WHY ASSANGE CHOSE EQUADOR
By Pete Moore On June 22nd, 2012
On the face of it, Julian Assange’s bunk into the Equadorian Embassy in London is an odd one. If he was worried about Sweden extraditing him to the US, well Sweden’s extradition treaty with the US is more tightly written that the UK’s and would seem to provide less scope for doing so.
CNN’s Ashley Fantz has an interesting take on why he may have done it and what’s in it for both Assange and Equador:
Time was running out for Julian Assange. If the WikiLeaks frontman was going to make a move it would be soon.
Just days before Assangehad lost his final bid in Britain’s highest court to stop his extradition to Sweden for questioning about sexual assault allegations. The court had set a July 7 deadline.
Though the sexual misconduct case has nothing to do with WikiLeaks, some of his supporters believe that if Assange is sent to Sweden, he would be vulnerable to extradition to the United States. WikiLeaks published a trove of State Department cables and secret documents, some of them classified, about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Assange is not currently facing criminal charges in the U.S.
So where in the world should Assange turn for refuge? He picked Ecuador, which says it will consider his application for asylum.
“It’s a very smart move to go there. Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa and Assange have mutual interests — they both support the idea that the U.S. is an imperial power that has to be checked,” said Robert Amsterdam, a Canadian international lawyer who’s worked high profile cases involving Latin America, Russia and Thailand. He said the information contained in the cables WikiLeaks released has helped in some of his cases.
It depends on the amount of backbone the British government chooses to display.
Assange was free on bail. He has violated the conditions that he had agreed to.
If I were the British government, I’d allow him to emerge from the Ecuadorian embassy on his free will, or if he doesn’t choose to do so, he should be free to live out the rest of his days in that building.
The embassy has rights, but they don’t have the right to spirit this individual to Ecuador or anywhere else unless the UK agrees him free transit.
Seeming, as he has been in Great Britain for so long .. it might just be, something to do with the weather
Dr David Kelly, ‘took on’ the State as well, and look what happened to him?
‘I fought the State, and the State won’ .. No shit Sherlock.
He’s not getting to any Ecuador unless the UK decides to let him go there.
Quito id 5,720 miles away and the cops are right outside.
As someone on this blog once said,
“We are all Ecuadorians now!”
Back from a wonderful holiday in wonderful France, and ready to do battle with the unbeliever, both secular and sacred….
How are the cheese eating surrender monkeys doing?
Welcome back.
Phantom,
thank you!
Those cheese eating monkeys are doing just fine. Mostly polite, helpful and proud of their country.
The sheer love exhibited by the way they beautify even their roundabouts, and little roadside displays with flowers and art is wonderful.
You would love France Phantom.
I will send the pics to David, and he can decide which if any, ATWers might appreciate.
Going to France is like going to see an old friend who always has new things to show you.
We met quite a few English who feel the same way. Perhaps it is some genetic connection to William the Conqueror calling us home….
I’ve been to France – not as long as I’d like, but I have been to
Paris, multiple times over the years
Menton, Monte Carlo – short visit, years back, courtesy of US Navy
Marseille, Cannes – a few years ago
“Perhaps it is some genetic connection to William the Conqueror calling us home…”
Certainly not. William the Bastard was Norse.
Phantom,
I thought you had. Like me, you’ve seen some countries from their seaports.
We turned our satnav onto “shortest route” when moving between major cities, and so we travelled on minor roads. Ambling along at 40mph, you see so much more, and you can stop to take pictures.
Pete,
The Norsemen got everywhere, but William’s last known address was Normandy. And they did invade,and they did Conquer…
I presume he thinks it will be easier to hit on women in Equador.
Agit8ed -
Yes, their last known address was Normandy, so-called for those actual ‘north men’.
Certainly not. William the Bastard was Norse.
Correct, and the DNA record shows that the Norman Conquest had no perceptible impact on the English population. A few thousand arrived, inter-bred with their own for a few generations, then inter-bred with the Anglo-Saxons and their Norman genetic fingerprint disappeared. Anyone interested in this stuff should read this which also covers Ireland.
The fact that for many years after the invasion English kings and nobles spoke French is hardly ‘imperceptible’.
And it’s no evidence of them being Franks. The Normans were Norse.
It’s an interesting book. But it doesn’t explain (at least the small bits I’ve read) how the language and culture of, say, Ireland became Celtic or how Britain adopted Normam feudalism and customs if the respective Celt and Norman immigrations/invasons were so superficial,
// it’s no evidence of them being Franks//
Nobody said they were Franks. The Franks were a Germanic people.
France began as a federation of Frankish kingdoms. Agit8ed thinks the Normans were French. They weren’t French. They were Norsemen.
//They were Norsemen.//
They were Norsemen in the sense that Northern Irish Protestants are Scots.
They had been living in France for centuries, had intermarried with the French and adopted the French language and French feudalism, something unknown to the Scandinavians.
Centuries?
Rolf the Viking, a descendant of William the Bastard, founded Normandy less than 130 years before 1066.
Pete,
You’re right about them being Norsemen, but I was taking the overview of our relationship with France through the centuries..
A light hearted comment really.