back to article London's Metropolitan Police arrest Julian Assange

Julian Assange has been arrested by London cops at the Ecuadorian Embassy after the nation revoked the asylum it had given him for nearly seven years. BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video pic.twitter.com/qsHy7ZVPg5 — Ruptly (@Ruptly) April 11, 2019 The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) issued a statement this …

  1. Wellyboot Silver badge
    Holmes

    final straw?

    Looks like he's peed off the Ecuadorian gov. once too often.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: final straw?

      there is certainly a lot more to this story than the first bunch of El'reg commentards have mentioned, either deliberately, or accidentally lightweight in world news 'actuality'

      I suggest you all do some more reading, unless you are offical typists just doing your job, in which case "well done men, now he can go and get Trumped!"

      https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/us/politics/julian-assange-indictment-wikileaks.html

      1. phuzz Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: final straw?

        First the US have to get their hands on him, and once the Met are finished with him for bail jumping, it looks like he's off to Sweden to face his original charges. He's less likely to get extradited to the US from Sweden than he is from the UK.

        Hopefully the Swedes just ship him back to Australia where he can live in ignominy (and maybe pay some child support). He'd hate it much more if it turned out the world doesn't actually give a shit about him.

        "there is certainly a lot more to this story than the first bunch of El'reg commentards have mentioned, either deliberately, or accidentally lightweight in world news 'actuality'"

        I see everyone who disagrees with me as either a government stooge or an imbecile as well, it's always a good way to have a calm discussion.

        1. BebopWeBop
          Thumb Down

          Re: final straw?

          While I agree that he should be jailed and then sent back to Oz (if the Swedes don't want him) I don't consider anyone who disagrees with me as either a government stooge or an imbecile. Glass houses and all that.....

          1. Alister

            Re: final straw?

            @BebopWeBop

            WHOOOOOOSH!

            phuzz was being sarcastic.

            1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

              Re: final straw?

              Misdirected whoosh? I think it was BeBopWeBop who was being sarcastic. But you know what they say about sarcasm on the Net...

              1. Alister

                Re: final straw?

                Misdirected whoosh?

                Nope. phuzz was being sarcastic at the AC's remarks, but BebopWeBop took phuzz's comments at face value, as did you, it appears.

                1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

                  Re: final straw?

                  You know what they say about sarcasm on the Net....

                  1. Geoffrey W

                    Re: final straw?

                    How do you know that what is being said about sarcasm on the internet isn't more sarcasm?

                    1. phuzz Silver badge

                      Re: final straw?

                      I can confirm that what was said about me being sarcastic, was not in itself sarcasm, and was correct in assuming that I was being sarcastic.

                      I hope that's clear ;)

                      1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

                        Re: final straw?

                        We're approaching a Poe's Law stack overflow here.

          2. BigSLitleP

            Re: final straw?

            I think that last bit was a sarcy comment aimed at the AC, who seem to have their head shoved somewhere south of the equator.

          3. Jason Hindle

            Re: final straw? Back to Oz?

            "While I agree that he should be jailed and then sent back to Oz (if the Swedes don't want him) "

            I think they'd rather take ROFL back.

            1. Teiwaz

              Re: final straw? Back to Oz?

              I think they'd rather take ROFL back.

              Rolling on the Floor Laughing???

              or did you mean R. "Plaster of Paris"???

              I still enjoy the Goodies Scatty Safari

            2. macjules

              Re: final straw? Back to Oz?

              Nah, let’s try the good old William Wallace method:

              Executioner: ‘Ullo Mr Assange I’ve been asked to send bits of you to America, Sweden, UK and Australia. After we’ve hanged, drawn and quartered you, which bit do you want sent where?

          4. Bruce Ordway

            Re: final straw?

            >> ... either a government stooge or an imbecile.

            Also my first impulse when someone disagrees with me.

            Unfortunately I can be wrong as often as not.

            As far as Mr. Assange, I just don't know what to believe. At one extreme I have the image of an essential whistle-blower who has had his character assassinated. Detractors would have me believe in a boorish, entitled, narcissistic, borderline psychopath who simply enjoys causing trouble for others?

            I doubt we'll ever know the truth in my lifetime.

            One thing I feel sure of is that Julian Assange in no Abbie Hoffman.

            I really wonder how the Merry Pranksters might have run a Wikileaks.

            Even though they were troublemaker who enjoyed tormenting the US government, I thought there was something to admire in their humor.

            1. File Not Found

              Re: final straw?

              Have a look at Andrew O’Hagan’s piece in the London Review of Books, March 2014 - comprehensive and revealing and definitive.

            2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

              Re: final straw?

              As far as Mr. Assange, I just don't know what to believe. At one extreme I have the image of an essential whistle-blower who has had his character assassinated. Detractors would have me believe in a boorish, entitled, narcissistic, borderline psychopath who simply enjoys causing trouble for others?

              No reason it can't be both.

              Personally, I think it's pretty clear that Assange is at the very least an egotistical self-promoter. He's also assisted - at least as a figurehead for the real workers to rally around - in some very important whistle-blowing, though many of his most ardent supporters like to ignore the many others who've done that work for decades (e.g. Cryptome1).

              I wouldn't be surprised if the sexual-assault charges are true. I wouldn't be surprised if they were concocted by his enemies. I'd be rather surprised to ever see any definitive evidence one way or the other.

              1Of course, Cryptome is also a testament to the fact that these whistle-blowing sites generally aren't run by the warmest and fuzziest of folks, as many who've conversed with John Young can attest.

              1. _Cryptome_

                Re: final straw?

                Attested.

        2. Trenjeska

          Re: final straw?

          Sweden dropped those charges

          1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

            Re: final straw?

            Sweden dropped those charges

            Tenjeska,

            Nope. They didn't.

            Firstly because they never charged him. Apparently Swedish law requires a pre-charge interview - and he left/fled the country the evening his lawyer informed him that that interview was booked for the next morning.

            And secondly, they haven't dropped the case. But the Swedish Prosecutor lost a case in their supreme court for continuing to pursue Assange when there was no realistic chance of getting anywhere - as he was hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy. They can re-start that any time.

            The handful of less serious charges expired a few years ago - statute of limitations being 5 years. The 2 rape charges time out after ten years, in 2020 as the article says.

          2. hittitezombie

            Re: final straw?

            Nope, they haven't, they have until 2020 to unfreeze the charges.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: final straw?

          According to reports, the UK government has just confirmed he has been re-arrested following an extradition request from the US.

          The Swedes are still deciding what to do.

          1. JetSetJim
            1. Sir Runcible Spoon

              Re: final straw?

              That didn't take them long did it?

              1. Wellyboot Silver badge

                Re: final straw?

                Not bad for this early in the morning (over there) you'd be forgiven for thinking they had a tip off before the whole show hit the road.

                8O)

                1. Sir Runcible Spoon

                  Re: final straw?

                  How about a month's notice?..

                  https://www.mintpressnews.com/ecuadors-cooperation-bought-imf-loans-washington-waxes-optimistic-assange-extradition/255942/

                  and this on the 21st Feb..

                  https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ecuador-IMF-Loan-Yet-to-Be-Granted-Austerity-Measures-a-Condition-for-Agreement-20190221-0009.html

                  Some additional background info in this article from yesterday on mintpress (that looks like a good site)..

                  https://www.mintpressnews.com/julian-assange-ecuador-extradition-noose-tightens-with-ina-papers-as-latest-slipknot/257175/

                  1. SundogUK Silver badge

                    Re: final straw?

                    Seriously? You're passing off mintpressnews.com as an objective news site?

                    1. Sir Runcible Spoon
                      Paris Hilton

                      Re: final straw?

                      Am I? I just found it and was interested that they ran these articles a month or two ago and seemed to be right on the money. As I said, worth looking at.

                      Do you have a better suggestion?

                2. JimboSmith Silver badge

                  Re: final straw?

                  The camera crews have been there since Saturday. I have visited a client in the area over the past week and a bit and seen them. I think it was on Twitter on Friday night that he was likely to get the boot soon. Who tweeted it though I sadly don't remember.

          2. Likkie

            Re: final straw?

            Which shows that the USA could have simply sought to extradite him from the UK all along and that he actually jumped bail to avoid questioning in Sweden over sexual misconduct allegations. Whilst trying to fool the "world" that Sweden would somehow funnel him away to Uncle Sam, in a barrel of pickled herring now doubt. Red Herring more like!

        4. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Devil

          Re: final straw?

          "He'd hate it much more if it turned out the world doesn't actually give a shit about him."

          Yeah, he's a bit like Kevin Mitnick huh? (not in the detail, but to some extent, in the public image 'things')

          In truth, having Assange 'available' for extradition to the USA might play out well (for him AND the rest of the world) with respect to D&CDNC e-mails leaked in 2016. Hannity did an interview with Assange a while back regarding this specific thing. And now that "certain investigations" are complete, it's time to open a few *NEW* ones, and Assange COULD be a key witness...

          Aside from that, the Manning releases probably weren't a crime so long as Assange was only involved in their release to the world. If he had attempted to influence Manning to break the law, it'd be conspiracy of something-or-other. Most likely the DOJ would grant him immunity to get more information regarding the DNC e-mails, something that is likely to become very important over the next year.

          I smell some behind-the-scenes activity. This timing is _very_ suspicious! [then again it's probably best for all concerned at this point, especially the Ecuadorians not having to put up with him any more]

          1. veti Silver badge

            Re: final straw?

            If Assange suborned or conspired with Manning to get the leaks, then he's in trouble, yes. If not, then the US will never get him, because they'd have to show some such evidence to a UK court in order to extradite him.

            (Discounting of course the possibility that the allegations relate to some other episode, such as the DNC hack.)

            As for the timing - can you think of a time when it wouldn't have been "very suspicious"?

            1. SundogUK Silver badge

              Re: final straw?

              I believe there is pretty clear evidence Assange discussed the leak with Manning before it occurred. Ipso facto, there is a case to be answered.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: final straw?

            "Hannity did an interview" - that's a first ;-)

        5. Sanctimonious Prick
          Thumb Down

          Re: final straw?

          @phuzz

          Yeah, go ahead and call people names, mate. Shows your intelligence.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: final straw?

            *wooosh*

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: final straw?

        I suggest you all do some more reading, unless you are offical typists just doing your job, in which case "well done men, now he can go and get Trumped!"

        And in what way does any of this change my oft-expressed opinion (including an earlier comment below) that by acting thoughtlessly he's put himself into a corner he can't get out of? He ran from Sweden. He jumped bail. He had cases to answer in both Sweden and the US neither of which were political and there was no indication at that point of any proceedings planned in the US. My view was that the then current US government would be smart enough to punish him by refusing to stroke his ego by pursuing him. An evolution of that position was that the current bull-in-a-china-shop administration would lack such finesse and that he'd missed his opportunity long ago. I find the report which you link verifies that view.

        Good try at shilling, A/C, but you really need more cogent arguments if you come to this forum.

        1. Ben Tasker

          Re: final straw?

          > My view was that the then current US government would be smart enough to punish him by refusing to stroke his ego by pursuing him. An evolution of that position was that the current bull-in-a-china-shop administration would lack such finesse and that he'd missed his opportunity long ago.

          Exactly my take on it too.

          The smart thing for the US to do, as soon as he ran to Ecuador's embassy was always to let him make all his noise about the US's conspiracy to get him, and then when he became available, do nothing. He'd perfectly discredit himself by looking like a paranoid lunatic.

          But, he's holed himself up for a long time, and in the process supported the election of a new administration who simply aren't that smart (and care more about looking like hardliners).

          This is a rod he's made for his own back. There's a very good chance if he'd just faced the Swedish charges he'd be out and free again by now, with the US having show no interest.

          Instead, now he's the guy who had to be officially warned to tidy up his cat's litter and to wash himself, and now is being pursued by a nationalistic US administration that he helped put into power.

    2. simonb_london

      Re: final straw?

      The housekeeper was Carole Bayer Sager and she even wrote a song about it.

  2. hittitezombie

    Good riddance, I hope the rapey bastard faces the music for what he's done to the ladies.

    1. GreggS

      He won't. That case has been dropped. He's been arrested for failing to surrender to the court, whilst that charge was still active. A separate offence.

      1. Aladdin Sane

        The charge hasn't been dropped, merely put on ice until the pastey sod came out of his den.

        1. Ian Michael Gumby
          Boffin

          Only one charge remains...

          Since he was never charged, he outlasted two of the charges due to statute of limitations.

          IIRC there is one charge left.

          Will Sweden still want him? Maybe.

          He still faces charges in Britain for jumping bail.

          And if the US wants to extradite him... it would be very interesting.

          Assange could fight it, but he would have to stay in a UK jail while he appeals the charges. (Like they're going to give him bail after the last time...)

          Or he goes back to Australia. Because he jumped bail and caused a bit of a political mess costing millions in overtime for the plod, they can send him there w guards and probably in cuffs.

          There the US would have an easier time extraditing him if they want him.

          1. bombastic bob Silver badge
            Devil

            Re: Only one charge remains...

            "Because he jumped bail and caused a bit of a political mess costing millions in overtime for the plod, they can send him there w guards and probably in cuffs."

            Easier for UK to wash their hands of him. agreed.

            1. the Jim bloke
              Joke

              Re: Only one charge remains...

              Hey Bob, Random acts of capitalization dont count if they are supposed to be there, or is there a problem with your capslock key today ?

          2. Scorchio!!

            Re: Only one charge remains...

            Ah there you are Sir Gumby, good to see you, I thought I'd find you here. Now the little freak is set to pay for its misdeeds, eh?

            A friend of mine commented that his condition was reminiscent of Saddam when he was wrested from his hidey hole, whilst others have said he resembles a character from the BBC show Only fools and horses.

            Whatever, these are interesting times; prime ministers who cannot be taken seriously, people who ought not to be taken seriously... ...taken seriously. (boggle)

            1. Ian Michael Gumby
              Boffin

              @Scorchio!! Re: Only one charge remains...

              Now there's a name from the past.

              Yes, looks like he's going to get his just dessert. Finally.

