Julian Assange to be extradited, says UK court

[Rorschach]

You watch too much Hollywood.

[Neferti]

Here's what I told a friend (via email) who asked my opinion about Assange.

I really haven't been taking too much notice of Julian Assange. I don't watch the news on TV and just read what I want to read on the online newspapers and skip the rest. However, checked him out earlier. Even checked Wikipedia and he began Hacking into computers way back when he was a teenager. He has got himself into Big Trouble, it seems. The USA want him for espionage, the Swedes want him for sexual assault, and the Poms want him for jumping bail. I really have no sympathy for him. He has broken the LAW everywhere he has been and deserves whatever he gets. LOL He seems to be up himself as well. Who does he think he is? A Celebrity? ROFLOL

So there you are.

[Rorschach]

There are many times I disagree with David Penberthy, but not this time.

Wiki-Freaks defend a truly foolish man
* by: David Penberthy
* From: The Daily Telegraph
* August 21, 2012 12:00AM

THE balcony address has proved throughout history to be the medium of choice for the maladjusted egomaniac, and as such it was fitting to see Julian Assange on the first floor of the Ecuadorean embassy in London sporting a flash new haircut and doling out free advice to everyone from President Barack Obama down on how the planet should be governed.

I have only ever written two things about Assange.

The first was a signature in support of a communique defending WikiLeaks.

The second was a column decrying that action as regrettable given the subsequent recklessness of Wikileaks and Assange, and his total refusal to co-operate with the Swedes on sexual assault claims. Ooh, look at that, "reckless"... David is finally catching up with me.

I have decided to saddle up again after being stunned by the correspondence I've received from Assange's supporters, not just because it exposes their moronic hero-worship of him, but also because it confirms the fraudulence at the centre of the WikiLeaks campaign.

Ostensibly it is about free speech, but when you scratch the surface of this lot you find an army of unreconstructed Stalinists who believe that any criticism of Assange is a plot by Big Media which should be the subject of censure -- ideally by hacking any website which dares question his methods and motives.

One pretty fundamental point lost on Assange's doe-eyed supporters is that the country which has granted him asylum is a genuine pariah state when it comes to freedom of the press.

There are several credible sources readily available online which document how Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa used trumped-up legal action against newspapers, the direct closure of 11 radio stations, and dodgy electoral laws to restrict the ability of the press to report.

At the same time Correa has massively expanded the number of state-operated media outlets so that the view most Ecuadoreans get of the government is the govern-ment's own view.

Assange was strangely silent on this attack on press freedom as he stood on the balcony paying glowing tribute to the kindly President.

A second point the WikiLeaks cheer squad overlooks is its demonstrable record in releasing information which has directly endangered or harmed dissidents and intelligence workers by blowing their cover or divulging their whereabouts. "Reckless endangerment" I think is the Crime.

This is because WikiLeaks took no care to vet the cables it obtained and released them with no regard for the consequences. I replied to a few of their supporters suggesting they type the name Majid Jamali Fashi into Google, but tellingly, had no takers. However Labor MP Michael Danby told parliament: "Fashi was hung in Iran's notorious Evin Prison. Fashi had been accused of being responsible for the death of an Iranian nuclear scientist . . . Fashi's death is a result of an unredacted WikiLeaks report released a month before his arrest. A cable from the US embassy in Azerbaijan described one of its sources as an Iranian martial arts expert. Apparently Fashi had visited Azerbaijan the month before the cable was released for a kickboxing tournament. Analysts argue Fashi might have lost his life because the confidential cable was published by WikiLeaks.

"Even if Fashi was not the subject of the cable, the document gave the Iranian regime a pretext for charging him, torturing him and executing him." There are many other examples.

The third feature of the correspondence from the WikiLeaks brigade is their emphatic insistence that Assange has no case to answer in Sweden. The quality of some of this correspondence barely gets above the level that these women are either tarts or in on the conspiracy. Sounds like mantra.

Yet how many on the left were salivating at the prospect of the ugly face of global capitalist Dominique Strauss Kahn being a rapist, or the Republican Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas being a sexual harasser?

Not so with Assange, who can do no wrong in the eyes of his gullible army of fans, who choose not to believe anything which challenges their perception of this deeply flawed man.

[Rorschach]

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that the United States had nothing to do with efforts by Britain to extradite Assange, who is wanted for questioning by Sweden on allegations of rape and molestation.

"He is making all kinds of wild assertions about us when in fact his issue with the government of the United Kingdom has to do with whether he's going to face justice in Sweden for something that has nothing to do with WikiLeaks, it has to do with charges of sexual misconduct," Nuland told reporters.

"He is clearly trying to deflect attention away from the real issue, which is whether he's going to face justice in Sweden," she told reporters.

"That case has nothing to do with us. It's a matter between the UK, Sweden and now Ecuador has inserted itself," she said.

Nuland, in an exchange with reporters, later clarified that Assange was not charged in Sweden but was wanted for questioning. Two female WikiLeaks volunteers in Sweden have accused Assange of the sexual misconduct.

[Super Nova]

Julian needs to grow some man sized balls and go face his accusers. He is a coward and 50 years ago would be labeled a traitor and executed. He's not my hero. I have more respect to Ruppert Murdoch. (and that's saying something)

[Rorschach]

Maybe he should try not sleeping with the "help" next time... or was he thinking it was his right as "overlord" to sleep with them?

[Neferti]

I never took much notice of this person in the first instance, now he is just becoming a very boring little prick.

I am sure that Julia's problem is much more interesting.

[Rorschach]

Julia... Julian? Hmmm

[mantra]

Regardless of what you think about Assange - he at least gave us proof that governments can't be trusted. Of course the US want him - even though they've been quiet about it. They're waiting and it's only a matter of time before he's caught. The allegations made in Sweden are a decoy obviously.

Does anyone really believe the US isn't interested in bringing Assange to justice?

You watch too much Hollywood.

I don't think so. You and Monk are both wrong.

THE US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States — the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency.

Declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents, released under US freedom-of-information laws, reveal that military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or WikiLeaks supporters may be at risk of being charged with "communicating with the enemy", a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death.

The documents, some originally classified "Secret/NoForn" — not releasable to non-US nationals — record a probe by the air force's Office of Special Investigations into a cyber systems analyst based in Britain who allegedly expressed support for WikiLeaks and attended pro-Assange demonstrations in London.

The counter-intelligence investigation focused on whether the analyst, who had a top-secret security clearance and access to the US military's Secret Internet Protocol Router network, had disclosed classified or sensitive information to WikiLeaks supporters, des-cribed as an "anti-US and/or anti-military group".

The suspected offence was "communicating with the enemy, 104-D", an article in the US Uniform Code of Military Justice that prohibits military personnel from "communicating, corresponding or holding intercourse with the enemy".

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/us-calls ... z27c9GAArl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Rorschach]

Sweden is after Assange.
If the US were seriously after him they'd be seeking extradition too.