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Papers#The_Nixon_administration's_restraint_of_the_media

Quote

The administration argued Ellsberg and Russo were guilty of a felony under the Espionage Act of 1917, because they had no authority to publish classified documents.

 

Quote

On June 30, 1971, the Supreme Court decided, 6–3, that the government failed to meet the heavy burden of proof required for prior restraint injunction. The nine justices wrote nine opinions disagreeing on significant, substantive matters.

 

"Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell."

— Justice Black

 

Trusted Reviews probably folded without fighting the case because they were intimidated by Take-Two and had no knowledge of precedent for a media organization releasing "classified" documents. If it's OK for news organizations to do it with classified US government military documents, as was concluded to be the case with the Pentagon Papers, then it's surely even more OK with some video game company's documents.

[Master Disaster]

3 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

According the US Supreme Court, which ruled against the US government regarding the Pentagon Papers, it isn't:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Papers#The_Nixon_administration's_restraint_of_the_media

 

 

Trusted Reviews simply folded because they were intimidated by Take-Two.

Nope, trusted reviews folded because here in Europe it is a crime and Rockstar have a large English studio.

 

Assange is from what continent again?

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

2 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Assange is from what continent again?

Australia

 

Oh and he has dual citizenship IIRC.  Australia and Equador (since 2017).

[Delicieuxz]

42 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Nope, trusted reviews folded because here in Europe it is a crime and Rockstar have a large English studio.

 

Assange is from what continent again?

Australia. And the party accusing him is from the US and is wanting to try him in the US and under US law. So, the US precedent applies to his case.

 

Julian Assange arbitrarily detained by Sweden and the UK, UN expert panel finds

UN human rights panel rejects British appeal to overturn ruling that Julian Assange is being ‘arbitrarily detained’

UN experts call for Assange's unconditional release as he loses last appeal over restrictive rules

UN expert on torture calls on Ecuador to ‘abstain from expelling Assange’

 

If Assange were to be tried in a public US court, his freedom would be all-but guaranteed. But, if he's tried in a private military court, then who knows what the outcome will be.

 

This shows, though, that "freedom of speech" doesn't really exist in the US, and that it's only a platitude while the US actually operates out of 'might makes right', and mobster rule.

 

This is a very dark day for 'freedom of speech' and truth-lovers all around the world - one in which the rights of supposedly free people and the rule of law have been trampled and have been dealt a blow for everyone.

[Master Disaster]

2 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

He's an Australian that Sweden, the UK, and the US want to serve a life sentence.  And, this was the UK stepping onto an embassy to arrest him.

Yeah I must apologise because I was wrong, for some reason I thought he was Swedish.

[Delicieuxz]

 

Assange arrested in relation to a US extradition warrant - UK police

Quote

Assange was taken into custody at a central London police station, and the arrest was made at a US extradition request, the Met Police have confirmed, saying he will appear at London Magistrates’ Court.

 

'Greatest traitor in Ecuadorian history': Former President Correa slams Moreno over Assange's arrest

 

‘Dark moment for press freedom’: Edward Snowden responds to Assange arrest