After years of avoiding extradition, Julian Assange’s appeal is likely his last chance. Here’s how it might unfold (and how we got here) - eviltoast
  • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I wonder when legacy media journalists are going to start being jailed for doing investigative journalism…

    There he faces multiple counts of computer misuse and espionage stemming from his work with WikiLeaks, publishing sensitive US government documents provided by Chelsea Manning. The US government has repeatedly claimed that Assange’s actions risked its national security.

    For the High Court appeal, it is expected Assange’s legal team will once again argue the extradition would be oppressive and that the American assurances are inadequate. A recent statement by Alice Edwards, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, supports their argument that extradition could lead to treatment “amounting to torture or other forms of ill-treatment or punishment”. She rejected the adequacy of American assurances, saying:

    They are not legally binding, are limited in their scope, and the person the assurances aim to protect may have no recourse if they are violated.

    • Philo@lemmy.zipOP
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      8 months ago

      I don’t believe you read the case carefully or understood it thoroughly. The issue doesn’t arise from his profession of being a journalist, as he is considered a publisher. The problem lies in the fact that he assisted Manning with an illegal hack rather than simply publishing the material. If he were just a publisher, would he have fled and sought refuge in an embassy?

      • grte@lemmy.ca
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        8 months ago

        Why does the US have any jurisdiction at all? This isn’t an American citizen. He didn’t do any of his supposed crimes in the USA. What right do they have?

        • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
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          8 months ago

          A country’s laws can be violated by a foreign national, from outside the country.

          When this happens within the country, there are plenty of examples of people being convicted for violating local law when visiting. When this happens they get arrested and trialed according to local law.

          When it happens from outside or if the perpetrator leaves the country, the country can ask the country that the perpetrator is in for extradition. That can be their home country, or simply another country that they happen to be in.

          It is then up to that country’s legal system whether to grant that extradition. Most countries will have laws and policies around when extradition can be granted, and if it is, they will then arrest the individual and hand them over to the country requesting their extradition for trial.

          So, by default, they have every right as long as a person is within their borders. And when they aren’t, they can ask for the right. And they are. The government of the other country can then give them the right to uphold their rule of law over this one specific individual.

          Assanges whole ordeal has been about whether the countries harbouring him will grant the extradition requested by the US, or properly grant him asylum instead. Ecuador did for a while, but withdrew that and allowed him to be arrested by UK law enforcement. Which they could do because he breached bail on the EU arrest warrant issued by Sweden, valid in the UK due to their membership at the time.

          Whether he’d be in the clear within the borders of his home country, isn’t relevant, because that’s not where he is.

        • ChicoSuave@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Oh my god, you’ve figured out how spies can avoid prosecution in countries they spy in: don’t be a citizen! Now when they get arrested they can say that they aren’t citizens and so jurisdiction falls to a different country! Police hate this one trick.

          • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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            8 months ago

            That’s an extremely dangerous line of thought. I’m certain that I do things every day, both IRL and online, that are against the laws of many countries. Easy examples would be Iran, China, Russia, Israel, and many others. However, I am not (and have never been) within their borders, and their laws do not apply to me.

            Is the only thing stopping them from enforcing their laws upon me, that my own government does not want to appease them? What if there are diplomatic/policy shifts? Do we end up in a situation where the most awful countries have ruling power over everyone?

            • Philo@lemmy.zipOP
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              8 months ago

              You don’t live in the EU, do you? Hack into the government of Germany’s computer system and tell the FBI they can’t extradite you there because you are a US citizen and Germany has no jurisdiction.

      • quindraco@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        The problem lies in the fact that he assisted Manning with an illegal hack rather than simply publishing the material.

        That’s simply not true. He’s not even charged with helping her, he’s charged with conspiracy.

      • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        The illegal hack charge was dropped, due to no evidence of said hack…

        That is why they are going after him for “sensitive information” and risk of “national security”.

        would he have fled and sought refuge in an embassy

        Once the US military industrial complex wants you they will do anything to hurt you, Edward Snowden had to go to Russia since the US military and their lackeys made it really difficult for him from going anywhere else aside from Russia…

        • Philo@lemmy.zipOP
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          8 months ago

          You are thinking of the case dropped by Obama back in 2009. however, you are completely and totally wrong. Read this. And here is the indictment.

          • quindraco@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            Per the link you just posted, emphasis mine:

            Instead, federal officials accused Assange of violating a very different law when he allegedly conspired with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to try to break the password of a government computer and gain access to its secrets. It is unclear from the indictment whether Assange succeeded in breaking the password.

            He’s charged with conspiracy, not actually helping her.

