I think Assange is smart and I think that he's being targeted because our
security state sees his publications as a threat. However, I've also noted that
a number of people, folks at The Guardian, former associates of his, etc. talk
very negatively about him. And I also think that whatever happened between him
and one of those Swedish women, was probably very unpleasant. So I've put
circumstancial evidence together and come to the conclusion that on a personal
level, you and I might not be fond of Julian if we had to deal with him on a
day to day basis. But the fact that he might be an obnoxious person, doesn't
give the US government the right to hunt him down, nor the UK government, the
right to imprison him if he steps out of that embassy. Their excuse is that he
didn't surrender when they wanted to arrest him on behalf of the Swedish court.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2017 7:03 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Sweden Drops Rape Inquiry Against Julian Assange
While I've listened to Julian Assenge speak, I really have not read much about
him personally. Certainly the face he presents to the public does not earn him
the title of "Mister Excitement". But I've been lulled to sleep by some pretty
bright people. And, not ranking myself among the bright, but I've been told
that I can wander a long way from my subject, and beat around the barn when it
would make my point if I were a teeny bit more direct.
What we need to understand about this whole witch hunt is that there can never
be a fair, impartial trial of Julian Assenge. His character has been attacked
and his morals have been dragged through the press without a fair hearing. An
unspoken attitude about who Julian Assenge is, will prejudice any judge or
jury. And that is exactly what the US government wants. But the good news for
Julian Assenge is that attention will be turned from him to an even better sex
scandal, that of our once beloved funny man Bill Cosby. I'll make a little
wager.
After the media finishes with Bill Cosby, who do you think will be more
vilified, Australians, or Black American Men?
Carl Jarvis
On 5/20/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The thing about Julian Assenge is that like the business with Trump
and Russia, I think that the issues about Julian get confused because
of his personality. I gather from stuff I've read and from things said
and unsaid, that he's actually not a very nice person, in terms of his
personality and relationships with others. So what happens is, that
people's negative feelings about him as a person, tend to confuse the
issues that you mention like how can he be tried for treason when he's
not a US citizen and doesn't WikkiLeaks have the same rights of
freedom of the press as those Mexican reporters who were assassinated
by drug cartels and probably Mexican government officials or trussian
reporters? The other thing is that Assenge is really smart and
knowledgeable. I heard a talk that he gave on a WBAI program which was
repeated in a Flashpoints podcast yesterday. He was describing history
of Sweden from the 1920's up to the 80's and 90's, and it was stuff I
hadn't heard before, but which rang a bell, given that wonderful
suspense trilogy that was so popular a few years ago, written by the
Swedish author who died. Anyway, one thing Julian said was there is a
very wealthy right wing elite in Sweden and that Sweden is not
exactly this lovely Social Democratic country that we have been led to
believe that it is. They had a Nazi party back in the 20's and it
still exists. Is he telling the truth? I surely don't know. I do know
that he overstated the case a bit recently on Democracy Now when he
stated that there was no difference in the effect on the country and
the world between Trump and Clinton's having become President. Alan
Nearn was on that same program and he got really upset over Assenge's
statement. I understand Julian's rage at Clinton, given what she said about
him when she was Secretary of State, and I certainly think her foreign policy
would have been a disaster. But no difference?
Maybe he doesn't understand why having Jeff Sessions as an Attorney
General is a problem.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2017 12:51 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Sweden Drops Rape Inquiry Against
Julian Assange
Just to get it out of my way, because it is really a non issue, but
still I have to wonder why a man would risk impregnating a woman, or
contacting any of a number of sexually transmitted diseases by not wearing a
condom.
But as I said, this was never a real issue. The USA wanted Julian
Assange to be held up as an example to those journalists who might dig
out and publish more undemocratic international affairs.
By going after Julian Assange, the US government is drawing public
attention away from the serious question over how much secrecy can a
nation involve itself in and still be held accountable to its People?
