Assange extradition. Jud-aut-sweden-v-assange-judgment. People OK with murdering Assange - 02-10-2011 @ 9:51am EDT. Balkinization. Why the U.S.
Shouldn’t Prosecute Assange–For the U.S.'s Sake, Not His Marvin Ammori I decided to write up some thoughts on Wikileaks. Many of our nation’s landmark free speech decisions are not about heroes–several are about flag-burners, racists, Klansmen, and those with political views outside the mainstream. The story of Wikileaks publishing U.S. diplomatic cables has become the story of Julian Assange: is he a hero or villain, a high-tech terrorist or enemy combatant?
Though I have spent years advocating for Internet freedom, I don’t think Assange is a hero for leaking these diplomatic cables. My initial reaction was similar. But, as time passed, the political and legal downsides of prosecution came into clearer focus, and I am rethinking that initial reaction. Prosecuting Assange could do more harm than good for our freedom of the press and would inflict further harm on diplomatic effectiveness. Harms to American Freedom of the Press 1. Transparency is not an unqualified good. 2. Journalists Are All Julian Assange. Whatever the unusual aspects of the case, the Obama administration’s reported plan to indict WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for conspiring with Army Pvt.
Bradley Manning to obtain U.S. secrets strikes at the heart of investigative journalism on national security scandals. That’s because the process for reporters obtaining classified information about crimes of state most often involves a journalist persuading some government official to break the law either by turning over classified documents or at least by talking about the secret information. There is almost always some level of “conspiracy” between reporter and source. Contrary to what some outsiders might believe, it’s actually quite uncommon for sensitive material to simply arrive “over the transom” unsolicited.
Indeed, during three decades of reporting on these kinds of stories, I can only recall a few secret documents arriving that way to me. A Nixon Precedent. Assange: Text messages show rape charges were 'set up' WikiLeaks boss Julian Assange said on Friday that text messages in the possession of the Swedish government prove that rape allegations against him are a set up. “There are intercepted SMS messages between the women and each other and their friends that I'm told represents a set up,” Assange, who spoke from Suffolk, UK, said on ABC's Good Morning America. “Those SMS messages the Swedish prosecutor has refused to release and in fact stated that my lawyer, who was shown the messages by the police, is gagged from speaking about them.” He continued: In their representations to the courts here over three separate court dates, the Swedish government stated that it didn't need to provide a single piece of evidence to the court, in fact didn't provide a single piece of evidence to back up its allegations.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange awaits bail hearing. 16 December 2010Last updated at 15:41 ET.
Profiles of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange. WikiLeaks: Tying Assange to Manning won't be easy. WASHINGTON — Even as some government officials contend that the release of thousands of classified documents by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange jeopardizes U.S. national security, legal experts, Pentagon officials and Justice Department lawyers concede any effort to prosecute him faces numerous hurdles.
Among them: Prosecutors apparently have had difficulty finding evidence that Assange ever communicated directly with Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, 23, an intelligence specialist who's widely thought to be the source of the documents, but is charged only with misusing and illegally downloading them. Prosecutors declined to discuss what evidence they have in the Manning case, but three Pentagon officials who cautioned that their information is two months old told McClatchy this week that as of that time prosecutors had no evidence tying Manning to Assange. Manning, who faces as many as 54 years in prison on 10 charges, isn't cooperating with prosecutors, the officials said. His attorney, Maj. Frost over the World - WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.
Assange's Lawyer: He's Upbeat, Surprised By Cyber-Attacks (EXCLUSIVE) "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.
Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. " - Oscar Wilde (a quote repeated by Julian Assange in the introduction to "Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier," a book he co-authored in 1997) Since he first landed in a London jail upon his arrest on Tuesday, the only thing that WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange has been requesting is access to a computer. Of course -- what else would you expect the mastermind behind the online whistleblowing operation that has exposed the closely-guarded secrets of the world's most powerful countries to want?
Glenn Beck explains Julian Assange’s alleged sex crimes.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested in London - V3.co.uk - formerly vnunet.com. Assange's lack of UK ties undermines bail plea. Charging assange unconstitutional. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested - U.S. news - WikiLeaks in Security. LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was refused bail and jailed for a week by a British court Tuesday, pending an extradition hearing over alleged sex offenses in Sweden.
Assange turned himself in to U.K. police earlier in the day in the latest blow to his WikiLeaks organization, which faces legal, financial and technological challenges after releasing hundreds of secret U.S. diplomatic cables. Swedish prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant for the 39-year-old Australian, who is accused of sexual misconduct with two women. Assange surrendered at 9:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET) Tuesday. The U.K.' During his court appearance, Assange said he would fight extradition to Sweden and he provided the court with an Australian address. The next court hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday, and Assange will remain in custody until then because he was deemed to be a flight risk. Assange 'not responsible for security breaches' says Kevin Rudd. Australia's foreign minister said the US government and whoever originally leaked 250,000 diplomatic cables should bear the responsibility for any security breaches – not the Australian WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange.
Kevin Rudd said legal liability rested with the initial leakers and Assange should be protected from threats to his safety as the US stepped up pressure on companies and organisations with ties to WikiLeaks. His comments came after the Sydney Morning Herald published leaked cables in which US diplomats described Rudd, then Australia's prime minister, as a mistake-prone control freak with a tendency towards making "snap announcements without consulting other countries or within the Australian government".
Rudd dismissed the criticism, saying that it was "like water off a duck's back". Assange, who was arrested in London yesterday, faces extradition to Sweden for alleged sexual assaults, but Rudd took the offensive against the US over the leaks. The Shameful Attacks on Julian Assange - David Samuels - International. Getty Images Julian Assange and Pfc Bradley Manning have done a huge public service by making hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. government documents available on Wikileaks -- and, predictably, no one is grateful.
Manning, a former army intelligence analyst in Iraq, faces up to 52 years in prison. He is currently being held in solitary confinement at a military base in Quantico, Virginia, where he is not allowed to see his parents or other outside visitors. Assange, the organizing brain of Wikileaks, enjoys a higher degree of freedom living as a hunted man in England under the close surveillance of domestic and foreign intelligence agencies -- but probably not for long. Published reports suggest that a joint Justice Department-Pentagon team of investigators is exploring the possibility of charging Assange under the Espionage Act, which could lead to decades in jail. Video: 'Assange has done substantial damage to US interests'
Julian Assange put in segregation unit as lawyers aim for bail. Julian Assange is thought to have asked to be housed away from other prisoners.
Photograph: Getty Images Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, has been transferred to the segregation unit of Wandsworth prison where the authorities are planning to give him limited access to the internet, it emerged tonight. Assange, the most famous inmate in the Victorian jail, met his legal team after being sent there on remand when he was refused bail on Tuesday.
Sweden is seeking his extradition over allegations of sexual assault.