              After I wrote the stuff this morning I heard that the US did finally unseal the Grand Jury indictment. It was as I suspected. They have evidence that he assisted in the theft

              If true, he's facing 5-15 years. No death penalty.

              He's going to rot in the UK while they sort things out.

            2. Mark 85
              Black Helicopters

              Re: Only one charge remains...

              A friend of mine commented that his condition was reminiscent of Saddam when he was wrested from his hidey hole, whilst others have said he resembles a character from the BBC show Only fools and horses.

              So will he suddenly "die" from some condition while in custody? And in reality be whisked away to some place.... dungeon perhaps?

      2. jmch Silver badge

        "He won't. That case has been dropped. "

        RTFA. That case was just suspended, but statute of limitations runs till next year and it seems like the Swedish prosecutors intend to pick up again where thy left off.

        1. GreggS

          Article was updated after i posted, so my original comments were correct at time of posting.

          1. Monty Cantsin

            "Article was updated after i posted, so my original comments were correct at time of posting."

            We truly live in the Post Truth era.

          2. CRConrad

            "my original comments were correct at time of posting"

            No they weren't, they just relied on bad information. Had you kept à jour with some better sources over the years, you would have known this and not have had to rely on the Vulture's (apparently originally misinformed) recap. Any which way, being wrong isn't "being right" just because you were misled.

    2. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

      That might have to wait. As he's currently in the hands of the Met, I suspect that they have first dibs to have a chat with him about his bail-jumping before letting the Swede's get their oar in.

      1. JetSetJim

        Maximum sentence for jumping bail is (apparently) 12 months, so could do that and still be sent to Sweden to face at least a portion of the music there.

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    5. joeW

      Even complete muppets still have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

      1. DontFeedTheTrolls
        Headmaster

        However what they do not have is the right to avoid going to court where their innocence can be tested

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. Radio Wales
          Terminator

          You can't handle the truth!

          There is absolutely no way that any person's innocence can be tested when national politics are involved.

          It always reverts to smoke and mirror justice - and individuals can never come out on top.

          The truth in such circumstances will be diluted to an infinite point of improbability and be unrecognisable.

      2. defiler

        I prefer "unless" proven guilty. "Until" assumes it's a foregone conclusion.

        I know I'm swimming against the tide on this one, but I prefer the clarity. Not wanting to pee in anyone's ice cream over it though.

        1. joeW

          Fair point. If I could edit my post I would.

        2. the Jim bloke

          I agree with your statement, but still intend to pee in anyones icecream that is available.

        3. Jove Bronze badge

          The correct terminology is:

          "Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law"

          ... which provides the correct context for the use of 'until' rather than 'unless'.

          1. defiler

            Oh, I agree that Joe is correct, "by the book". I just think that "the book" is wrong in this case.

            As I say, I'm not out to force everyone to change. I'm just pointing out that a small change in wording makes a large difference in intent. Clearly my old Artificial Intelligence lectures from 25+ years ago have stuck in my head. That and having to explain so many things to people who may as well be children when I'm at work...

            I'll be very happy if people take "unless" and run with it. I'll not be upset if they stick with "until".

            (Also, not sure why the downvotes. If its due to my inaccuracy per the accepted wording, I've explained that. But I'm certainly not offering an opinion on Assange's guilt - I think the bail jumping is pretty cut-and-dried, but the rest will have to be decided at trial.)

        4. Kiwi
          Unhappy

          I prefer "unless" proven guilty. "Until" assumes it's a foregone conclusion.

          Sadly many people live in nations where it is "Guilty despite being proven innocent".

          Many people who live in these countries don't actually realise it, until they or someone they know goes through the system.

          1. Jove Bronze badge

            It is not a matter of preference - it is law as adopted in the UK. You do not get to choose just because comes down against your own team.

    6. Pinjata

      Keep in mind that the so-called victims of these sexual assaults never agreed to the arrest and a trail of Assange. The arrest warrant and allegations come from a politically assigned special prosecutor that want to "test" whether or not it's sexual assault to have sex with a sleepy person, this after an ordinary prosecutor dismissed the case.

      1. Ian Michael Gumby
        Boffin

        Actually they did.

        Who do you think brought the complaint to the police?

        And what they wanted was for him to get HIV tested.

      2. jmch Silver badge

        "...the so-called victims of these sexual assaults never agreed to the arrest and a trail of Assange"

        That's not how criminal law works. If the police are aware of a crime, they don't need the victims' go-ahead to investigate , arrest or prosecute. And who do you think informed the police in the first place?

      3. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

        ...whether or not it's sexual assault to have sex with a sleepy person...

        FWIW, unless someone has clearly consented for you to have sex with them whilst they are asleep, it's rape. Whether or not you'll get prosecuted is by-the-bye, if you do it, you're a scumbag.

        1. adnim

          @Loyal commenter: Yup.

          After being invited back to a girls flat and then being invited to bed during the proceedings, during the foreplay my slightly drunken partner fell asleep. Being very aroused I looked at her naked body, fantasised and masturbated. Now some may consider this creepy, I did myself a little, but not enough to stop though. I was drunk too. I then cuddled up to her and went to sleep.

          In the morning she asked me why I didn't have sex with her whilst she slept. I told her it was because she was asleep and it didn't seem right. To be honest I would consider such an action rape, although I didn't tell her that.

          ihmo if it isn't mutual between fully cognisant and consenting people it ain't right, and for me isn't fun either.

      4. Ben Tasker

        > Keep in mind that the so-called victims of these sexual assaults never agreed to the arrest and a trail of Assange.

        And your point is?

        Here in the UK, if you mug someone and they forgive you, they don't get to say to the police "I don't want to press charges". This is real life not TV.

        The police work with the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether bringing the case is in the public interest (in the example, you're a mugger, so they'll likely decide yes).

        Guess what, Sweden, like most other countries has a similar system. Once the legal system becomes aware of it, it's in their hands - largely because although a victim may not want to proceed, they have to consider the risk you pose to other people

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          "they have to consider the risk you pose to other people"

          And also the possibility that the complainant might have been threatened into withdrawing the complaint.

          1. Ben Tasker

            Yes, that too, along with the possible waste of resources if they do a deep and thorough investigation into it and the victim then finds God and becomes more forgiving.

            Plus, with things like sexual assault, you'll sometimes find that a conviction leads to other victims coming forward

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Plus, with things like sexual assault, you'll sometimes find that an accusation leads to other victims coming forward.

              TFTFY

              It's wrong and has very little to do with justice.

    7. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You mean

      Those actors paid by the US gov to give them a mechanism to get hold of him and remove a risk to their covering up of questionable stuff that they think they should be allowed to get away with?

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: You mean

        "Those actors paid by the US gov"

        Citation needed.

        1. Ben Tasker

          Re: You mean

          You know, it's been *years*, and with many many leaks since then.

          And yet, despite the obvious motive to do so, Assange seems to have resolutely failed to find and leak anything that might "prove" that his accusers were anything approaching stooges.

          Funny that...

        2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: You mean

          "Those actors paid by the US gov"

          Citation needed.

          They probably did it in between gigs pretending be mass shooting victims </sarc>

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: You mean

            Oh wow! At least two people still think that shooting was staged fake news? </boggles>

      2. Alister

        Re: You mean

        Ahh, poor innocent ickle Assange, tricked by those nasty-wasty women paid by the US.

        I bet the US managed to make him skip bail and not pay back his mates, too, cos innocent ickle Assange wouldn't ever do anything naughty like that.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: You mean

          Downvote for talking like a bellend.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: You mean

            Downvoted for being a bellend...

            1. Alister

              Re: You mean

              Downvoted for repeating bellend

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: You mean

                Bellend for being downvoted

          2. werdsmith Silver badge

            Re: You mean

            yeah, was a bit cringey.

      3. LucreLout

        Re: You mean

        Those actors paid by the US gov to give them a mechanism to get hold of him and remove a risk to their covering up of questionable stuff that they think they should be allowed to get away with?

        And people wonder why rape victims don't come forward......

        Surely it's time to change the law and make wild accusations like this, against victims of an alleged serious assault (especially if he has HIV), a criminal offence? It can't be helping either of the women to have to read some brain fart from a total moron belittling their experience for their own purely political ends.

      4. rdhood

        Re: You mean

        "Those actors paid by the US gov to give them a mechanism to get hold of him and remove a risk to their covering up of questionable stuff that they think they should be allowed to get away with?"

        LOL. It strikes me that for thousands of years, folks really have done this time and again. From witch trials to .... who knows... maybe this, someone has always seen advantage in getting an "actor" to throw out allegations in order to get a desired outcome.

    8. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Regardless of what you think of him we have laws to stop people with opinions convicting people...on their opinions.

      He's not been convicted in a court of law...nor for that matter tried.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        "He's not been convicted in a court of law...nor for that matter tried."

        It's running away from being tried that's the immediate issue.

        1. BigSLitleP

          "It's running away from being tried that's the immediate issue."

          And of that he is guilty.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Errr he's guilty of whatever they accuse him of.

            Spending millions to catch a bail jumper has nothing to do with justice.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              They could have actually spent it catching some real criminals.

              A great decision though.

              /S

              1. bombastic bob Silver badge
                Devil

                "They could have actually spent it catching some real criminals."

                uh, bail jumping IS a crime, so it makes him a 'real criminal'.

                I'm sure the cops are doing their jobs. Spending too many resources to go after a high profile crime helps to DISCOURAGE criminals, so it all works out. It's unlikely anyone else will try the 'asylum to hide in an embassy' trick. It was like Assange was in a kind of 'jail' for the last few years, am I right?

                1. CRConrad

                  Yup, self-imposed...

                  ...imprisonment. Won't count as time served, though. Had he submitted to the legal proceedings in Sweden in stead of running in the first place, he'd be out free now... After a term in Swedish prison that would no doubt have been much nicer than what he got at the Embassy. Which only goes to prove what a stupid fuck he is.

  3. ArchieTheAlbatross

    Pointing and laughing.

  4. Jay 2
    Happy

    Popcorn time!

    This should be fun, pass the popcorn please! It'll be interesting to see what happens now. I'd like to think it'll be a swift trip to court and then prison for jumping bail. I'm not too up on what Sweden's position is with him now. Are they still interested and can they still extradidted?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Are they still interested and can they still extradidted?

      It's in the article.

    2. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: Popcorn time!

      According to latest news reports; the Met arrested him in relation with a US extradition request.

      I think we'll need a lot of popcorn.

    3. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Popcorn time!

      Jay 2,

      They've stopped pursuing the case. It was considered "disproportionate" given they had no chance of winkling him out of the embassy. Plus they couldn't agree to host the pre-charge interview in the embassy.

      They've got until the statute of limitation ends next year on the 2 rape investigations to re-open the case. At the time they suspended it, their prosecutor said that's what she'd do if circumstances changed - but then that was 2-3 years ago.

    4. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Killing Time

        Re: Popcorn time!

        But we do know the facts -

        Fact - He was released on bail by a UK court and chose of his own volition not to appear in court to answer the charges.

        Fact - He chose of his own volition to reside in the Ecuadorean embassy for seven years and by his general behaviour alienate his hosts to the extent that they withdrew their offer of citizenship and asylum.

        What isn't a fact or a reasonable assumption is that he wouldn't get a fair trial. If that was a reasonable assumption then every criminal brought before the court would have an infallible defence.

        It's the courts role to decide which actions or beliefs are reasonable and which are not.

        Assange understands that even if you don't, he jumped bail as he knows deep down that defence might work in the court of general opinion, those with little concept of the fundamentals of the justice system, those who are easily led and convinced of grand conspiracy or even those who were just to dumb to question why he felt he was so special, but it wouldn't work in front of educated, legally trained professionals.

      2. SundogUK Silver badge

        Re: Popcorn time!

        "The USA says he is a traitor"

        No it doesn't. The US accuses him of conspiracy to commit a crime, which he almost certainly did, having discussed the leak with Bradley Manning BEFORE it took place.

      3. CRConrad

        Wrong, it's hilarious.

        "ah umaway" claims:

        What a horrible thing to say without knowing the facts. If he is innocent, there is nothing fun about what he suffered through the last seven years.
        What he's "suffered" -- and, much more, made others suffer -- was all totally of his own making, so the delicious Schadenfreude we're all enjoying now is not "horrible" at all but well-deserved. Nobody ordered him to hole up in that embassy, and nobody certainly ordered him to behave like a fucking skunk while in there. It's all on him.

      4. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: Popcorn time!

        "The USA says he is a traitor:"

        When did he become a US citizen? Enquiring gnomes wish to mine.

  5. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Interesting timing ....

    A few weeks ago the Attorney Generals plane spent a few days at Luton ... just before the Mueller report.

    Given Assange has been linked to Trumps Russia connections and Farage in the UK, he might have a very interesting tale to tell while he's a guest.

    1. Simon Harris

      Re: Interesting timing ....

      "the Attorney Generals plane spent a few days at Luton"

      If Assange were to be forced to spend a few days at Luton that would be ruled out of order as a cruel and unusual punishment.

      (I had to spend the first 14 years of my life in Luton).

      1. macjules

        Re: Interesting timing ....

        Agreed. 1 day in Luton departures should be regarded as the equivalent of 2 months waterboarding at Gitmo. Worst airport on the planet without any other to come close. Imagine an airport where departing planes have to taxi uphill to get to the runway.

        1. Stratman

          Re: Interesting timing ....

          Worst airport on the planet without any other to come close.

          You've not been to Chambery then...

          1. Joe 37

            Re: Interesting timing ....

            Really, really don't try Jan Smuts, Bulawayo, Harare, Lusaka or especially Charles de Gaulle then. The worst of those by a long way was CdeG.

            1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

              Re: Interesting timing ....

              CdeG

              I remember my first time flying into there - my first thought on entering Arrivals was "what *is* that smell"?.

              Having a somewhat sensitive nose[1] can be a pain at times and the Arrivals hall at CdeG was one of those. None of the other airports/train stations near Paris smell anywhere near as bad.

              [1] Really bad eyesight, really good hearing and sense of smell.

            2. SundogUK Silver badge

              Re: Interesting timing ....

