back to article US govt scores a point against Assange in run-up to extradition appeal showdown

Julian Assange has lost a legal scrap in court, this time over the US government's attempt to expand its grounds for extraditing him from England to stand trial in America. Uncle Sam is ultimately hoping to overturn a decision made in January blocking Assange's extradition on mental health grounds. Lord Justice Holroyde, …

  1. FuzzyTheBear
    Coat

    More time ?

    With all the bulls&&& he's going to have spent more time hiding and in jail than the sentence he was likely to get if he had manned up and faced justice without all the fuss he's been making for personal publicity. He wanted to play the game ? He's all the worst for it .. seriously .. there's no sympathy left for that individual.

    1. Claverhouse

      Who Has The Time ?

      170 Years according to Wikipedia; 175 Years according to the Times of London.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

        The original charges he fled from - from a country that does not expedite for political offences - had a maximum prison time far less than the time he has spent:

        - On bail

        - Hiding in an embassy after jumping bail

        - Being jailed for said jumping of bail

        - Being remanded in custody pending the extradition hearing (because he is now a proven flight risk and won't get bail again)

        And let's not forget that there was no extradition request in the early days of this debacle. Even if he was found guilty he could have been out and home free years ago.

        Nope - lost all sympathy for the man the moment he jumped bail. Everything after that was entirely self-inflicted.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

          That may be the case but Assange apart this is an affront to the freedom of information. If he does go to America and gets a lengthy sentence then the next time someone has a video of American forces shooting people after falsely claiming a firefight then laughing at the dead we won't get to see it or know anything about it. Do you really want governments to have that much control over the media? This isn't just about Assange anymore.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

            You're joking, right? This case has no relevance outside of the UK, which is practically the 51st state of the US already and defers to the US govt on all matters.

            Actually, scratch that, its more like Puerto Rico with less sunshine - a place run by and for the US but without senators or congresscritters to speak for its citizens.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

            They screwed that one up by being creative with the full content of that video in order to play politics, at which point they nuked the little remaining credibility they had.

        2. FeepingCreature

          Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

          Assange was completely right to jump bail. The original charge was completely trumped up in an attempt to get him on American soil by any means. We *know* this now; I don't know why you're still bandying around the original charge as if it has anything to do with why anyone was doing anything in this case.

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
            Thumb Down

            Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

            "We *know* this now; "

            Do we? He ran from charges in a country that was highly unlikely to extradite him anywhere, let alone the US. He ran to a country not only likely to extradite him to the US, but also a country subject to honour the European Arrest Warrant which Sweden applied for and got.

            If Assange genuinely believed he was being set up for a US extradition, he did pretty much everything wrong to avoid it.

            1. gandalfcn Silver badge

              Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

              "He ran from charges in a country that was highly unlikely to extradite him anywhere,: Wrong, Sweden also refused to confirm he wouldn't be extradited.

              He ran from charges that were trumped up, were revoked, re-instaed, rev9ked again and so on. Sweden was jumping to orders from the USA.

              Talking of trunped, docs shortly after Trump became POTUS proved the US intended to try him for treason, terrorism etc. Trump called WikiLeaks "disgraceful" and suggested there be a "death penalty" for their actions.

              "The Justice Department under President Joe Biden plans to continue the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that was launched under President Donald Trump.

              "We continue to seek his extradition," Justice Department spokesperson Marc Raimondi told Reuters, days before February 12, the deadline for the United States government to submit its "grounds for appeal.""

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

          "Nope - lost all sympathy for the man the moment he jumped bail."

          He published Chelsea Manning leaks, as did most US press. They put him on an "arrest this man for something" man-hunting list. We know this from the leaks from Snowden published by others.

          Various bullshit charges followed that were later dropped.

          Chelsea Manning is lauded as a hero these days, exposing a bunch of lies and deceptions and war crimes. But it took some guilt for them to admit Manning was right. The prosecution of Assange is as a proxy for the "crimes" of Manning.

          "Conspiracy to" hack, is not hacking. "Publishing leaked secrets from others" is not "disclosing secrets".

          He has no case to answer.

          I get that he toadied up to Trump for a pardon, and that makes him a figure of hate for some, but that's not a reason to go along with this extra-judicial crap. If you don't like Trump, prosecute *Trump*, not Assange as a proxy for Trump, or Assange as a proxy for Manning.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

            What does Trump have to do with this?

            Back when the original charges were laid out, there was no extradition request, and the Obama Administration had already said "We don't want him".

            That is why the history is important. There may well have been couple of Senators howling for his blood, but that is irrelevant - the USA did not want him then.

            All Assange managed to do was delay things long enough for an Administration that did want him to get in to power.

            Oh yes - Assange is not a journalist, despite his many claims to the contrary. The protections that apply to the US Press do not necessarily apply to him.

            1. DrXym

              Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

              Julian's mistake (aside from everything else) was to continuously provoke the US while hiding in an embassy. He had such a hate hard-on for Hillary that he actively interfered in the US 2016 elections. No doubt that this above all other things caused the US to try and extradite him.

