Posted on 12/08/2010 9:29:47 AM PST by WesternCulture
Let's forget about the alleged sex crimes of mr. Assange for a while and instead deal with the probability of Assange being handed over to US prosecutors after having settled his affairs with the British and Swedish judical system.
What is likely to happen if Assange is sent to Sweden (the nation I'm from)?
- What Assange has done to the US (and many other countries) equals espionage according to Swedish law (from what I can understand) - and the fact that it probably does so could very well lead to him being entrusted to American justice after serving time in Sweden.
What matters to Swedish/European practice of law here is that America:
a) Is a nation the EU as such as well as most (if not all) European countries trust and maintain close cooperation with (which is pretty evident, regardless of what Chirac did in the past) from a diplomatic, economic, cultural and political perspective etc.
b) Is a nation displaying a jurisdiction corresponding very well to British and Swedish law (and European tradition of law at large).
My Sweden is devoted to a great idea called Freedom of Speech.
However, undermining the channels of World diplomacy is a sinister project we view as nothing less than an attack on the national security of Sweden and our allies.
Concerning the Constitution of Sweden:
"Public access to governmental documents
In the 18th century, after over 40 years of mixed experiences with parliamentarism, public access to government documents was one of the main issues with the Freedom of the Press Act of 1766. Although the novelty was put out of order 1772–1809, it has since remained central in the Swedish mindset, seen as a forceful means against corruption and government agencies' unequal treatment of the citizens, increasing the perceived legitimacy of (local and central) government and politicians. The Principle of Publicity (Swedish: Offentlighetsprincipen), as the collection of rules are commonly referred to, provides that all information and documents created or received by a public institution (local or central government, and all publicly operated establishments) must be available to all members of the public. It also states that all public institutions must do everything in their power to give anyone access to any information that he or she might want as soon as possible. The only exceptions to this rule are regulated in the Publicity and Secrecy Act (Offentlighets- och sekretesslagen 2009:400)[1] which succeeded the Secrecy Act (Sekretesslag 1980:100)[2] in 2009, detailing what government agencies can keep secret, what type of document, under what circumstances, and towards whom. According to the Second Chapter, Article 2, in the Freedom of the Press Act (part of the Swedish constitution): "The right of access to official documents may be restricted only if restriction is necessary having regard to
the security of the Realm or its relations with a foreign state or an international organization; the central finance policy, monetary policy, or foreign exchange policy of the Realm; the inspection, control or other supervisory activities of a public authority; the interest of preventing or prosecuting crime; the public economic interest; the protection of the personal integrity or economic conditions of private subjects; the preservation of animal or plant species." This list is exhaustive and the Parliament may not legislate about restrictions outside the scope of this list, and any restrictions have to be legislated into the Publicity and Secrecy Act previously mentioned. Secrecy is limited to a maximum time of 70 years (when relating to individuals that is 70 years after the person's death)."
What are the charges in the US against Assange again?
My Guess:
While in a cell with a couple Russian mafia types,Assange commits ‘assisted’ suicide in prison.
What would our wussy-asses do to him? Probably apologise and pay him a big settlement.
I think we've seen how that works out already.
From the Washington Post, via Dallas Morning News:
"... The U.S. attorney's office in Alexandria, Va., and the FBI are conducting what Justice Department officials have described as an aggressive criminal investigation that could lead to charges under the Espionage Act of 1917. However, prosecutions under the Espionage Act are highly complex, and sources familiar with the investigation have said no criminal charges are imminent.
Meanwhile, another official familiar with the inquiry says the Justice Department has examined whether Assange could be charged with trafficking in stolen government property. But that approach may be difficult, too.
"This is less about stealing than it is about copying," said John Palfrey, a Harvard Law School professor."
No. The Eurotrash take pleasure in our discomfort. We are on our own here. As in so much else.
“What would our wussy-asses do to him? Probably apologise and pay him a big settlement”
- Yes, OR the US could implement the same noble method of practicing justice in the field of espionage crimes it did during the wake of the Cold War:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEBVpy7n2pw
Exactly my thought.
I'm amazed at how many people want Assange to be prosecuted, hung, shot, kidnapped, etc. without even specifying the US law that he is allegedly violating.
Another thing to consider: the Espionage Act has only been successfully used to prosecute an "original" act of espionage. The one attempt to prosecute someone for distributing the results of someone else's espionage, did not succeed.
I think that the prosecution of Assange for his “sex crime” is just part of a larger strategy. Possibly to keep him under wraps until the justice department can draw up charges and work on extradition. His “sex crime” was having a condom break during consensual sex. Not really a crime that one would normally seek extradition for.
According to Alex Jones on Coast to Coast last night, Assuage is the fall guy for Wiki leak’s exposure of political secrets. Apparently, the two women suing for rape, are both allegedly connected with the CIA. The tail is wagging the dog again?
For what crime? The Supreme Court has affirmed that government secrets can be published with no recourse against those who publish said documents.
“The Eurotrash take pleasure in our discomfort”
- No we “Eurotrash” take pleasure in setting traps for this villain and confronting him with the uncompromising machinery of the European justice.
Mr. Assange no longer constitutes a threat to America.
Thanks to true Intelligence.
Isn't making Hillary look bad enough?
Well, we’d have her hairdresser for a capital crime by now, one would think....
They don’t need to hand him over. Just make public the time and place of his release, and he’ll be taken care of.
OOPS, I forgot; wrong White House!
I remember seeing the Polis beat the skit out of a local drunk and disorderly Swedish yute in Liseberg Park in Gothenburg in 1973. If the cops in New York had done that to a black yute, there would have been riots.
Nothing that is legal. But that never stopped our communists leader from forcing something.
They did nothing.
There is currently no charges available for the publisher of sensitive facts.
Any time you see someone post this, ask them to clarify what charges warrant this.
Secondly, the applicable law (Lag (1957:668) om utlämning för brott) gives the power to extradite foreign nationals to the cabinet, makinging it a political decision. Having a center-right cabinet takes us from "no way!" to "possible", but the general feeling I get is that the public would be against such an extradition, making it harder for the cabinet to do it.
From the American side they'll probably have problems putting together an indictment that can't be read as everyone publishing the leaks are violating the law. I can't see that the justice department would willingly open up that Pandora's box since that would mean that every news outlet in the US would be just as guilty as Wikileaks. They would have to show that only the "leaker" (i.e. Manning) and the first to publish (Wikileaks) are breaking the law. I think I've read that there has never been a successful case against someone publishing classified information in the US.
Don't take legal advice from me though - I'm just a software designer and has never taken a legal course in my life! :)
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