This in from Jane:
Candlelight vigil for Assange, Parliament House 30 November
Taken at the Candlelight Vigil for Julian Assange last Thursday night.
ACT Friends of Wikileaks is now making a booklet with this photo and messages to the Government.
Please send your message to actfowl@gmail.com asap.
Names will be included unless advised otherwise.
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Jim Jones said :
Embarrassing for the people in Iraq who were informants working for the US and had their names published. I’m sure them and their families just died of embarrassment.
Whistleblowing evidence of US war crimes is good. Giving out the names of those who secretly helped the US is terrible and has probably led to their deaths.
And I seriously doubt that IF he was extradited to the US they’d send him off to be tortured or never to be seen again. Especially given the high profile of the case. He’s not some taliban fighter that no one will care if he disappears.
ScienceRules said :
And do you think a judge presiding over a rape trial should see it that way also? That the work he does is ‘necessary and moral’, and therefore obliged to pardon him?
Assange advocates need to learn separate an institution (Wikileaks) from an individual (Assange).
You may like Wikileaks, but that does not mean it’s founder can break laws that are completely unrelated to effective running of his organisation.
Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :
Mate – I know it is tempting to see the world in black and white, but it is lazy thinking. The world is not simply divided into Assange supporters on one side and Ray Hadley/Alan Jones listeners on the other. I, for one, happen to dislike both camps because both Assange supporters and wingnut radio jock audiences share the same traits of lazy thinking and easy stereotyping.
bigfeet said :
Clearly someone who fails to grasp the political reality of Sweden’s status as the Scandinavia’s number 1 US lackey state. The US relations with Sweden are an amplified version of our own.
schmeah said :
How do you figure that?
Or did you read it on fairgo4rapists.com?
The facts speak for themselves. Check them out here: http://wlcentral.org/node/1418
Assange is also supported by Malcolm Fraser http://wlcentral.org/node/2784.
drfelonious is right. FYI, I have never listened to either Jones or Hadley – don’t even know which stations they are on.
As for Sweden being the US’ “number one lackey”, it seems odd that Assange felt quite comfortable spending quite a bit of time there and using it as party central if that is the case. His presence there was no secret. Only now that he faces questioning – not arrest, just questioning – over alleged sexual offences is he suddenly in fear of his life if he returns.
The 4 Corners program ‘Sex, Lies and Julian Assange’ is also very informative. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2012/07/19/3549280.htm
breda said :
Indeed – as is his wont, he was partying with politicians and jetsetters in Sweden as a leftie celebrity.
breda said :
If all they want to do is question, then why not via video link?
Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :
Why didn’t he have sex via video link?
CGN, he is not special. He should be subject to the same procedures as anyone else.
drfelonious said :
Well said, I tend to find myself nodding in agreement with you in many matters CGN, but I have to agree with my fellow doctor in the house on this one and I’m a little offended you would lump me in with the likes of Mr,G and Alan Jones.
While I applaud Wikileaks and agree it was rather damaging for America, I’m seriously sceptical of the idea that the U.S is planning to secretly abduct Assange from Sweden. The damage has been done, already, it would only hurt their image further to doggedly persecute him.
Why don’t you want to see Julian Assange face trial for the alleged sexual assault of a minor is my question? The issue is entirely separate from Wikileaks. People have brought-up the excellent point that he’d be far less likely to be extradited to the U.S from Sweden than he would be in the U.K.
Can you elaborate on your position for me? I really didn’t think you were the type to let an alleged rapist escape justice.
Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :
Would you want the AFP doing interrogations over the phone in relation to violent crimes? Come on man, I know you can do better than that.
If the allegations are true, it was pretty serious sexual misconduct: forcing sex without a condom by surprise, on a sleeping woman – possibly by deliberately tearing said condom. She had made it very clear that she insisted on protected sex. If Julian Assange did indeed do that, it’s very likely he was a very serious sexually transmitted disease risk, and knew it.
And for the record I have never heard Ray Hadley, and have only listened to Alan Jones sporadically (perhaps four times) in a work context.
DrKoresh said :
More to the point, they could have questioned him in the UK while he was under house arrest fighting the extradition. That was always on the table but the Swedes refused.
To be wanted for questioning and to be charged with something are completely different things. One can be done via video link and the other needs to be done in person.
Both rape charges seem suspicious considering they only came to light after one woman was visited by a CIA agent who then in turn visited the other woman and convinced her to make the allegations aswell.
If he did do what has been accused, then sure, lock him up in a Swedish gaol, but the Swedish government needs to make its intentions clear. Either state you want him to be charged in full for the alleged offences, otherwise just video link questioning. Pretty simple really.
By no means should he be extradited to America.
Btw I think assange is creepy as, but he has done great work with wiki leaks.
And RE: Hadley/jones comment, it’s in relation to people ignorantly saying *DUHHHH U MESSED WITH MERIKA NOW FACE THE CONSEQUENCES DERRRRR*
I have heard both those half wits say something similar only to then hear it parroted by uninformed and ignorants.
I guess that is my stance. Do you need to know anything else, dr koresh?
Tetranitrate said :
Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :
No, no, that sums it up quite well. I was unaware of both the CIA involvement and the Swede’s refusal to send investigators to Britain. I didn’t mean to sound confrontational, so I’m sorry if I came off like that.
I don’t think sitting in the Ecuadorian embassy is helping his case much, but if he is indeed at real risk of being taken to the U.S for wikileaks rather than Sweden for the alleged sexual assualts then I suppose there isn’t much else he can do until he gets a guarantee from the both Sweden and the U.K that he won’t be given to America instead.
Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :
Who said that? I just read back through the comments and couldn’t see it. Keep on back peddling.
I think a few people need to look at the New Statesman blog to understand some of the legalities around Assange.
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2012/08/legal-myths-about-assange-extradition
From that entry, you get the following:
– The alleged actions are considered rape by English law standards.
– It will be more difficult to extradite Assange from Sweden, as under EU standards, both Sweden and the UK would have to consent.
– Assange is not wanted for questioning, the Swedes wish to arrest him. That’s how their legal system works. They arrest, then charge, then prosecute.
As for the author, have a quick read of his Wikipedia bio.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Allen_Green
Deckard said :
It’s been said 3 or 4 times.
Keep on keeping ignorant though.