              Upvoted for CdeG. With the EU fast track restricted to French and Benelux citizens only.

        2. Stoneshop
          Coat

          Re: Interesting timing ....

          Imagine an airport where departing planes have to taxi uphill t

          ... both ways, with just a handful of cold, poisonous gravel for fuel, etc.

      2. Jemma

        Re: Interesting timing ....

        3 years for me, working in Hatfield - that really is cruel and unusual punishment - ah the memories. ShITenet - the lowest common denominator would have been a step up.

        It's the UK version of LV426.

        1. Alien8n

          Re: Interesting timing ....

          "It's the UK version of LV426."

          It's not that bad.... (LV426 I mean)

        2. anthonyhegedus Silver badge

          Re: Interesting timing ....

          At least on LV426 there isn't a gravel car park half a mile from the terminal with little walkways placed in random places to make it harder to reach. And in the main building itself there aren't surly operatives telling you to queue here, queue there, then wait to be called. You know where you on LV426. You do need to know where your flame-thrower is though.

          1. macjules

            Re: Interesting timing ....

            At least on LV426 you do not have to pay £1 for the privilege of bagging any liquids into a clear plastic bag. No other airport does that.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Russia connections

      You don't think that if Assange had anything juicy to tell there he wouldn't have spilled his guts long ago? Any leverage he had ended the moment he was taken into custody.

      1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

        You're mistaken - Assange has no guts to spill

    3. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Meh

      Re: Interesting timing ....

      "Assange has been linked to Trumps Russia connections"

      you mean the NON-EXISTENT connections, right? The existence of both the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny has more credibility...

      (fake news)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Interesting timing ....

        Hold your horses there Trumpbot!

        The many and varied Russian connections of all sorts of people surrounding Trump have been well documented, as have the constant lies they told to conceal them. Mueller didn't indict anyone on conspiracy charges for working with Russians, but he did not say the Russian connections don't exist! He detailed two separate Russian efforts to help Trump's campaign.

        Amazing how the bar was lowered from "no contact with Russians" all the way down to "no collusion", and when no charges for collusion have been made you're trying to back the train up all the way to "no connections" which is total unadulterated bullshit. There are tons of connections with Russians, and may be more in the full Mueller report that haven't been reported yet in the "fake news".

        The fact that Trump's lackey AG won't release Mueller's report without heavy redaction - including some made up category about "people who haven't been charged" meaning every mention of Trump or his children will probably be erased - shows there's plenty Trump wants to hide, even if it doesn't rise the level of criminality. If it really was "full exoneration" we'd see a nearly complete report put out, with only very minor redactions involving ongoing litigation or intelligence sources/methods.

        Remember what you guys all said about Hillary, that the fact the FBI didn't charge her didn't mean he was innocent of the charges, only that they didn't think they had enough to convict her. The same may be true for Trump, but rather than having the head of the FBI scolding him for behavior that doesn't rise to the level of indictment he's planning to cover up all mention of everyone who wasn't charged.

        1. holmegm

          Re: Interesting timing ....

          The problem is that "perfectly legal contacts with Russians" isn't justification for letting your political opponents use the FBI to investigate every inch of your life and then dump everything they dug up on the public, when even the supposed crime justifying it all (and which the aptly named "probe" wasn't limited to) didn't ever happen.

          But to hell with fairness and justice and terrible precedents, because must-hate-Trump.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Interesting timing ....

            "Your political opponents"? I guess you believe Trump's lies about "13 angry democrats"? Mueller is a lifelong republican, appointed as head of the FBI by a republican president.

            Your statement could apply equally to Bill Clinton, where congressional republicans appointed a highly partisan special counsel to investigate a money losing investment called Whitewater, and the only thing they could get him on was lying about a blowjob. If that was fair game, then surely Mueller's investigation that has resulted in dozens in indictments and has a half dozen people going to jail with potentially more on the way was as well.

            The investigation was determine IF there was collusion since there was plenty of evidence showing that Russian was helping Trump's campaign and there were multiple contacts between the campaign and Russians. If nothing was criminal then it doesn't mean "oh the investigation should never have happened". If a cop drives by a house and hears a gunshot, should he not investigate, even if it turns out a guy was cleaning his gun and it accidentally discharged?

            The Russia probe had ample grounds for starting, and if it had partisan motives then Obama would have made sure it became publicly known BEFORE the election, to dampen Trump's story about how she was the criminal and implying he's clean. He may not have colluded, and while he certainly obstructed they don't have enough evidence to get him on that. They will have enough evidence to get him for tax fraud, that's why Trump has always been worried about having investigators digging in to him. NY investigators are already looking at his state taxes, he may have an indictment waiting on him the minute he leaves office (and then he won't be able to illegally block congress from getting their hands on his federal returns)

  6. AIBailey
    Coat

    I would play a tune on my violin for him...

    ... but it's so small I lost it in my coat pocket. -->

  7. caffeine addict

    How exactly is it illegal for the Ecuadorian govt to remove asylum status from someone? Isn't it their gift to treat or rescind at will?

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      You're forgetting that what St Julian says is law.

      1. Danny 2

        Julian H Cope copyrighted Saint Julian in 1987.

        You row out to meet me, I was chained

        That current's strong I guess

        And Christian spy plane overhead

        But I would not confess

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Because refugee status is governed by international treaties. In general you have to be able to demonstrate that the person offered asylum either no longer needs it, got it through misrepresentation, or has committed a serious crime. The "no longer needs it" bit is very general, and can include things like applying for citizenship of a country other than the one giving you asylum.

      1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

        I guess now we find out how much paranoia was justified.

        So UK has first dibs over Assange for his bail jumping, which may involve a spot in jail & being deprived of pussy. And then.. Possibly Sweden, who may decide they have no interest. Which then might mean Assange being PNG'd and put on a plane bound for Australia.

        Or the US may decide they care, and ask for extradition, which presumably would mean longer jail time here given his previous flight risk, and a lengthy bit of court drama whilst any extradition request gets challenged, appealed, and then results in Assange being put on a plane to the US or Australia. Or somewhere else, depending on where he's a citizen of today.

        1. Ian Michael Gumby
          Boffin

          @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

          No, Sweden has first dibs.

          (If they want him still)

          Then the UK for bail jumping.

          Then he's off to Australia.

          After that... who know?

          1) US could extradite. Going back to Manning's Article 32 hearing... The US had made a claim that Assange assisted Manning during the theft. This never came up during the Court Martial, Manning plead guilty to those charges which actually shielded the evidence from coming up.

          2) Australia could rescind Assange's passport. Meaning he can't legally leave the country. (Unless under arrest and extradited.

          Or something else along those lines. Maybe the Russians invite him over for some tea?

          I'm sure he's pissed Putin off.

          1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

            Re: @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

            No, Sweden has first dibs.

            (If they want him still)

            Then the UK for bail jumping.

            I'm thinking possession is kinda the law, but something of a political hot potato as well. And isn't he an Ecuadorian citizen now?

            Also assuming due to said bail jumping, he'll be held in jail here until all that gets sorted out.. Although if the Swedish arrest warrant is still in force, he may have already exhausted all the options to delay extradition there unless he can come up with something fresh.

            (Rumors of extra Ferrero Rocher deliveries to the Ecuadorian embassy are unfounded.)

            1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

              Re: @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

              "I'm thinking possession is kinda the law, but something of a political hot potato as well. And isn't he an Ecuadorian citizen now?"

              I suppose it's up to the Home Office to decide how to handle the queue. I wonder how many people will get copied in on their emails. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47855428 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47888214

            2. Kiwi
              Trollface

              Re: @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

              (Rumors of extra Ferrero Rocher deliveries to the Ecuadorian embassy are unfounded.)

              Pretty sure if they were sending those things to the Emabssy, JA's welcome not only would've been improved, but Ecuador would've called in every favour to go to war against the scoundrel who dared send that garbage their way.

              Much like sending someone Cadbury products these days. Only do it to those you wish to truly offend!

          2. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

            Re: @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

            The US had made a claim that Assange assisted Manning during the theft.

            But Manning has since been pardoned. so is there still a legal theft for Wikileaks to have assisted with?

            1. jmch Silver badge

              Re: @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

              "But Manning has since been pardoned. so is there still a legal theft for Wikileaks to have assisted with?"

              Legally speaking, it's the person who is pardoned, it's not a blanket pardon for the whole crime. So the theft still happened (ie it hasn't been legally whitewashed), and a pardon to one person accused / convicted of a crime does not automatically apply to any other suspect or convict. So it could be argued as a precedent, but it's certainly not automatic.

              1. Ben Tasker

                Re: @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

                I think if you look at what they said about Snowden when they pardon'ed Manning, it gives an idea of the view that'd be taken (although there's been a change to a more hardline administration, that's only going to harshen not weaken the view)

                “Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing,” he said. “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”

              2. steward
                Black Helicopters

                Re: @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

                Legally speaking, she wasn't pardoned anyway. Her sentence was commuted.

                1. CRConrad

                  Interestingly, back in 2017...

                  ...Assange tweeted that he'd go to the USA if Manning was "granted clemency".

                  Clemency is a wider concept, which encompasses two other things: Pardon and commutation. So, Obama commuting Manning's sentence was clemency... But did Asshat hop on the next plane to DC? Like fuck he did, the weasel.

            2. the spectacularly refined chap

              Re: @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

              But Manning has since been pardoned. so is there still a legal theft for Wikileaks to have assisted with?

              Manning's sentence was commuted, there was no pardon.

          3. Kiwi

            Re: @Jellied Eel Kinda Sorta

            2) Australia could rescind Assange's passport. Meaning he can't legally leave the country. (Unless under arrest and extradited.

            Not the case last time I had any interest in this sort of thing. With the passport revoked he'd have a hard time staying in the UK (if they didn't want him), but sending him home is quite a normal practice. Nothing would prevent him leaving the country (perhaps with a little more "assistance" than planned), otherwise anyone who managed to flee the homeward authorities who did not have a valid passport would not be able to be returned to their country of origin.

            I'm pretty sure it's a lot harder to flee from your local authorities than just hiring/stealing a boat (or plane) and setting off for greener pastures.....

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        or has committed a serious crime

        Assange has been wanted in connection with the Trump-Russia connection, and (now he's on UK soil) has questions to answer about Farage and Russian money and a lot of financial irregularities in the Leave campaign. I'm hearing the Ecuadorians were monitoring his communications and he broke the terms of his asylum. Interfering in foreign affairs ....

        The timing could not come at a worse time for the entire Brexit process (if you are a Brexiteer). The UK is still in the EU (I know, who'd have thought ?????) and won't be leaving anytime soon. Meantime, with the Leave campaign already on the hook for illegal spending (Boris, Gove and Gisela Stuart desperately hoping the cuff stay off) it's now becoming "OK" to question THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE openly.

        How much will Assange blab for a shorter sentence, and the UK to square not sending him to Trump land with Sweden ?????

        1. Ian Michael Gumby
          Boffin

          @AC Re: or has committed a serious crime

          I guess you don't pay attention to the news in the US. (Maybe CNN didn't cover it?)

          The Muller probe concluded a few weeks ago.

          USAG Barr was just before Congress supposedly to talk about the DoJ/FBI budget request, instead got an earful from Congress why he released only a four page report and not yet the full Mueller report unredacted. (Which would be illegal BTW because it contains things like Grand Jury testimony which he can't release)

          Mueller found no evidence of collusion w Russia on the part of Trump or his staff, although there is evidence that Russia tried.

          Now the latest bombshell. Barr believes that the FBI spied and is investigating it.

          (This is going to be interesting because they did spy. )

          It all goes back the the FISA warrant request and what led up to it.

          Things got interesting because Barr is the only grownup in the room. He's trying to correct the wrongs and clean up the DoJ and FBI.

          1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

            Re: @AC or has committed a serious crime

            Things got interesting because Barr is the only grownup in the room. He's trying to correct the wrongs and clean up the DoJ and FBI.

            And then there's Clinton, and those emails. So Barr may want Assange as a witness and/or felon in that matter.. especially as that may or may not have involved classified information on the Clinton's systems.

            It's gonna take a lot of pop corn. Shame about the US Mid-west and corn futures though.

          2. midcapwarrior

            Re: @AC or has committed a serious crime

            "Mueller found no evidence of collusion w Russia on the part of Trump or his staff, although there is evidence that Russia tried."

            Incorrect, Barr found no evidence in his review.

            Mueller did not submit a finding either way.

          3. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: @AC or has committed a serious crime

            > He's trying to correct the wrongs and clean up the DoJ and FBI.

            Alternatively, perhaps he's a stooge placed in that position by the current US president, and not even slightly impartial?

          4. Robert 22

            Re: @AC or has committed a serious crime

            There was difficulty getting even a simple statement from Barr concerning the length of the Mueller report.

            It is pretty clear that, acting as a recent Trump appointee, he is trying to downplay the report. The fact that Trump and so many others having connections to his administration find it necessary to lie and or stonewall speaks volumes. If you are not guilty, stop acting guilty.

            1. Kiwi
              Trollface

              Re: @AC or has committed a serious crime

              The fact that Trump and so many others having connections to his administration find it necessary to lie and or stonewall speaks volumes.

              I always find it fun watching this common sequence of events :

              Chump : "I have full faith in [whoever]. He is a totally honourable man, absolutely trustworthy, and one of my closest friends. I appointed [whoever] to his role because of his knowledge and experience".

              Advisor : "Er, Mr Chump, [whoever] has just been arrested on serious charges".

              Chump : "[whoever] was obviously a criminal, someone you could never trust. I never liked him, and his appointment was done by the previous administration who clearly liked to appoint criminals to high places. I always knew he was a an untrustworthy criminal and have been working hard to have him brought to justice".

            2. SundogUK Silver badge

              Re: @AC or has committed a serious crime

              If he was guilty, the articles of impeachment would have been issued by now.

      3. the Jim bloke

        or has committed a serious crime

        so how long ago did they start asking him to empty the cat litter ?

      4. SundogUK Silver badge

        He wasn't/isn't a refugee. He was/is a fugitive from justice.

  8. lglethal Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Lesson learned

    I guess we've all learned a valuable lesson.