In other words, is the USA still a Republic, with elected officials
carrying out the will of the citizens? Or has it become a phony front
shielding an Industrial/Military Oligarchy. What a strange place for
the United States government to find itself in. Back around 1776
people like Julian Assange were given hero status when they publicly
reported the secret activities of the British Rulers. And by the way,
those brave Souls were British Subjects, just as were all Freemen of
that day. Julian Assange is *Not an American citizen. Julian Paul
Assange is an Australian Citizen. Just when did our US Attorney
General become the Earth's top legal official? Isn't it bad enough
that jolly old Jeff Sessions has reopened our War on Drugs, with its
implications to all Black and Brown people, especially those living in near
poverty or worse.
I wondered when I first heard Donald Trump proclaim that he would
"Drain the Swamp", just who all that included. Some naive folk
believed that this meant the Wall Street Lobbyists, while others were
certain he meant "trimming the fat" from government departments. But
from early indications, it appears that Donald Trump meant to flush
out Muslims, Mexicans, and members of the Press. And to make a much
safer nation, Donald Trump's attorney general will clean out the
Ghettos and inner cities of all those dangerous Black Druggies. Of
course Donald Trump's job will have just begun. There are still all
those Chinese and Japanese who might be harboring Terrorists, too.
It's going to be a bigger job than Donald Trump believed it would be.
Returning America to her White Might is getting messy. People just
refuse to quietly go home. Really.
Carl Jarvis
On 5/20/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Some thoughts: The actual rape assertion was that he didn't use a
condom when having intercourse with the woman, if I remember
correctly. Sweden has unusual definitions of rape. The prosecutor was
invited to interview Assenge in the Ecuadorian embassy, but refused.
So they could not clear him of the charges.
Miriam
Truthdig
Sweden Drops Rape Inquiry Against Julian Assange
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/sweden_drops_rape_inquiry_agains
t
_julia
n_assange_20170519/
Posted on May 19, 2017
By Donald Kaufman
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, speaking from London's Ecuadorean
Embassy in 2016. (Frank Augstein / AP)
Swedish prosecutors have dropped their seven-year-long investigation
of rape allegations against Julian Assange, but the WikiLeaks founder
and publisher still faces legal uncertainty in Britain and the United
States.
Sweden's director of public prosecution, Marianne Ny, made the
announcement
(https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/swedish-prosecutors-dr
o
p-juli
an-assange-investigation) Friday, saying she "has decided to
discontinue the investigation regarding suspected rape" because "at
this point, all possibilities to conduct the investigation are
exhausted."
"In order to proceed with the case, Julian Assange would have to be
formally notified of the criminal suspicions against him," Ny
explained. "We cannot expect to receive assistance from Ecuador
regarding this. Therefore, the investigation is discontinued. If he,
at a later date, makes himself available, I will be able to decide to
resume the investigation immediately."
Ny added it was "regrettable we have not been able to carry out the
investigation" but said "we are not making any pronouncement about
guilt."
The New York Times wrote Friday, "The investigation could be
reopened, [Ny] said, if Mr. Assange returned to Sweden before August
2020, the time limit for prosecution specified by the statute of
limitations."
Ecuador granted political asylum to Assange in 2012. He has been
living at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since then.
The investigation started in 2010. After a massive WikiLeaks dump of
secret U.S. military reports, two women accused Assange of rape and
sexual assault.
According to The Guardian, Swedish authorities dropped the sexual
assault allegations by one of the women in 2015 "after the statute of
limitations expired."
Assange has always maintained that the rape allegations were false
and that he would go to Sweden to face the charges directly if Sweden
would guarantee he would not be extradited to the United States.
After Sweden's decision to end the rape investigation was announced,
Assange tweeted
(https://twitter.com/JulianAssange/status/865553683387367425) :
"Detained for 7 years without charge by while my children grew up and
my name was slandered. I do not forgive or forget."
A lawyer representing a woman who claimed Assange raped her said "it
is a scandal that a suspected rapist can escape justice and thereby
avoid the courts. . My client is shocked, and a decision to drop the
case won't make her change [her assertion] that Assange exposed her
to rape," The Local reported
(https://www.thelocal.se/20170519/assange-accuser-calls-swedish-decis
i
on-a-s
candal-maintains-accusations-lawyer) .
Police in London said Assange still faces arrest for failing to meet
bail conditions. The Guardian reported that an arrest warrant was
issued for Assange after he entered the Ecuadorean Embassy and did
not surrender to a court. The BBC reports that punishment for the
offense can be up to a year in prison or a fine.