            2. skeptical i

              Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

              re: "Assange is not a journalist"

              I am not weighing in on whether Assange qualifies as a journalist or not. But I seem to recall that the U.S. had crafted a fairly simple charge -- I can not remember the exact wording but my recollection is something to the effect of "egging on someone with access to secret stuff to talk about (or share?) the secret stuff for future dissemination". The concern was that while this seems simple on the surface, it would affect "real" journalists because is this not what they do, i.e., convince their sources to spill details about things not in the public realm? Making this a crime would then, it is argued, criminalize reporting (or at least in-depth Deep Throat work).

              Unless I'm mis-remembering.

              1. gandalfcn Silver badge

                Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

                My responses containing facts keep being removed.i.e .blatant censorship. One has to wonder why when in the context of Assange.

            3. gandalfcn Silver badge

              Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

              "THE TRUMP JUSTICE DEPARTMENT inadvertently revealed in a court filing that it has charged Julian Assange in a sealed indictment. The disclosure occurred through a remarkably amateurish cutting-and-pasting error in which prosecutors unintentionally used secret language from Assange’s sealed charges in a document filed in an unrelated case. Although the document does not specify which charges have been filed against Assange, the Wall Street Journal reported that “they may involve the Espionage Act, which criminalizes the disclosure of national defense-related information.”"

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

                Why are you referencing the Trump administration, when the Obama administration was in power when the original part of this played out?

                Rather than making wild accusations in this and your other posts and suggesting that we should check our facts, perhaps you should do the same.

                Nobody is disputing that the Trump administration wanted him (and the Biden one has not dropped the request)- that's what these hearings are about. The Obama administration issued no such request, and if he had faced the music at the time (nearly a decade ago!) he would be home free now.

                (...And yes, I have read all the court judgements. They make fascinating, if sometimes dry, reading, and paint a very different picture to the whitewash you are trying to apply)

        4. DrXym

          Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

          Quite. If he had flown to Sweden then the worst that could happen would be a rape conviction, and a couple of years in prison. But according to his supporters there was no case to answer so perhaps not even that - maybe a few months of legal bother but that's all.

          But he chose option B.

          1. gandalfcn Silver badge

            Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

            "17 December 2001. Submitting to pressure from the United States, the Social

            Democratic government of Göran Persson abruptly revokes the political refugee

            status of two Egyptians accused by the U.S. of terrorism."

            If he had gone to Sweden he would have then gone straight to the USA and faced a death sentence. I don't like the man but he faced life in a prison in the USA.

        5. gandalfcn Silver badge

          Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

          Sorry, but Sweden refused to guarantee he would not be extradited, and that was the problem. If he is extradited to the USA he will just be convicted, imprisoned and the keys thrown away. The USA is a joke legally, it is seriously corrupt, so it would be a better idea if it was an international court, but the arrogant Septics refuse to accept international courts.

        6. gandalfcn Silver badge

          Re: Mr J. Assange, apparantly.

          "from a country that does not expedite for political offences:" I suggest you check your facts.

    2. DrXym

      Re: More time ?

      The expression "fuck around and find out" applies here.

      The irony is if he hadn't jumped bail, hidden out in an embassy and spent the time pissing off the US and other western countries with new new Russian friends then he wouldn't be in this mess.

  2. Claverhouse
    Unhappy

    A Long Farewell

    The Fix is In.

  3. Winkypop Silver badge
    FAIL

    Silly boy

    The Establishment doesn’t lose

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Trade

    I say we offer the US a trade - we'll extradite Assange to face US courts if you extradite Anne Sacoolas to face British courts

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Trade

      Thats not how vassalism works buddy

  5. _LC_
    Alert

    kudos to Philip Cross

    That's one court that would have made Roland Freisler proud. Let's face it, you're officially a banana republic now.

    Kudos to Philip Cross for taking a dump at this forum, as usual. Yep, a banana republic it is.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: kudos to Philip Cross

      "republic"

      You do know what a republic is, don't you?

  6. Plest Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Boring!

    While I agree it's the principle of the matter, anyone else fed up with hearing about the supposed poster-boy Assange and his "fight for freedom and justice"? I have zero doubt it all a load of crud concocted by the US gov to get old whitey over the pond but the story has run its course and we're all bored now.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Boring!

      That has been Assange's main worry: becoming irrelevant. Now he can still play the martyr, get people to pay bail for him which he then skips etc etc. As long as he gets in the press, all is well.

      Frankly, I can't wait to see the back of him.

    2. JDPower666

      Re: Boring!

      Yet you still clicked through to the article.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm thinking by now Assange REALLY regrets poking the bear... :(

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Impartiality?

    What is the reason that reg refuses to even mention the bombshell news about the crooked start witness who recanted?

    It seems like reg has a particular dislike of Assange, obvious throughout the reporting over the years.

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