    If you're going to be a fugitive on the run from justice, and you somehow manage to wangle yourself asylum in a foreign land. Don't go out of your way to piss off the leaders of said land.

    Muppet....

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Lesson learned

      And keep the place clean and tidy.

      1. cat_mara

        Re: Lesson learned

        And empty your cat's litter box!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Lesson learned

          This is pretty much the only thing I even remotely care about - who's looking after the cat now?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Lesson learned

            "At least I no longer have to live with that filthy animal" - the cat

    2. BinkyTheMagicPaperclip Silver badge

      Re: Lesson learned

      In 2012, a crackpot was sent to prison by a court for a crime they did commit. They promptly escaped to the Ecuadorean embassy. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as egotists of ill fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you should try anyone other than the Assange team.

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. Jove Bronze badge

      Re: Lesson learned

      ... and take the occasional shower.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    International Law

    "URGENT: Ecuador has illigally terminated Assange political asylum in violation of international law."

    What is this "international law" they are talking about? More specifics would be helpful; otherwise it sounds like a generic, unsupportable claim.

    1. Steven Raith

      Re: International Law

      I'd take 'em more seriously if they could spell 'illegally', frankly.

      1. JetSetJim
        Joke

        Re: International Law

        > I'd take 'em more seriously if they could spell 'illegally', frankly.

        I bet you spent ages proofing that sentence for spelling errors....

        1. BebopWeBop
          Joke

          Re: International Law

          Unlike Wikileaks

        2. CRConrad

          "bet you spent ages proofing that sentence"

          Pretty much every media outlet picked up on it and added a sarcastic "[sic]" to their quotes of it.

          If they don't want the world to think of them as chumps, perhaps they shouldn't present themselves to the world as chumps.

    2. Nick Kew

      Re: International Law

      He's in an embassy. That's London's political-speak-land.

      The language of politics comes from Humpty Dumpty. The phrase "International Law" is routinely used to mean whatever the speaker wants it to mean.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: International Law

        The phrase "International Law" is routinely used to mean whatever the speaker wants it to mean.

        Until it gets to an actual court of law in which case the speaker needs to specify exactly what law they mean.

        1. Teiwaz

          Re: International Law

          The phrase "International Law" is routinely used to mean whatever the speaker wants it to mean.

          Until it gets to an actual court of law in which case the speaker needs to specify exactly what law they mean.

          When it comes to Countries, and the 'the International Court' there's much more leeway for bargaining, ignoring the judgement or brazenly giving the metaphorical finger.

          It comes down to childish gangs squabbling over territory and failing to getting along amicably on a very small (and seemingly getting smaller) planet.

    3. Peter2 Silver badge

      Re: International Law

      What is this "international law" they are talking about? More specifics would be helpful; otherwise it sounds like a generic, unsupportable claim.

      There's a good reason for that...

      The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees contains this:-

      Article 32 expulsion 1. The Contracting States shall not expel a refugee lawfully in their territory save on grounds of national security or public order.

      2. The expulsion of such a refugee shall be only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with due process of law. Except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, the refugee shall be allowed to submit evidence to clear himself, and to appeal to and be represented for the purpose before competent authority or a person or persons specially designated by the competent authority.

      3. The Contracting States shall allow such a refugee a reasonable period within which to seek legal admission into another country. The Contracting States reserve the right to apply during that period such internal measures as they may deem necessary.

      Article 33 prohibition of expulsion or return (“refoulement”)

      1. No Contracting State shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

      2. The benefit of the present provision may not, however, be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country.

      With refugee defined as "a refugee is a person who is outside that person's own country's territory owing to fear of persecution on protected grounds, including race, caste, nationality, religion, political opinions and participation in any particular social group or social activities. "

      Eucador can probably reasonably legitimately claim that Assange is causing them national security problems by upsetting the highest levels of the Spanish government in contravention of agreements he has made:-

      https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/16/julian-assange-ecuador-spain-catalan-independence-meeting-separatists

      Hence, no case to answer. Probably. I suppose you could argue any of those points endlessly, although it would achieve precisely nothing at this point.

      1. TrevorH

        Re: International Law

        Assange was never a refugee. A fugitive from justice, maybe. Refugee, no.

        1. Peter2 Silver badge

          Re: International Law

          Assange was never a refugee. A fugitive from justice, maybe. Refugee, no.

          I agree.

          But that's the interesting point because legally Asylum is the act of granting a refugee protection.

      2. SundogUK Silver badge

        Re: International Law

        'With refugee defined as "a refugee is a person who is outside that person's own country's territory owing to fear of persecution on protected grounds, including race, caste, nationality, religion, political opinions and participation in any particular social group or social activities. "'

        Assange was none of these things. He was a fugitive from justice.

    4. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Mushroom

      Re: International Law

      yeah about that - there are a LOT of asylum claims that _I_ would like to see terminated... AT THE BORDER!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: International Law

        >_I_ would like to see terminated... AT THE BORDER!

        If only the native Americans had started doing that 300 years ago..

        1. holmegm

          Re: International Law

          Yeah, that would be great, wouldn't it? The bows and arrows would have come in very handy at D day.

        2. SundogUK Silver badge

          Re: International Law

          They did. They lost.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Let that be a lesson kids

    Let that be a lesson kids, that's what you get for not keeping your room tidy.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Gimp

    Good. Twat.

  12. Andrew Moore

    In other news...

    ...I heard the Ecuadorians are keeping the cat.

    1. Danny 2

      Re: In other news...

      The cat was freed last year.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: In other news...

        As it has been established (T May in conservative conference speech a few years ago) that UK courts refuse to repatriate illegal immigrants who have a pet cat then not keeping his cat may have been a schoolboy error on the part of Mr Assange

    2. Wellyboot Silver badge

      Re: In other news...

      Technically it's an Ecuadorian cat, easier to keep it than get the pet passport & all the other paperwork needed to import it into the UK from the embassy.

      The cat itself won't care who provides the food, warmth & attention it's due.

      1. BebopWeBop

        Re: In other news...

        It is claiming asylum in the UK having been kept against its will by Assange

      2. James O'Shea

        Re: In other news...

        "Technically it's an Ecuadorian cat"

        Does it ignore English-speaking humans more than it ignores Spanish-speaking humans, or vice versa? Or are all humans ignored equally?

        1. Kubla Cant

          Re: In other news...

          Does it ignore English-speaking humans more than it ignores Spanish-speaking humans, or vice versa? Or are all humans ignored equally?

          He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him.

          1. Primus Secundus Tertius

            Re: In other news...

            Most cats understand English better than many foreigners.

      3. Tigra 07
        Childcatcher

        Re: In other news...

        Apparently cats forget the face of their owners in as little as 3 days anyway. Julian who?

        1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

          Re: In other news...

          Cats have owners?

          1. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

            Re: In other news...

            No, dogs have owners...cats have staff

            1. Kiwi

              Re: In other news...

              No, dogs have owners...cats have staff

              Staff? Staff?

              The man's crazy! Next thing ya know he'll be claiming he's royalty!

              Cat's have slaves!

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: In other news...

            Not around here!

            The little bastards dug up my seed bed, crapped in a second place and then seemed to try to cover it up in a third place. They are out of control of their owners and I should be allowed to protect my property from them and kill the bastards.

            <<steam from ears!>>

            1. Trilkhai

              Re: In other news...

              Killing cats over a stupid seed bed? Man, get therapy and a vasectomy so no innocent children are exposed to your budding-sociopath attitude.

            2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

              Re: In other news...

              They are out of control of their owners and I should be allowed to protect my property from them and kill the bastards

              Two problems:

              1. Under English Law, cats are not counted as domesticated creatures (unlike dogs who are counted as domesticated animals under the control of their owners) and thus the owners cannot be held liable for their actions (again, unlike dogs). You can, however, be prosecuted for harming a cat since they can be counted as property - so you are suggesting destroying someone else's property..

              2. You need some lessons in balance and empathy. Do you really think that harming a living creature of any kind is an acceptable response to losing some seeds? There are ways of keeping cats out of your precious seedbeds but they actually involve you doing something and actually having a think about it.

              1. CRConrad

                OTOH...

                ...seeds, if fertilized (as they would probably be, if planted into a seed bed) are living creatures too. Ask any American fundie.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: In other news...

          'Apparently cats forget the face of their owners in as little as 3 days anyway.'

          Owners?

          As for the forgetting the face of their owners in three days...I used to spend months away from home at at time, I'd then show up early on a Saturday morning and would be swamped by the attentions of my then tribe of furry little overlords as soon as I entered the house...sure, they had other simian slaves looking after them when I wasn't there, but they used to go all apeshittykitty when I showed up and swarm all over me demanding serious amounts of fussings and attention, so, I don't buy that one as a general rule.

          'Julian who?'

          Quite....once the news wonks move on from the story and he's then surreptitiously spirited away and sequestered in a nice Federal Oubliette somewhere (?) that's a question we'll probably hear from lots of people in the years to come...

          Never enter an arsekicking contest with a porcupine, if you are idiot enough to consider doing something so foolish, then best make bloody sure beforehand that you're suitably armoured up, and that it's fit for task...and that the porcupine doesn't have both deep pockets and a bloody large belligerent military at their beck and call (how to win friends and influence people, eh?) and has been playing this arsekicking game for more years than you have, and is a lot better at it than you are..

          1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

            Re: In other news...

            Never enter an arsekicking contest with a porcupine

            Or a mud-wrestling competition with a pig. You'll both get dirty and only[1] the pig will enjoy[2] it.

            [1] OK - maybe not. But that's a whole other bag of fetishes[3]

            [2] And also, most pigs come with big tetth and, despite not being carnivores, will eat just about anything and are not worried about biting whatever is annoying them.

            [3] And not of the shamanistic kind.

            1. SundogUK Silver badge

              Re: In other news...

              Pigs are omnivores so, yes, they will eat anything.

        3. TRT Silver badge

          Re: cats forget the face of their owners

          But they recognise the smell forever...

          1. Tigra 07
            Devil

            Re: cats forget the face of their owners

            "But they recognise the smell forever..."

            I once lived near someone with about 10 cats. You could always smell her a mile off for sure!

            1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

              Re: cats forget the face of their owners

              You could always smell her a mile off for sure!

              I live with seven (and a dog). You don't smell cats on me because we actually look after ours (they all have easy access to the outside world and the cat trays we maintain for the two that don't like going outside get cleaned every day).

              So your cat-person either doesn't care (ie - has no sense of smell) or doesn't look after the cats well.

              1. Tigra 07

                Re: CrazyOldCatMan

                She was evicted years back and left most of the cats. That's what kind of person she was. The back garden looked like a bomb site.

        4. Jamie Jones Silver badge

          Re: In other news...

          No chance! Mine recognised me after being away for 3 months!

        5. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: In other news...

          Whenever a cat looks at you it's basically thinking "if I could master using a tin-opener for myself, then I would kill you where you stand"

          1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

            Re: In other news...

            if I could master using a tin-opener for myself

            s/tin\-opener/'rip the top off the pouches'/* g

            I wish the little dears would eat tinned food..

        6. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

          Re: In other news...

          Apparently cats forget the face of their owners

          Given that cats seem to key more into the sound and scent[1] of their servants rather than their faces, this doesn't really surprise me. Lets not forget that cats are both scent *and* sight hunters - scent (and hearing) is used to get a coarse location and then sight is used for the final pounce.

          [1] Our little ex-feral tortie will look at me like I'm a raging axe-murderer when I get home from work until I either speak to her or let her smell my hand. Then she relaxes and I get put back into the "provides food and warmth and occasional attention" category and she allows me to fuss her. Her brother does likewise.

        7. Kiwi

          Re: In other news...

          Apparently cats forget the face of their owners in as little as 3 days anyway. Julian who?

          It may be true that they forget the face... But I was away from one of mine for just on 3 years and she knew me when I got back. Had another leave home when I was about 6 or 7, it came back just after my 10th birthday and acter as if nothing had happened. These days I am often away on business for 4 or 5 days, yet the cats know me (including the neighbour's poor fearful abused little thing, just starting to become friendly to me despite her demanding it always runs from anyone not herself).

          So they may forget the face, but they remember enough that it doesn't matter. [Grabs a fistful of fur from a friend's moggy who is also exceptionally scared of strangers, yet knows me well enough despite not having seen me for a couple of weeks]

      4. Jove Bronze badge

        Re: In other news...

        ... rumour has it that the cat is a field-trained CIA Agent and also the source for WikiLeaks believing that Asausage was being spied on.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: In other news...

      Lets face it Michi is the true mastermind behind wikileaks. Assange has only ever been a sexually frustrated deviant puppet.

      1. Jemma

        Re: In other news...

        Alias Mr. D. Trump Esq?

  13. alain williams Silver badge

    Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

    This is what he was afraid of: the USA, somehow or another, finding a way of getting him over the pond. Once there he would likely spend a very long time in chokey, on some pretext of another. The real reason is that he embarrassed the USA by exposing things and some there want revenge.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

      "This is what he was afraid of: the USA, somehow or another, finding a way of getting him over the pond."

      In that case he shouldn't have done a runner when he was (a) out of reach of the US in Sweden and (b) when the US had a government with enough wit to realise that treating him as not worth attention was the biggest punishment they could impose.

      1. Ian Michael Gumby
        Boffin

        @Doctor Syntax ... Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

        Huh?

        First you need probable cause to convene a grand jury to indict him.

        Then you need to get an extradition order to whatever country is after him. It takes time.

        But lets focus on reality.

        Assange is a smelly git who forced him on a couple of Swedish girls who in their country can cry rape because no means no. When they say no sex without a condom, and you don't have a condom, its rape.

        When you try to wake your partner by performing intercourse... its rape because she wasn't awake to provide consent.

        That's why he fled Sweden. And this all came out during his first extradition hearing. Had he done these acts in the UK, maybe one act would have been illegal in the UK, which is irrelevant because of the EAW treaty.

        The whole US is after me thing... done to protect his image and because he is paranoid.

        That said, the US could have been after him if they have evidence he was involved in the actual theft made by Manning. That would remove the shield he has for publishing the leaks.