"The Metropolitan police service [MPS] is obliged to execute that
warrant should he leave the embassy," a statement said. "Whilst Mr
Assange was wanted on a European arrest warrant (EAW) for an
extremely serious offence, the MPS response reflected the serious
nature of that crime. Now that the situation has changed and the
Swedish authorities have discontinued their investigation into that
matter, Mr Assange remains wanted for a much less serious offence.
The MPS will provide a level of resourcing which is proportionate to that
offence."
Assange wants to start a dialogue with British authorities to
determine his legal status in the United Kingdom and in the United
States, another place where authorities want to arrest him
(http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/press_freedoms_us_seeks_arrest_
w
ikilea
ks_founder_julian_assange_20170421) .
The Ecuadorean government wants Britain to promise not to arrest
Assange and to guarantee his safety.
The BBC reports (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39979343) :
[Ecuadorean] Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said that the UK should
now grant Mr Assange safe passage, as the European arrest warrant
against him "no longer holds".
"Ecuador welcomes the decision to drop the charges," Mr Long added,
quoted by AFP [Agence France-Presse], while criticizing the time it
took Sweden to send an investigator to London to interview Mr Assange.
"Ecuador regrets that it took Swedish prosecutor more than four years
to carry out this interview. This was a wholly unnecessary delay."
Earlier a source at the ministry told the Press Association that
Ecuador had "fully co-operated with the Swedish justice system".
The source added that Ecuador would now intensify its diplomatic
efforts with the UK so that Julian Assange could "enjoy his asylum in
Ecuador".
Leaving the Ecuadorean Embassy remains unsafe for Assange until the U.K.
provides assurances that he won't be extradited to the U.S. In April,
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that arresting Assange was a
priority
(https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/apr/21/arresting-julian-assan
g
e-is-a
-priority-says-us-attorney-general-jeff-sessions) for the U.S.
government, even though Donald Trump said "I love WikiLeaks" at a
rally during the presidential campaign.
The CIA also considers Assange a threat
(https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2017-speeche
s
-testi
mony/pompeo-delivers-remarks-at-csis.html) . "It's time to call out
WikiLeaks for what it really is: a non-state hostile intelligence
service often abetted by state actors like Russia," CIA Director Mike
Pompeo said during an April 13 public talk
(https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2017-speeche
s
-testi
mony/pompeo-delivers-remarks-at-csis.html) at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies.
VOTE: Is WikiLeaks an Ethical News Source or 'Hostile Intelligence
Service'?
(http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/is_wikileaks_an_ethical_news_so
u
rce_or
_hostile_intelligence_service_2017041)
Through WikiLeaks, Assange has released hundreds of thousands of
classified U.S. documents. The materials have exposed possible U.S.
war crimes, CIA spying techniques, and corruption of politicians
(http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/what_the_wikileaks_revelations_r
e
veal_a
bout_donna_brazile_and_the_dnc_20161) and institutions including the
Democratic Party
(http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/wikileaks_podesta_emails_reveal_
t
he_pow
er_behind_the_clinton_campaign_) , along with making other disclosures.
WATCH: Julian Assange Accuses Democrats of McCarthyism, Maintains
Russia Was Not WikiLeaks' Source
(http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/assange_maintains_russia_was_no
t
_wikil
eaks_source_20170410)
In February 2016, a United Nations panel found that Assange had been
"arbitrarily detained
(http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/05/europe/julian-assange-ruling/index.html) "
by
the Swedish and U.K. governments since 2010. The U.N. Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention at the time recommended "remedies such as
release from detention and compensation."
Assange made a public statement
(https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2017/may/19/julian-assange-ra
p
e-inqu
iry-dropped-live) from the balcony of the Ecuadorean Embassy on Friday.
"The proper war is just commencing," he said. "The U.K. says it will
arrest me regardless."
</p><p>
Below is a video from a 2016 panel with Democracy Now! anchor Amy
Goodman (pictured at left), Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges,
WikiLeaks lawyer Margaret Ratner, Assange lawyer Carey Shenkman and
journalist Jeremy Scahill. The discussion dealt with Assange and the
importance of whistleblowing, and the WikiLeaks founder made an
appearance at the end through a video feed.
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