International Artist says he'll destroy $45M worth of Rembrandt, Picasso and Warhol masterpieces if Julian Assange dies in prison

[blaseblase]

I don't support Assange's release of classified information. He'll have his day in court and the burden of proof is on the prosecution. I'm sure the Ecuadorians are glad to finally have him out of their embassy.

It's literally a constitutional right for the press to report confidential information. The exact same shit every media outlet does. This is a direct attack on journalism and freedom of the press.

 

[LangfordBarrow]

It's literally a constitutional right for the press to report confidential information. The exact same shit every media outlet does. This is a direct attack on journalism and freedom of the press.

He'll have his day in court. We'll see what the State can prove.

 

[blaseblase]

Yea the primary charge is that Assange helped Chelsea Manning crack a password on one computer. But the evidence is super thin. They discussed it but Manning was not successful.

Here’s How The U.S. Claims The Assange-Manning Conspiracy Worked

Assange is accused of helping Chelsea Manning crack a password for Windows PCs she had access to in Iraq. Just how does the government believe they planned to do it?

www.forbes.com

"Although there is no evidence that the password to the FTP user was obtained"

So absolute bullshit, and the man has been imprisoned for 5 years over it.

Obama knew it was bullshit and never went after Assange. Trump made a direct attack on press freedom and Biden is following in his footsteps.

I don't want to hear any bullshit about Trump being anti-establishment, he had the power to pardon Assange and didn't. Instead he pardoned the Blackwater murderers because his owners told him to.

 

[eddymotto]

Personally I find Julian Assange a difficult person to like. He also appears to have made some strategic errors. For example, I don't know why he thought it would be easier for the US to extradite him from Sweden vs. the UK. Perhaps it was as simple as him worrying about serving time in Sweden on the sexual assault charges.

The real issue remains that the US National Security apparatus is out to get him because he embarrassed them by publishing information that was true.

 

[eddymotto]

"Although there is no evidence that the password to the FTP user was obtained"

So absolute bullshit, and the man has been imprisoned for 5 years over it.

Obama knew it was bullshit and never went after Assange. Trump made a direct attack on press freedom and Biden is following in his footsteps.

I don't want to hear any bullshit about Trump being anti-establishment, he had the power to pardon Assange and didn't. Instead he pardoned the Blackwater murderers because his owners told him to.

My hunch is that there is no strong political constituency for Assange in the USA. Pardoning him or publicly dropping the extradition does not win Biden, or Trump, any useful meaningful advantage. Therefore inertia tends to be the deciding factor.

As you write, Obama seemed content to avoid pushing the case. He also pardoned Manning.

I doubt Trump cared much one way or the other and so the security services took advantage to accelerate the case.

I think Biden has the diplomatic chops to find a way out of the standoff and make it go away if he wanted to but there is no evidence that he wants to.

 

[Hog-train]

Personally I find Julian Assange a difficult person to like. He also appears to have made some strategic errors. For example, I don't know why he thought it would be easier for the US to extradite him from Sweden vs. the UK. Perhaps it was as simple as him worrying about serving time in Sweden on the sexual assault charges.

The real issue remains that the US National Security apparatus is out to get him because he embarrassed them by publishing information that was true.

That Sweden sexual assault case was the most bullshit trumped up charge ever. It was not using a condom while having consensual sex. He had consensual sex with a girl one night and then later on in the night, he didn't use a condom. For that, they were trying to charge him with "sex by surprise." The girl who this happened to didn't even want to testify.

It was just a pretense to get him held on something so he could be extradited. The US was putting intense political pressure on Sweden.

But the entire media was running headlines like "Assange charged with rape!"

 

[pv3Hpv3p]

"Molodkin, who is originally from Russia"
lol

He's quoted praising the freedoms of the western world?

I was born in communist Poland and that is the biggest contributing factor as to why I fuckin hate communism

 

[LangfordBarrow]

That Sweden sexual assault case was the most bullshit trumped up charge ever. It was not using a condom while having consensual sex. He had consensual sex with a girl one night and then later on in the night, he didn't use a condom. For that, they were trying to charge him with "sex by surprise." The girl who this happened to didn't even want to testify.

It was just a pretense to get him held on something so he could be extradited. The US was putting intense political pressure on Sweden.

But the entire media was running headlines like "Assange charged with rape!"

That's some slant you put on that. He had consensual sex with someone that made it clear they could only proceed if he used a condom. Later that night, while she was asleep, he initiated sexual contact again without a condom. So not only did she not consent but he also took advantage of her being asleep to not wear a condom.

 

[eddymotto]

That Sweden sexual assault case was the most bullshit trumped up charge ever. It was not using a condom while having consensual sex. He had consensual sex with a girl one night and then later on in the night, he didn't use a condom. For that, they were trying to charge him with "sex by surprise." The girl who this happened to didn't even want to testify.

It was just a pretense to get him held on something so he could be extradited. The US was putting intense political pressure on Sweden.

But the entire media was running headlines like "Assange charged with rape!"

it was 2 cases in Sweden and, while you don't agree with the Swedish laws, the cases don't seem that unusual for that country.

the timing is certainly a coincidence

on the other hand, the women got a new lawyer who pressed to re-open the case. the lawyer was formally the Gender Equality Minister of a Social Democrat government. on the surface, he does not seem like an obvious American surrogate.

it also remains completely unclear to me why it would be easier for the US to extradite from Sweden. The US-UK have a 2003 extradition agreement that "streamlines" the process (not to the general benefit of the accused).

but I am certainly no expert on international law

 

[Hog-train]

it was 2 cases in Sweden and, while you don't agree with the Swedish laws, the cases don't seem that unusual for that country.

the timing is certainly a coincidence

on the other hand, the women got a new lawyer who pressed to re-open the case. the lawyer was formally the Gender Equality Minister of a Social Democrat government. on the surface, he does not seem like an obvious American surrogate.

it also remains completely unclear to me why it would be easier for the US to extradite from Sweden. The US-UK have a 2003 extradition agreement that "streamlines" the process (not to the general benefit of the accused).

but I am certainly no expert on international law

That's some slant you put on that. He had consensual sex with someone that made it clear they could only proceed if he used a condom. Later that night, while she was asleep, he initiated sexual contact again without a condom. So not only did she not consent but he also took advantage of her being asleep to not wear a condom.

Swedish authorities were going to drop the case until the US started putting intense political pressure on them.