        In terms of being out of the US hands... in Sweden he was safe. In the UK he would have been safe. Its not until he broke the laws in those countries that he would force him back to Australia where they would have handed him over easily.

        He did the runner because he didn't want to go to jail for rape.

        The US was 'ignoring' him and still is for the most part. There is a rumor of a sealed Grand Jury indictment, but no official extradition request.

    2. Jellied Eel Silver badge

      Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

      This is what he was afraid of: the USA, somehow or another, finding a way of getting him over the pond.

      I'm willing to donate some large rubber bands. I don't think the UK's made those illegal (yet).

      1. Aladdin Sane

        Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

        Are any of the more mathematically minded commentards able to calculate the required velocity and trajectory required to launch Mr Assange across the pond? Survivability is optional.

        Please show your workings.

        1. Primus Secundus Tertius

          Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

          @Aladdin

          With luck he would burn up on re-entry.

          1. Aladdin Sane

            Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

            Considering the, let's call it "muzzle velocity" required, he'd probably burn up way before he reached the top of the atmosphere, assuming we're doing a sub-orbital lob.

        2. the Jim bloke

          Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

          more of an empirical type, would like to try a couple of test shots using different launch configurations.

          The payload (JA) would probably require lots of duct tape and a locator beacon for retrieval after tests.

    3. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Meh

      Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

      "The real reason is that he embarrassed the USA by exposing things and some there want revenge."

      with the current DOJ and President Trump _not_ wanting 'revenge', Assange is more likely to become a material witness for other investigations...

      (it would be different if Mrs. Clinton had actually been elected)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

        Bob, do you love Trump because you hate Clinton, or hate Clinton because you love Trump?

        1. Jamie Jones Silver badge
          Happy

          Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

          Oh Bob! The Quandary! https://amp.thisisinsider.com/images/5caf09f35ba09c1c01030622-640-638.jpg

    4. CRConrad

      Re: Does he yet have a ticket to the USA ?

      I asked that in early 2018 too. Because in 2017 he tweeted that he'd go there if Manning was granted clemency.

      Clemency, which means pardon or commutation, was then granted by President Obama in the form of commutation of Manning's sentence.

      So if Julian Asshat hadn't been a fucktard liable to go back on his word, he should have bought himself a fucking ticket and hopped on the next plane to DC.

  14. R J
    Angel

    This is just what Assange needed

    After all, he'll finally get some attention again. Poor guy, he's been irrelevant for so many years now

  15. Mike Lewis

    Not much sympathy

    I lost sympathy for Assange when he went after Clinton which helped Trump get elected. Plus the whole cat thing.

    1. Version 1.0 Silver badge

      Re: Not much sympathy

      I think it would be really interesting to hear Assange's side of the story, I suspect that he was just as manipulated by the Russians as the Trump campaign was - I don't think that either of them were deliberate criminals, they just stupidly seeking publicity, fame, wealth, and money under the table ... that's the way the West works and that's how we are manipulated.

      1. Androgynous Cupboard Silver badge

        Re: Not much sympathy

        I suspect the downvote was for saying you'd like to hear Assange's side of the story. Otherwise I entirely agree - on balance, it's much more likely that Assange (and Trump) are simply stupid and greedy than they are Russian agents.

        1. CRConrad

          Those aren't necessarily opposites.

          Some people voluntarily become agents based on greed; others let themselves be used as such because they're stupid enough to do so. In practice, they are agents too, albeit perhaps unwitting ones. The phenomenon didn't begin with Putin; the name "useful idiot" goes back to at least Lenin or Trotsky or some such. The phenomenon itself... I'm betting Julius Caesar was familiar with the idea. And probably Hammurabi too.

      2. Mage Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: hear Assange's side of the story

        We have, endlessly.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Devil

        "I suspect that he was just as manipulated by the Russians"

        Him duped by the Russian? Without even sending a young female agent? I can't really believe it, sorry.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not much sympathy

      Meh. I have zero sympathy for Clinton.

      If you read this email:-

      https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails//fileid/1120/251

      Then you will note that the Clinton team knew that Clinton was deeply unpopular with the public, and thought that the only possibility of her winning was to put her up against republican "pied piper candidates" who were even less desirable than she was.

      One of the Clinton campaigns choices for these "pied piper" candidates is a certain "Donald Trump", under which is a note that the press should be told to promote these people at the expense of the more moderate opposition, that would otherwise have won.

      In my mind, this raises two really big issues.

      1) How independent is the American independent media, if they are acting on instructions? The media being influenced and weaponised on instructions to this extent deserves an investigation on the scale of the Russian allegations.

      2) The American election was rigged, by Clinton. And she then proceeded to lose the election, despite rigging it. Clinton is literally responsible for putting Trump into the Whitehouse. He was her choice of opposition.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Not much sympathy

        "1) How independent is the American independent media, if they are acting on instructions? The media being influenced and weaponised on instructions to this extent deserves an investigation on the scale of the Russian allegations."

        If they don't do as they are told, they stop getting invited to the press scrums at the Whitehouse.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Not much sympathy

        >The American election was rigged, by Clinton

        Oh dear, someone has forgotten their meds agin. Nurse!

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Not much sympathy

        "One of the Clinton campaigns choices for these "pied piper" candidates is a certain "Donald Trump", under which is a note that the press should be told to promote these people at the expense of the more moderate opposition, that would otherwise have won."

        More moderate opposition what like "Jeb Bush. Ben Carson. Chris Christie. Ted Cruz. Carly Fiorina. Jim Gilmore. Lindsey Graham. Mike Huckabee. Bobby Jindal. John Kasich. George Pataki. Rand Paul. Rick Perry. Marco Rubio. Rick Santorum. Scott Walker."

        they are all as fucking bad and some much worse than the orange twat

      4. SundogUK Silver badge

        Re: Not much sympathy

        So many down-votes when you even provide evidence...

      5. Kiwi

        Re: Not much sympathy

        I have to call bullshit on your post.

        I have read your link.

        For a start, there is no accreditation within the document itself, but I'll ignore that for now. Lets pretend it actually is real. I have handled a number of emails and other documents used in evidence (both internal business and also legal cases), and in every case the from, to and full headers are clearly visible yet strangely missing in this document (though that may not be strange for WL, it is the first time I have downloaded anything from them that I recall)

        Then you will note that the Clinton team knew that Clinton was deeply unpopular with the public, and thought that the only possibility of her winning was to put her up against republican "pied piper candidates" who were even less desirable than she was.

        While it is a given that any politician would generally be "deeply unpopular", there is no mention of HRC's popularity within the document you linked. There is talk of a strategy to make it easier for her to have won the election, but nothing relating to her popularity or lack thereof. The document does talk of forcing any of the other R candidates to side with the nastier members of their party, to paint themselves as siding with those dangerously conservative/right-wing nutjob types the document names.

        One of the Clinton campaigns choices for these "pied piper" candidates is a certain "Donald Trump", under which is a note that the press should be told to promote these people at the expense of the more moderate opposition, that would otherwise have won.

        Said note reads :"We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to them seriously.[sic]. My guess is they meant "tell the press to take them seriously". Chump got in there, despite the press seeing him as a joke. Looking at the damage he is doing, the press should've taken note and seen him as a serious threat to the nation. They didn't; it appears they thought he was a joke candidate, a bit of a laugh.

        1) How independent is the American independent media, if they are acting on instructions? The media being influenced and weaponised on instructions to this extent deserves an investigation on the scale of the Russian allegations.

        The document doesn't support your assertation.

        2) The American election was rigged, by Clinton. And she then proceeded to lose the election, despite rigging it. Clinton is literally responsible for putting Trump into the Whitehouse. He was her choice of opposition.

        I fail to see how seeking to discredit the opposition by showing the nature of their bedmates is rigging an election. I do not see HRC's name on this document as an author, nor anything to suggest she is responsible for it, but even so - she did not nominate chump for the R candidate, she did not promote him although (her team may've pushed a few buttons to help get him in front of the media), so you've failed there as well.

        FTR, I would believe that HRC is pure evil except for chump. If chump wasn't so good at being a disgusting evil person, I would have thought HRC was about as bad as it could possible get. chump has proven there is something even more evil than she is. I can't say for sure if she would've been better for this world than chump, but she certainly couldn't have been much worse.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not much sympathy

      Clinton would have been more of a horrendous choice.

      At least with Trump you know what you are dealing with, even if he is a lot of work.

      Clinton would have been like all those before her, secretive, attention diverting, money grabbing, plutocratic dealing figure head who is the servant of the real power. Which is the highest bidder.

      1. hammarbtyp

        Re: Not much sympathy

        Clinton would have been like all those before her, secretive, attention diverting, money grabbing, plutocratic dealing figure head who is the servant of the real power. Which is the highest bidder.

        and yet somehow you believe Trump is better...hope the weather is nice in your delusional fantasy world

        1. Dr Dan Holdsworth
          WTF?

          Re: Not much sympathy

          America is home to millions and millions of people. Of these teeming multitudes, a tiny minority want to be politicians and of these fewer yet actually have the aptitude and skills to do a decent job. Such are the initial numbers though that even when you filter by party allegiance, skill, intelligence, not being ugly as a warthog and all the other American political things, you're still left with thousands of people to choose from as presidential candidates.

          And yet, out of these thousands it got winnowed down to Clinton and Trump.

          Something is clearly very wrong with the political selection process if the epitome of presidential material in all of the USA is these two.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Not much sympathy

            Same as the UK - least worst option. In Israel they want some who's being indicted for corruption as their leader.

            Why anyone votes, I'll never know - they're effectively collaborators acting against the interests of society.

            1. SundogUK Silver badge

              Re: Not much sympathy

              The alternative is worse.

      2. Mark 85

        Re: Not much sympathy

        Clinton would have been like all those before her, secretive, attention diverting, money grabbing, plutocratic dealing figure head who is the servant of the real power. Which is the highest bidder.

        On the bright side, we wouldn't be bombarded with unlimited Tweets about how great she is, how persecuted she's been, how much everyone likes her, and ad nauseam ad infinitum.

        1. Nunyabiznes

          Re: Not much sympathy

          You are correct that it wouldn't be tweets. It would be "news" as reported by the majority of the MSM - exceptions being the other side's media hacks.

    4. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: Not much sympathy

      Ignoring the 'cat thing', Assange didn't 'go after' Clinton. Wikileaks just received a data dump showing that she was a criminal, so they published it. Which is pretty much a definition of what Wikileaks is about.

  16. Jove Bronze badge

    Did they get the right guy? ...

    ... it looks more like a shrivelled Gandalf

    1. cat_mara
      Devil

      Re: Did they get the right guy? ...

      My mate on WhatsApp just described him as "pedo Gandalf"

    2. Jemma

      Re: Did they get the right guy? ...

      Indicted for "pervy hobbit fancying" perhaps?

      1. cat_mara
        Trollface

        Re: Did they get the right guy? ...

        "I put on my robe and wizard hat"

      2. KarMann Silver badge

        Re: Did they get the right guy? ...

        Sam will kill him if he tries anything.

    3. Danny 2

      Re: Did they get the right guy? ...

      Sex with Pamela Anderson will age you a decade, and she visited often. Apparently the Ecuadoreans were CCTVing that and sold on the footage. More troublesome they were also recording his meetings with his lawyers. A Spanish gang tried to extort Wikileaks for €3 million, which is a ridiculous amount, but we could crowd-fund €300 for it.

      1. Alister

        Re: Did they get the right guy? ...

        Sex with Pamela Anderson will age you a decade

        Has this been independently verified? Or do you have anecdotal evidence?

        :)

        1. Danny 2

          Re: Did they get the right guy? ...

          I cite as evidence googled photographs of her previous lovers.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Did they get the right guy? ...

        Barak and Donald are deeply jealous – thousand why they went after him.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If the US is smart (doubtful) then they will not extradite him there as this only vindicates Assange and prove him right, if they do not then he is discredited.

    Either way it's going to be an "Ace in The Hole" story that's going to rumble on for some time and should make for good copy.

    1. DrXym

      That doesn't make any sense.

      If may have been questionable whether Assange would have been indicted / extradited to the US before he hid in the embassy. But it is virtually guaranteed that he will be indicted / extradited now. Why? Because he rather foolishly decided to use his embassy time to interfere in the US 2016 presidential election and therefore became party to a bunch of crimes.

      The US almost certainly has an indictment ready to go and they're bound to serve it while he's under arrest. On top of that Sweden may reactivate his rape arrest warrant so he has that too.

      As for his "ace in the hole", perhaps I can point out that this counts as extortion, or "conspiracy to defraud the United States" in its own right. Good luck with that.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        >"Ace in the hole"

        This is a reference to the 1951 Kirk Douglas movie, a quick synopsis:

        "A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to re-jump start his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus."

        https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043338/

        1. Ian Michael Gumby
          Joke

          @AC

          And here I thought it was a porn parody of Ace Ventura Pet Detective movies.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: @AC

            >And here I thought it was a porn parody of Ace Ventura Pet Detective movies.

            No real animals were used, humans in doggy costumes doing doggy things.

        2. DrXym

          I thought you were referring to his encrypted insurance uploads.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      'Either way it's going to be an "Ass(ange) in A Hole" story that's going to rumble on for some time and should make for good copy.'

      FTFY

  18. DontFeedTheTrolls
    Go

    Schrödinger's box has been opened, now we find out if the Americans really want him or not

    1. Franco

      I really hope that they don't, it would really puncture what is left of Assange's pomposity.

      I suspect though that whilst he is facing his punishment for bail jumping in the UK, the charges in Sweden and therefore the European Arrest Warrant will be re-activated, so that will be his next stop.

    2. lglethal Silver badge
      Trollface

      I'm more interested in the Cat...

      1. Aladdin Sane
        Coat

        How's Danny John-Jules involved?

        1. Stoneshop
          Coat

          How's Danny John-Jules involved?

          Exactly. What was dragged out of the Equadorian embassy looked more like a white dwarf than a red one.

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        "I'm more interested in the Cat"

        It wasn't there. It escaped last year.

        1. TRT Silver badge

          I guess they finally figured out WHO kept shitting on the rug then.