            • Philo@lemmy.zipOP
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              8 months ago

              Ok then, I guess he never accessed the government computer or put any of those accessed documents on WikiLeaks. Thanks for figuring the case out. Please notify the proper authorities and everyone can go home now. Guess Assange didn’t have to go run and hide.

      • stoly@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        And he’s such a sack of garbage that even the embassy got tired of him. Seems he was noisy, dirty, rude, and would not clean up after his cat.

          • stoly@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            To the case? It is. To understand what kind of person he is? Perfectly relevant.

              • stoly@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                I would not leave the building if I didn’t have to work. There’s really nothing of value for me to do outside that i can’t do with the electronic devices available to me. My mental health improved significantly during lockdown when I didn’t have to interact with smelly apes anymore.

                • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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                  8 months ago

                  Fair. I thought it’s the same for me for a few years, but then started untangling one trauma and realized that’s not the case. But everyone’s different.

                  Judging by Assange’s interest in women, despite it being expressed (in his traces on the web) in somewhat repulsive way, he likely is. EDIT: … not like you.

      • derphurr@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I don’t believe you understand that imprisonment in the US would be considered torture in test if the world, because it would. There are no laws are policies that protect anyone in federal prison.

    • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Exposing American war-crimes and violations of the constitution. Also called “being a Russian Asset”.

      Thanks Pelosi.

      • nevemsenki@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Am not from the US, so I don’t care a bit about Pelosi. Assange itself made it apparent he’s on a russian payroll.

        For one, when the Panama Papers came out, Assange was quick to critise it for badmouthing russians. To quote them:

        #PanamaPapers Putin attack was produced by OCCRP which targets Russia & former USSR and was funded by USAID and Soros"

        Hell, let’s take Assange’s words about why they never poke Russia?

        In Russia, there are many vibrant publications, online blogs, and Kremlin critics such as Navalny are part of that spectrum. There are also newspapers like Novaya Gazeta, in which different parts of society in Moscow are permitted to critique each other and it is tolerated, generally, because it isn’t a big TV channel that might have a mass popular effect, its audience is educated people in Moscow. So my interpretation is that in Russia there are competitors to WikiLeaks, and no WikiLeaks staff speak Russian, so for a strong culture which has its own language, you have to be seen as a local player.

        He’s either an asset or a willful idiot.

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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          8 months ago

          or a willful idiot.

          Likely the latter, I think that as somebody living in Russia.

          Which country’s citizenship that Snowden guy accepted again?

          I think all the “liberals” on Lemmy just love him.

          What’s the difference between these two assets then? That one of them didn’t bite your team in internal politics?

          That would mean using foreign assets against your countrymen, which wouldn’t be good?..

    • stoly@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      This is what bothered me. I’m all for sticking it to the government but he picked and chose who to hurt and he went after liberals.

      • stellargmite@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        The damage done to his life so far is the point. The implication being: it is intended to have a chilling effect on any potential whistleblowers. The absolute ideal for this hegemonic superpower, and any other for that matter, is to have complete freedom to break international law, with impunity, behind completely closed and sealed doors. To ‘protect its interests’ and any human cost without any repercussion. Being exposed doing what they were doing in this case, not that it was the first, has resulted in a ridiculously disproportionate response for this reason. A platform for whistleblowers to easily and anonymously get info to journalists for them to then properly verify, and when and if appropriate report on? Thats a bridge too far. Many commenting here, and the same occurred throughout this whole fiasco, like to get distracted quibbling over the details, but the implications are far wider for us as individuals and as a wider democratic society: if we properly believe in that concept. Governments and militaries have an uncomfortable relationship with the fourth estate. But actual journalism, if we assume this is what we are referring to, is one of the few hopes we have that citizens can be informed politically, rather than devolving into nationalistic drones.

    • Philo@lemmy.zipOP
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      8 months ago

      If he is extradited and he has broken a US law, they do. Agreement by you or anyone else isn’t necessary, that is how the law works. Look it up.

  • gapbetweenus@feddit.de
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    8 months ago

    Assange and Snowden show Europe it’s place in the world hierarchy. But it’s our fault not really standing up for them.

      • stoly@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        This. I was a fan until he turned out to be such scum who picked who he hurt rather than just publish the facts.

          • stoly@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Yeah. It was so weird that he became political while claiming to be a publisher. I was a fan at first then it became apparent that he’s a less wealthy version of Elon.

        • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Ok I will pretend you aren’t being paid in potatoes.

          Nothing in any email that she wrote shows anything not expected for someone in her position. Russia used Julian as a tool to sway the election.

          So yeah fuck him