  19. TrevorH

    > Just yesterday his news leak org claimed that blackmailers had threatened to reveal "sexual" things alongside other details

    > of Assange’s life inside the embassy; the group claimed that miscreants were trying to squeeze €3m out of it.

    You mean he got one of those emails saying "I caught you in front of your computer and your password is 'password'"?

  20. JohnG

    It was silly of Assange to wait through the tenure of a US government that was entirely disinterested in him until the current US president, who has a different attitude. If he had simply faced the issue in Sweden, it might well have never gone to court but in the unlikely event that he was convicted, it would have been for a technical breach of class of rape that carries a maximum sentence of six years. I guess he can hope that his UK bail issue, the remaining Swedish charge and arguments about human rights and the penalties he might face in the USA can delay any US extradition decision until another disinterested Democrat president is in office.

    1. Ian Michael Gumby
      Boffin

      @JohnG

      I and several other pointed this fact out many years ago.

      Had he just stayed in Sweden and faced the music, he would have gotten less time than 6 years, or maybe no time and then tossed from the country.

      Instead he was on bail for longer time than he would have gotten, and definitely less time than he spent in the Embassy.

      In fact one of the ironies is that some of his fans argued that his time in the Embassy should count as jail time.

      1. DrXym

        Re: @JohnG

        I think that's particularly funny too. Realistically he might have gotten a couple of years even if he was convicted of rape. After that he *might* have faced charges in the US, but then again he might not. Even if he had, chances are his sentence might be < 10 years and then he'd be free.

        Instead he pissed off to an embassy for 7 years, committed a bunch of new, serious indictable crimes and ultimately got booted out. All his efforts have gained him is added certainty of extradition, a longer sentence and 7 years less life to serve it in. A genius plan all round.

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: @JohnG

        "In fact one of the ironies is that some of his fans argued that his time in the Embassy should count as jail time."

        Indeed. When he was in the embassy he was being illegally detained there. Now he's out he's being illegally not detained there. Or something like that.

      3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: @JohnG

        "Had he just stayed in Sweden and faced the music, he would have gotten less time than 6 years, or maybe no time and then tossed from the country."

        Don't forget, he claimed to have left Sweden because he said the charges were trumped up by the US so they could extradite him. He came to the UK because he thought he'd be safe from US extradition here because we obviously have a much better record that the Swedes for not giving in to US extradition requests (sorry, I can't go on, I'm laughing too much!)

    2. Nick Kew

      It was silly of Assange to wait through the tenure of a US government that was entirely disinterested in him until the current US president, who has a different attitude.

      I wouldn't be so sure. In some matters, Trump is smart, and this might just be one of them. And Trump looks a lot less afraid of defying his robo-bureaurats (who would actually administrate an extradition and trial) than other presidents.

      Trump, or a smart advisor, might have more interesting ideas. Like the fact that Oz itself is a close ally, and could probably find dirt on him within its own jurisdiction if it were so minded.

      1. Teiwaz

        I wouldn't be so sure. In some matters, Trump is smart

        In most matters, Trump is vindictive, and he probably thinks the rest of the country is too, so he may push to get Assange over there thinking it'll improve his rating.

      2. Mark 85

        In this case, Trump probably will pardon the lad just because of the "Crooked Hillary" papers.

    3. DrXym

      It's not the president whose interest he attracted but special investigator Bob Mueller. By being a party to criminal activity in the US election he got the spotlight turned on him. Undoubtedly he has acquired some fresh indictments because of that.

      If he hadn't been so stupid then he would have had a way better chance of fighting extradition.

      Serves him right tbh

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The indictment was prepared by the previous administration, which would indicate they were interested.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        According to the later article, posted at 14:35, the newly unsealed indictment was drafted in March 2018. So it's relatively recent and during the Trump administration.

  21. Mage Silver badge
    Coat

    Sweden vs UK Poodle

    He shouldn't have skipped bail. Sweden would never have extradited him. The truth is that *then* the only risk was facing the Swedish allegations. Back then the US had asked for no extradition, which is hugely easier from the UK to USA than from Sweden.

    1. Danny 2

      Re: Sweden vs UK Poodle

      At the time Sweden's government was further right, and it's judiciary was less independent of their state.

      Karl Rove aka Bush's Brain was an official advisor to the Swedish PM then. Assange really fucked up in Sweden in every which way.

      1. CRConrad

        Re: Sweden's judiciary...

        ...is exactly as dependent or independent of the state as it was ten, fifty, or AFAIK a hundred and fifty yeasrs ago; nothing about that has changed in the comparitively blink-of-an-eye timespan since Asshat raped those girls.

  22. x 7

    Whats the cheapest flight to Australia? Via the USA with a stopover???

    We don't need to extradite him, just deport him in the right direction and let the yanks worry about the legalities when the aircraft lands for refueling

    1. James O'Shea

      Hey! Who, other than St. Julie, says that we want him on this side of the Atlantic? Dump the trash on Sweden or Oz, please, there's enough over here already.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Stop suggesting polluting our commonwealth with that tit.

        I think we can all be happy if we send him to Ecuador. They can have him forever for harbouring him.

  23. NerryTutkins

    irony

    There is a certain irony in him getting extradited to the Trump administration's USA, considering wikileaks colluded with the russians to release the hacked democrat party emails in order to damage Hillary and put Putin's man in the Whitehouse.

    No doubt the irony will be extended by Trump making comments about Assange being a sex pest and as such, a vile human being.

    1. James O'Shea

      Re: irony

      The pussy-grabber-in-chief _likes_ sex pests. See further Roy Moore and, well, D. J. Trump (senior; Don Jr appears to have been castrated some time ago.)

    2. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: irony

      Nobody 'colluded' with anybody. Releasing hacked documents is what Wikileaks does. The reason is in the name.

      1. CRConrad

        Re: "Releasing hacked documents is what Wikileaks does"

        Yeah, that's why they were clamoring to be the first to release the Panama papers... Oh, no, wait -- they actually protested that and tried to paint it as propaganda.

        Releasing some hacked documents and doing their best to bury others is what Wikileaks does nowadays. The reason is all in Julian Asshat's twisted little mind.

        There, FTFY.

  24. mark l 2 Silver badge

    Assuming the UK court throws the maximum sentence for skipping bail he would be given 12 months in custodial sentence. But UK law says for all fix term sentences under 10 years you are automatically released at the half way point. Which means that practically he would only do 6 months in prison and then be released on license in the community under probation supervision. So considering he has already spent the last 7 years in self imposed imprisonment inside the embassy 6 months would be relatively easy. Although it would depend on which prison he went to and whether he choice to go into the main population or onto the vulnerable prisoner wings. I suspect he would be a target for a few beating on the main wings as he would no doubt piss some people off.

    It will be interesting to see if he was correct all along and this was all about getting he extradited to the US or not.

    1. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      It will be interesting to see if he was correct all along and this was all about getting he extradited to the US or not.

      Seems to be according to the police - "Julian Assange, 47, (03.07.71) has today, Thursday 11 April, been further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53hrs after his arrival at a central London police station. This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act. He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court as soon as possible."

      Looks like his worst fears are about to come true.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        "Looks like his worst fears are about to come true."

        Maybe. The Swedes have first dibs on him after is bail jumping sentence. They could choose to agree to him being extradited direct to the USA, but they get a full veto option as they already have legal requests in place which the UK judiciary agreed to at the highest levels. That's why Assange jumped bail in the first place. To avoid extradition to Sweden.

    2. Jove Bronze badge

      The term of detention has to be at Her Majesty's Pleasure - stays at Butlins do not count.

  25. James O'Shea

    Finally

    Okay... Give him a nice fair trial for jumping bail, park him in one of Queen Liz's finest gray-bar hotels for about a year after finding him guilty, guilty, GUILTY, 'cause he is, the sod, then kick him off to Sweden if they still want him or Oz if they don't. And we can all go back to ignoring him.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    FINALLY

    Does this mean I finally get to decrypt that archive that was sent out as an insurance policy?

    Waiting for the password.Hope its not a rickroll video

  27. Zippy´s Sausage Factory
    Meh

    Twitter is claiming Assange's lawyer has said that he was arrested on an American warrant.

    And quite frankly, if you believe that, I have a bridge you might want to consider buying - slightly used, buyer collects.

    1. Danny 2

      Well, BBC News 24 have just claimed the same thing, but are citing the police. What's this bridge you are selling, what's the price, and can I see your ownership deeds?

      1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

        Owenrship deeds you say? Hold on, the printer's just warming up...

      2. Teiwaz

        The BBC?

        These days they fall over themselves trying to make the news as absorbable as possible.

        There's a certain amount of nuance likely lost along the way trying ensuring that.

      3. Zippy´s Sausage Factory
        Facepalm

        Yeah, confirmed just soon enough after my post that I couldn't amend it any more. Do you think they were sitting there, waiting with a stopwatch?

    2. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      From the horse's mouth ... http://news.met.police.uk/news/arrest-update-sw1-365526

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Twitter is claiming Assange's lawyer has said that he was arrested on an American warrant.And quite frankly, if you believe that, I have a bridge you might want to consider buying - slightly used, buyer collects.

      Slice of IT Crowd humble pie ?

    4. Jove Bronze badge

      No, just inaccurate reporting. The initial arrest was based on a UK warrant.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I can see

    all the shadowy smoking men in the back of the room.

    There is more smoke than usual. They are puffing hard, excited that they managed to win.

    1. Alister

      Re: I can see

      And what the fuck are you smoking?

      1. Mark 85

        Re: I can see

        And why aren't you sharing?

    2. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: I can see

      Pretty obvious why you posted that AC.

      Pillock.

  29. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
    Trollface

    All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

    What's with the crazy-old-bastard look he's sporting? Enquiring minds wish to know if he's been keeping his urine in jars and the Ecuadorians had finally had enough?

    1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

      Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

      Notice who provided the video of his arrest to the BBC? Russians again..

      As for the look, I'm thinking it was all part of a cunning plan to escape the embassy and UK in December, by mingling with Harrod's Santas.

    2. Teiwaz

      Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

      I was waiting for someone to note that...

      I was thinking, no wonder they kicked him out, if he's let his standards go.

      Or maybe the look is to prove there were no sexscapades at the embassy (I'm certainly convinced, looking like that).

      He's been in semi-hermitage for nearly a decade, bound to have affected the mind.

      1. Mark 85

        Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

        He's been in semi-hermitage for nearly a decade, bound to have affected the mind.

        Semi-heritage but not isolated from the reports of all the visitors he's had who spent the night. I'm not saying I believe all these reports though given the nature of the press of late.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

      'What's with the crazy-old-bastard look he's sporting? '

      Well, as the mutterings about this eventuality have been getting stronger over the past months, one wonders if he was preparing to do a 'Kimball O'Hara'...he'd the beard sorted for the part, all he needed to do was stain his visible skin the right colour, put on a Jubba Thobe and a Khufi, then slip out of the embassy and merge into the crowds..after all, when watching out for one IC1, one IC4 in mufti looks much like any other IC4..

      Alas, the Ecuadorians were (probably|allegedly) getting paid C.O.D...

      1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

        Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

        All joking aside..

        He did not look a well man. Which is hardly suprising given his 7 year self-imposed detention, restricted liberty, limited access to exercise, sunlight and generally being surrounded by people who may not have had his best interests at heart.

        So now he's 'free' to receive all the rights allowed to prisoners, ie medical and mental health care.. But I'd think rather unlikely to be free any time soon. So UK can give him up to 12 months, then Sweden, and of course the US. And given his past actions, rather unlikely to be released on bail. So depending on how well greased (or braked) extradition proceedings happen, maybe a couple of years in a UK jail, then off to the US & potentially a long spell in one of their Supermax facilities.

        All because he decided to get political, rather than stick to simple journalism. I'm curious about the legalities around the journalism aspects, but I think he made a huge mistake editorialising 'Collateral Murder', and making that political. And then his 'help' during the US elections. So along with the alleged sex offences, burned a lot of good will and made some large enemies by becoming the story instead of just reporting it.

        1. the Jim bloke

          Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

          "He did not look a well man. Which is hardly suprising given his 7 year self-imposed detention, restricted liberty, limited access to exercise, sunlight and generally being surrounded by people who may not have had his best interests at heart."

          But once he is extradited he can get away from London...

        2. Mark 85

          Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

          maybe a couple of years in a UK jail, then off to the US & potentially a long spell in one of their Supermax facilities.

          I'm thinking...no. Not Supermax but possibly the scummiest, darkest place the Feds have. A few words with certain inmates, cigarettes or something else changes and hands, and end of story.

          1. SundogUK Silver badge

            Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

            If he is even extradited, he is looking at five years in general population. And no one cares enough to have him killed. What would be the point?

    4. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

      "What's with the crazy-old-bastard look he's sporting? Enquiring minds wish to know if he's been keeping his urine in jars and the Ecuadorians had finally had enough?"

      Watching the video of him being carried out, I think he was just refusing to cooperate rather than being so frail as to be unable to walk.

    5. Jove Bronze badge

      Re: All discussions of "did-he-didn't-he" and "the CIA are going to get him" aside...

      ... and was he wearing combat-boots when they carried him out?

      There are also the stories of the Embassy staff loosing patience with him smearing excrement over the walls; who does he think he is - Bobby Sands?

  30. defiler

    Wait, what?

    This finally happened and I read about if first on Newsthump.

    That's about as well as the rest of my day is staying on the tracks...

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Uncle Albert is looking well.

    1. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge

      Only Fools and Assange

  32. Stratman

    BBC News have just reported (1318) he's been charged under a US extradition warrant in addition to his alleged bail offences.

    1. Bernard M. Orwell

      So, he was right that they were after him all along then? Surely then, he was right to hide? (not right to skip charges in Sweden and bail in the UK though, those were deeply stupid things to do.)

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        "So, he was right that they were after him all along then?"

        Not necessarily. They want him now. It's a long time ago since he skipped bail and a lot of other things have happened since then including a change in US government.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Doctor Syntax, be honourable and admit that you got it completely wrong!

          It was obvious the US would get him sooner or later for outing the Deep State dirty "little" operations.

          1. Ben Tasker

            > It was obvious the US would get him sooner or later for outing the Deep State dirty "little" operations.

            Or, you know, it was obvious that meddling in the US elections (including taking data from the Russians) when the US may or may not want you is a bit of an imbecilic thing to do.

            It's quite possible that the US wouldn't have bothered with him when this all started. But rather than holing up in his cupboard, he had to keep prodding the bear.

            1. Teiwaz

              he had to keep prodding the bear.

              Maybe eagle?

              Russia is the Bear usually,

              Sort of Cross-totemic animal confusion.

          2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            "Doctor Syntax, be honourable and admit that you got it completely wrong!"

            In case you hadn't noticed, when he skipped bail the bail was from a warrant for extradition to Sweden. There was never any mention of a US extradition from the UK. There never any mention of a US warrant for extradition when he was in Sweden.

            The report cited near the top of the comments was dated Nov last year and mentions prosecutors being told "over the summer" to go ahead. That's a long, long time after he holed himself up.

            It's been complained about many times that the US/UK extradition treaty is extremely one-sided and that accordingly he stood much less chance of being extradited from Sweden. If he really was concerned about extradition to the US he was hardly likely to make the UK his first stop on leaving Sweden.

            1. Ben Tasker

              > In case you hadn't noticed, when he skipped bail the bail was from a warrant for extradition to Sweden

              In fact, the story Assange claim was that the Swedish charges were a pretext to get him to Sweden where he could then be shipped onto the US.

              Except, the US have now done exactly what they could have done once he entered the UK, and requested him direct from the UK.

          3. SundogUK Silver badge

            What "Deep State dirty "little" operations"?

        2. Jove Bronze badge

          Nope - the USA have wanted him all along - the paperwork was waiting for events to catch-up.

      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        "So, he was right that they were after him all along then? "

        No. It turns out the US indictment was penned in March 2018, so I suspect most likely it's related to the Mueller report and the change in administration.

    2. Likkie

      This also shows that the story about the USA wanting him extradited to Sweden so he could be spirited away was a load of codswallop which he invented to avoid questioning over sexual misconduct allegations. The USA could always have done what they are doing now, get him direct from blighty.

  33. batfink

    Hahahahahahahahahahaha

    That is all.

  34. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    "Assange reportedly turned down a proposed deal with the UK"

    So, it's a No Deal Exit!

    1. Ben Tasker

      Managed no-deal exit in fact.

      It's exactly the same as no-deal, I just put a nicer sounding name on it to make it less scary

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Totally unrelated news, in no way connected whatsoever, today IMF approves $4.2 billion loan for Ecuador.

    https://web.archive.org/web/20190411123640/https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2019/03/11/ecuador-pr1972-imf-executive-board-approves-eff-for-ecuador

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Are you really trying to persuade us that he's worth $4.2m? After all, it's nearly as much as his own valuation of himself (probably).

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        BILLION not million!

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge
    2. Danny 2

      That was March 11th. This is April.

    3. Jove Bronze badge

      Fallacious argument - was not today, or yesterday, but it suits your sh*t stirring narrative.

  36. Stoneshop
    Holmes

    Just yesterday his leaky org claimed blackmailers had threatened to reveal "sexual" things alongside other details of Assange’s life inside the embassy; the group claimed that miscreants were trying to squeeze €3m out of it.

    I get those mails too, suggesting that the non-existent webcam in my 'device' (apparently they don't bother to detect whether it's a laptop, tablet or desktop, and which of the dozen or so it was I allegedly used at the time) can record me fapping, so lack of internet access shouldn't be much of a problem either.

    1. Danny 2

      The difference being that CCTV footage of Assange has been published by media such as the BBC. Oh, and when I tried to blackmail you for the video of Pamela Anderson I only asked for €3. Price of postage.

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not a good outlook

    Trump asks Russia to get Clinton's emails.

    Russia gives emails to Wikileaks.

    Assange thinks that this will help him to be not extradited to the USA.

    Assange has proof of Trump's involvement.

    If any of the above were true then the usual outcome is "shot while trying to escape" or "dies in custody".

  38. chivo243 Silver badge
    Windows

    He looks awful

    Sort of like Howard Hughes just before his demise... Or the Unabomber when they dragged him out of his shack. It couldn't have been physically healthy living like he did.

    Now the Tramp icon looks like Assange...

  39. FlamingDeath Silver badge

    People have short memories, or are just dead eye'd sociopaths

    July 12th 2007 Baghdad airstrike video

    The van that was attacked, it carrying children, the driver, from their own perspective, was simply helping wounded people

    The sad reality is, is that modern warfare is cowardly, with an awful level of detachment from the consequences. I have a fair idea of what all of this is about, I don't need your opinion.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Terminator

      Re: People have short memories, or are just dead eye'd sociopaths

      Collateral Murder, I think this is the one that got Assange firmly in the sights of the US Military Industrial Complex.

    2. Jellied Eel Silver badge

      Re: People have short memories, or are just dead eye'd sociopaths

      The sad reality is, is that modern warfare is cowardly,

      I'd say 'confused', or full of shades of grey. IMHO, the unedited video showed the Apache gunner tracking armed individuals as well as the Reuters guys. RPGs were clearly visible, along with AKs. Apache relocates, sees <something> circular/cylindrical poking around the corner that could reasonably have been an RPG... So the gunner engages.

      In law, the military has it's RoE (Rules of Engagement) that specify when it's ok to fire. Like when there's a reasonable belief of an imminent, armed threat. Which is generally also the legal view, because there are laws in war. So that was a tragic mistake in the fog of war.

      Then the Apache circled around and fired on other targets. IMHO, that was a lot more questionable given weapons weren't obvious. And then the crew fired on the wounded, and the vehicle that arrived. Generally that part is illegal, ie the wounded were no longer a real threat, and the gunner could have held fire & provided cover for the ground troops that were approaching.

      But the editing in the 'Collateral Murder' vide was very one-sided, and could have been far better if they'd simply shown the unedited video, and had commentary from a lawyer with war crimes expertise. Despite what we see from Hollywood, finishing off a wounded enemy is generally ilegal. Ok, the threat of suicide bombers makes life riskier, but once an enemy is no longer a threat, you're meant to capture and render aid. Then vigourously interrogate, but that's a different movie..

    3. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: People have short memories, or are just dead eye'd sociopaths

      "modern warfare is cowardly"

      Yeah, using civilians as human shields is a pretty shitty way to fight a war.

  40. Anonymous Coward
  41. TRT Silver badge

    I don't give a flying fig about him...

    but how's the cat?

    1. Jove Bronze badge

      Re: I don't give a flying fig about him...

      ... heading back to Langley to receive it's medal.

      1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

        Re: I don't give a flying fig about him...

        Langley to receive its medal.

        .. and the promised lifetime supply of tuna. How much tuna can you eat in 5 minutes anyway?

  42. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    Mildly Unsettling Stuff for UN Settled Staff ... Heap Good AIMedicine though, Kemo Sabe

    We couldn't possibly comment...

    How very Mandy Rice-Davies of you, El Reg :-)

    I do wonder if the Systems that are arranged and arraigned against Wikileaks have any idea at all about how to Command and Control Virtual CHAOS and Absolute Confusion .... with Secure Protection in Hellishingly Heavenly Environments that are now at release unleashed from considerable maddening confinement. What places are media going to take you tomorrow with decisions yesterday relayed today?

    Any, if not newly discovered or uncovered, newly built places in former naturally totally naked spaces, or is it still to be the old doom and gloom, madness and mayhem in rapidly ageing cities and towns with crazy populations that they all appear to so love to perform in and share their own imagined view of a truth to believe for real.

    You know ..... the sort of Immaculate Space with Imaginative Places for Supply of Pioneering Settlers via Advanced IntelAIgent Programs which is trailed and trialing from the likes of a experimental satellite node in what is ideally a Fab Fabless Network Lab based on foundational premises honoured and rewarded in programming from here and/or here and other such like Advanced IntelAIgent Ventures for it would be foolish to not welcome and break bread with others long ago there and think you be alone and almighty and free to do as one pleases. Such would be to show the greatest of arrogance and disrespect to an Almighty Willing Host.

    Sound Advice? ..... Don't Ever Go There ... for too long can be a very short time in that place, and if captured and overwhelmed with the perceived delights there, that is where you will stay and fester/wither and die.

    For to have got so far, and then to fail and fall into the simplest of honey traps at the very first step into something ExtraOrdinary is a hard lesson to learn and recognise as a fault for correction and crash testing, but absolutely vital to understand for success in all the other steps available for the taking, and if necessary remaking/refining.

    To those who may be suffering such a crash, there are words for you to ponder and wonder on .........

    Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. .... Sir Winston Churchill

    IT's getting real spookily busy out there nowadays, El Reg. Are you hearing any word its hitting Main Street and Hoods yet, with Leaks and Seed Feeds into Online MainStreams?

    No? Man, that Stealth is Fabulously Good.

    Systems in place and in Full Operation with hardly a soul knowing anything about the Changes and now nothing can realistically be done about it .

    Outright Public Denial of it being true immediately highlights the possibilities of its veracity whilst Private and Pirate Exploitation and Development of Change Systems delivers to those so engaged, Virtual Sovereign AI Leading Plays.

    1. Jove Bronze badge

      Re: Mildly Unsettling Stuff for UN Settled Staff ... Heap Good AIMedicine though, Kemo Sabe

      I recommend Imodium.

      1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

        Re: Mildly Unsettling Stuff for UN Settled Staff ... Heap Good AIMedicine though, Kemo Sabe

        I recommend Imodium..... Jove

        By Jove, of course you do. It is practically default for stoolies

  43. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The moron achieved nothing beyond imprisoning himself for nearly seven fucking years.

    Hope the US throw him in one of their finest establishments for thinking he could escape justice by being so stupid.

  44. Sommer

    All I want for Christmas...

    ...is for one of the Wikileaks utterances to actually cite the law they believe to have been violated. Just yelling "illegal" merely makes them sound like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NSONU9uguM">Rik-with-a-silent-P</a> from the "Young Ones".

    1. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: All I want for Christmas...

      This.

      I have watched the videos several times and as far as I can tell, everything the Apache crews did was within their TOE and the relevant Geneva conventions.

      They did nothing wrong.

  45. s. pam Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    About bloody time

    Whether he is guilty or not he has to stand and account for his actions. Hiding away from criminal charges never wins any favour from any court.

  46. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Could be worse

    When I saw a headline about this earlier this morning, the last word was "extradited" but I initially scanned it as "executed". That would have have been some Putin-worthy turn around time!

  47. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    For sale...

    One couch, leather. Numerous stains, but still quite comfortable. If interested, enquire at Ecuadorian embassy.

    1. Teiwaz

      Re: For sale...

      No one* buys 2nd Hand anymore.

      The Boom for cheap financing may be over, but for most, it'd be like someone elses used underpants.

      * Although there are always a few, and Landlords wanting to fill houses cheaply.

  48. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I wonder what's really going on (PS it's nothing to do with rape allegations)

    It's certainly not what we're being told.

    - Ecuador gets an IMF loan out of this and what else?

    - Is there a dead man's handle on any data JA has access to?

    - JA will get tried, almost certainly with no jury as it's national security related.

    - JA will get a multiple lifetime sentence for breaking US espionage laws. If not a death penalty.

    - UK will get favourable terms for a trade agreement.

    - Australia will do whatever it's told by the US.

    - Whistleblowers everywhere will feel the chilling effects of US "justice" and criminals in governments will be able to breathe easier.

    1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

      Re: I wonder what's really going on (PS it's nothing to do with rape allegations)

      - Whistleblowers everywhere will feel the chilling effects of US "justice" and criminals in governments will be able to breathe easier. .... AC

      Oh? I wouldn't be be so sure, AC. I can easily imagine the exact opposite [Streisand] effect with the likes of a government of Jeremy Hunts and conserving lickspittles being understandably targeted for the most outrageous of crazy unreasonable reactions because of what they do and allow to be done by others on their watch.

      How well do you think the Conservative Party [a politically incorrect gang of just 124k members*]

      would fare in a snap emergency, no further confidence in government general election at this extremely awkward time, or at any time in the near future? Is the possibility of such a public vote realised their worst case scenario nightmare presented as they prove them to be unelectable with a mandate to govern? And what shenanigans would they contemplate to ensure the will of the people is avoided at all cost?

      * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_affiliation_in_the_United_Kingdom

      If you want CHAOS and Confusion in the Fields of Madness and Mayhem, IT Systems with AI and SMARTR Media Deliver in Spades.

      And as/when/if Julian Assange is a political prisoner facing trumped up charges, special rules apply ...

      A political offence exception (or exemption) is a provision which limits the obligation of a sovereign state under an extradition or mutual legal assistance treaty or statute. Such provisos allow the state whose assistance has been requested ("the requested party") to refuse to hand over a suspect to — or to gather evidence on behalf of — another state ("the requesting party"), if the requested party's competent authority determines that the requesting party seeks assistance in order to prosecute an offence of a political character. ..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_offence_exception

      Or are there prize idiots out there willing to argue against such an obvious evident truth and in so doing confirm, beyond any reasonable doubt, the roles of Madness and Mayhem in the action?

      We inhabit strange days indeed ...... but they are all being provided to you. What does that make you whenever you accept them without realising the worst of them be badly designed to humiliate and captivate both competition and opposition? Does Cuckold offend and hit the target bullseye?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I wonder what's really going on (PS it's nothing to do with rape allegations)

        Something relevant to you in Plymouth: Johnny Mercer is being touted as a potential future prime minister.

        Oh dear!

      2. SundogUK Silver badge

        Re: I wonder what's really going on (PS it's nothing to do with rape allegations)

        A couple of years ago you were vaguely amusing. Now you're just boring. Stop it.

    2. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: I wonder what's really going on (PS it's nothing to do with rape allegations)

      Take that tinfoil hat off.

  49. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Justice"

    It's telling that so many El Reg commentards are so happy for him to be prosecuted for upsetting the Yanks.

    Conclusion: Brits are as vindictive as ever. Either that or sympathetic to the perpetrators of things Wikileaks has revealed.

    Extraterritorial jurisdiction - that's really what we need more of. It makes the world a better place. /s

    1. Killing Time

      Re: "Justice"

      Yeah but despite all the reams of personal opinion none of us is an arbiter of justice and that includes you.

      Meanwhile, someone the nation actually employs to make that judgement says -

      Assange's behaviour was "the behaviour of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest"

      But never mind, I'm sure the public support of Pammy Anderson and Diane Abbott will make the judge question himself and reconsider his view.

      Personally I'm a little peeved he wasn't thrown in the back of the Black Maria like most common criminals who resist arrest.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "Justice"

        As I said, lots of white collar Britons on this forum appear to be nasty, spiteful people.

        Not sure what selfish narcissist has to do with anything - that describes many, many adults. Not least, the role model who's currently king of the free world - put there by half the US voters who don't see that sort of behaviour as a problem.

        Maybe you'd just like to lock up anyone you don't like. And have the police beat them up for good measure, like the good old days of the 1970s :/

        1. SundogUK Silver badge

          Re: "Justice"

          I think you will find that it is SJW's like you who want to lock people up for disagreeing with them. We just think you are idiots.

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: "Justice"

      "It's telling that so many El Reg commentards are so happy for him to be prosecuted for upsetting the Yanks."

      No, he jumped bail because his final and highest appeal was about to be denied over the extradition to Sweden on the rape charges. Until today, there has been no request for extradition by the USA. And that indictment was only penned in March of 2018.

      The judiciary, and most people, take a very dim view of bail jumpers.

      1. wokkie27

        Re: "Justice"

        Yes, they have he same psychological illness as Brexiteers. Dr Thomas Daffern refers to it as a "death cult", and he is right.

        1. SundogUK Silver badge

          Re: "Justice"

          What do you call someone who has to bring Brexit into every discussion, even if it is completely unrelated?

          Answers on a postcard.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "Justice"

        @John Brown - do you really believe what you write?!? His arrest is nothing to do with jumping bail - that's just the cover story.

        What other bail jumper in British history has warranted spending £30M on his capture. Is there really nothing they could have spent that on to reduce real crime? You know, in the public interest?

        Or was it just tax payers money and he was low hanging fruit? Would the sky have fallen in if the "most wanted man in Britain" had just walked out of the embassy whenever he wanted, and arrested whenever he appeared next? Or were the security forces so concerned he might test their "competence"?

        1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

          Re: Justice in Deaf, Dumb and Blind States ie Raw Hard Core Copy Evidence Missing

          Or was it just tax payers money and he was low hanging fruit? Would the sky have fallen in if the "most wanted man in Britain" had just walked out of the embassy whenever he wanted, and arrested whenever he appeared next? Or were the security forces so concerned he might test their "competence"? ..... Anonymous Coward

          Are they currently proving themselves incompetent and manifestly unfit in the provision of greater intelligent streams to government and media, AC? And do they command and control the present news narrative orchestrating forces competing and/or opposing the tales to be told tomorrow of mistakes made a long time ago and yesterday.

          Is there no New News of the Future in your neck of the woods yet?

          1. Cliff Thorburn

            Re: Justice in Deaf, Dumb and Blind States ie Raw Hard Core Copy Evidence Missing

            Makes a mockery of “Do the right things and the right things will happen” does it not amFM?

            And when we are both educated, trained and programmed to do the right things that transpire to be the wrong things, then a right Cuckolded Mockery making monkeys out of media maps leading to righteous and rightful promised lands.

            It perh aps therefore would be far sim pler to say “Do the wrong thing and the right things will happen”, therefore and thus joining the hooked and crooked bendy Banana republics as sec retly and in an all bets are on Honey G in the Honeypot money tree type fashion hope that the regular purveyor would be both tantalised by?

            Of course just in a world where present circumstances of both coercion have led to said events, would it not be far easier to just come clean and say what the correct choice is?

        2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: "Justice"

          "His arrest is nothing to do with jumping bail - that's just the cover story."

          Have you stocked up on tinfoil in advance of Brexit? Prices are already rising, get in now while it;s still cheap.

    3. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: "Justice"

      He's not being "prosecuted for upsetting the Yanks." He's being prosecuted because he broke the law.

      The "rule of law" - I am in favour of it.

    4. CRConrad

      Yes, *Justice*

      It's telling that so many of the Anonymous Cowards think (or are trying to make it look as if they actually think) that the reason for the general glee is "for him to be prosecuted for upsetting the Yanks".

      I'm a Swede, and as a law-abiding citizen, I'm happy as Hell that the rapey asshat is finally (hopefully) going to be brought to justice for raping at least two women. (Fuck knows how many else he's done it to over the years, and too bad that the sexual assault charges are already past the statute of limitations.)

      On a personal level, I'm also satisfied that he'll get his comeuppance for turning WikiLeaks, which could have been a genuine global whistleblowing resource, into first his own personal cult and then a part of the Russian troll-factory operation.

      Sure, you might think that's "vindictive", but:

      • Have you ever considered that you might be just plain wrong on that?
      • Being a rapist and sexual molester, he deserves any "vindictiveness" he gets.
      • Being a general narcissist cult arsehole and Putin-lackey-troll, he deserves it even more.
      So, no, when it comes to many -- probably most -- of us, your "for upsetting the Yanks" prattle is just so much Putin-troll propaganda. Do you genuinely believe that shit, or have you, when you think about it, perhaps just been duped and will make an effort to stop being used that way? That's the difference between having temporarily been a "useful idiot" and actually being a full-blown troll. Which are you?

  50. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The most wanted man in Britain according to all the non-Brexit news hype.

    I thought that was Tony Blair.

    Who still walks free BTW. Along with his banking friends.

  51. zb

    Thanks to Assange

    Am I the only one who is grateful to Assange? Finally there is something in the news that is neither Brexit or Trump

  52. Nano nano

    No smoke without beer ...

    But what was he up to with Farage in the period around the Brexit referendum ?

  53. Cliff Thorburn

    And there was me thinking we would wake up to more Novichok nonsense news to deflect the masses attention away from the Brexit fiasco ....

  54. GrapeBunch

    Just wondering ... could Assange contrive to get extradited to Ecuador? Yes, I know that sounds like scratched and warped vinyl, but hear me out. He obviously could not get to Ecuador by normal means (see Edward Snowden case), but if he is extradited, could that level of officiality overcome the USA's itchiness to get its hands on him? Charge? Cruelty to animal. Sure, Ecuador has suffered enough over this, but in the rough and ready schoolyard of international relations, they kick a country when it's down. "Go on, we all do it."

    Bobby Fischer was also a fugitive from the US Justice system. His crime, playing chess. In Serbia. For money. His salvation came from an unexpected direction.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      No.

      Ecuador has already prostituted herself.

  55. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sajid Javid

    UK home secretary, said on Twitter: “I would like to thank Ecuador for its co-operation and [the Metropolitan Police] for its professionalism. No one is above the law.” before ROFL uncontrollably.

  56. gnarlymarley

    bite the hand....

    Sometimes it is a good idea not to pee in the Wheaties of the person who is helping you. AKA, Julian bites the hand too hard and Ecuador will give him up. If someone were to be helping me out in a similar situation, it would probably be me that says "Yes sir!" and "Yes Ma'am!".

    1. Jove Bronze badge

      Re: bite the hand....

      Asausage went the whole hog trying to dig up dirt on Moreno, and then smearing excrement over the walls when that did not work.

  57. pandrens

    Justice would be nice, but does he deserve it?

    I can't speak for the rape charges, a court should have it's day on that one.

    I personally considered JA a bit of a hero for Wikileaks, but it has become fairly clear that he has his own political agenda, and for a site like Wikileaks, that is not good.

    He is increasingly looking like a political / Russian tool who was determined to damage one side of American politics, and help the other. Not a good look for a supposedly even-handed web site.

    Time for him to answer up, instead of hiding and playing the victim card and hiding.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Justice would be nice, but does he deserve it?

      Re: "supposedly even-handed web site"

      Unlike, say, the BBC, Guardian, Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Washington Post, MSNBC, Fox News etc which will all tell you how "even-handed" they are.

      As for "Does he deserve justice" - are you American or just an advocate of Cardassian law?

  58. Spencer Tomlinson

    Extra extra read all and doubt it!!

    FYI he has an extra willy ‘not’ an extra finger. Man in pub who was an extra in the original movie “Get Carter” told me..... and since it come from a bloke in a pub it must be true.

  59. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My money is, if he ever gets let out of sight, on him keeping Ed Snowden company in whichever Russian broom cupboard he can find.

    Snowden has gone full Russia shill now, if it's even Snowden behind those accounts any more...

  60. wokkie27

    We shouldn't be doing the Americans dirty work for them here. Send him back home and let the Aussies deal with it. He has done a great service to the world, and for that he has suffered enough.

    1. Ken Shabby
      Holmes

      A conviction for bail jumping will re affirm the entry requirements for oz, a cunning plan.

  61. fraunthall

    This is a bizarre comedy of epic proportions , worthy of a Greek or Operatic Comedy-Tragedy

    Assange has literally been a prisoner of the Americans, Ecuadorians and the Brits for 7 years, all because of the NAZI-like policies of the US. It reminds me of the recent Canadian experience where the Chinese woman was shanghaied by Canadian police and politicians to satisfy the American thirst for blood based on not many facts or much evidence. The US, the world's worst example of a prosecutorial fascist culture masquerading as a democracy, is involved up to their eyebrows in both messes. The poor sob has thrown his life away and has little hope of redemption (not in the eyes of God, I must clarify). One does not stand up against a massive, powerful dictatorial regime without expecting to be crucified, as he will be.

    1. Aladdin Sane

      Re: This is a bizarre comedy of epic proportions , worthy of a Greek or Operatic Comedy-Tragedy

      He's been a prisoner of his own ego, nothing else.

      1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

        Re: This is a bizarre comedy of epic proportions , worthy of a Greek or Operatic Comedy-Tragedy

        He's been a prisoner of his own ego, nothing else. ... Aladdin Sane

        But now to be immortalised as a martyr of virtual jihad, Aladdin Sane, with believers and disciples energised into stealthy worship of the hidden truths of classified interests being abused and used against the ignorant masses/undereducated hoi polloi ‽ .

        That's something else which opens up a whole new can of worms for Extant Systems Admins to deal with and deny they support and retain to sustain and maintain.

        Not a great move by Extant Systems Admins given the vast number of invisible and intangible enemies ready, willing and able and immediately available for Internetional Service out there ....although that is surely no great surprise to anybody given all of the evidence presented of their shenanigans in the past resulting in the main streamed media narratives of today.

        1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

          Re: This is a bizarre comedy of epic proportions , worthy of a Greek or Operatic Comedy-Tragedy

          Here's one of those worms easily turned deadly poisonous snake ........ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/assange-arrest-charges-taibbi-821107/ ......... but it is does make for cheap pulp television where all can easily follow the inherent media bias in both the mogul and the minnow vying for predominance and credibility in the mainstream.

    2. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: This is a bizarre comedy of epic proportions , worthy of a Greek or Operatic Comedy-Tragedy

      "...a massive, powerful dictatorial regime."

      I bet you wouldn't be calling it that if Hilary had won.

  62. JulieM Silver badge
    WTF?

    Tip of the iceberg

    There is a lot here we don't know.

    Are we supposed to believe that someone smart enough to uncover evidence of industrial-scale human rights abuses is not smart enough to watch where he dips his wick, for crying out loud? If you're carrying information that could bring down a powerful government, the last thing you want to do is take stupid risks like having casual sex with strangers, even if your reasons are more selfish i.e. not wanting to risk getting yourself into trouble with the law or trapped in a room with a murderer, as opposed to not actually wanting anybody else to suffer. Unless you believe that the information that you are carrying makes you worth protecting. Then you might be tempted to see if you could get away with a crime; but even so, there are classier crimes, ones more likely to endear you to the public, than rape. Art or jewel theft, for instance, if done with no harm to life, tend to court a good measure of public sympathy for the thief; since the original owner was obviously just showing off their wealth, and everyone loves a Robin Hood character. Even shoplifting a bottle of vodka from a supermarket is mostly going to inspire pity, as opposed to outright revulsion.

    On the other hand, if you're in bed with someone who knows something you're desperate to conceal, why not just kill him there and then? That would have made every James Bond film a fair bit shorter. Get into a Cowgirl position, then stab him straight through the heart with a dagger, right in the middle of the vinegar strokes. Job's a good 'un. Your bosses can deal with the clean-up. But once the target is dead and the secret isn't coming out, that makes you expendable ..... So maybe you can use the target, alive, to your own advantage and double-cross your employers? Convince him that you're his only hope, half the money is better than being dead and the only way he can get that is by trusting you? If I'm going to kill you, I will do so whether or not you trust me. But if you don't let me help you, I can't stop anyone else from killing you. So have we got a deal?

    Is the timing significant? Invading an embassy to take a prisoner, even one wanted for rape, has the potential to start an International Incident. Waiting until the last minute before the UK would have provoked another International Incident by crashing out of the EU without a deal suggests someone might have been hoping for one lot of events to divert attention from the other lot of events. And if the UK could no longer practice Extraordinary Rendition from anywhere in the EU, our usefulness internationally would be diminished.

    Have multiple, over-complicated plots failed at once?

    Of course, the most boring explanation is that what Julian Assange actually knew was not really worth very much; but he was arrogant enough to assume that it made him invulnerable, and tried to prove it by getting away with rape. But of course, that is exactly what They want you to think .....

    1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

      Re: Tip of the iceberg

      Invading an embassy to take a prisoner, even one wanted for rape, has the potential to start an International Incident. ...... JulieM

      Howdy JulieM,

      It is impossible to not notice this morning the impartial BBC trying to get Sweden to make fools of themselves with a request from them to extradite him to there so home grown political cowards and wannabe armchair heroes in Blighty are let off their hooks there.

      Some retarded folk just never learn from their shame and are always looking for others to blame for their seriously sub-prime game play. And aint that the gospel truth.

    2. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: Tip of the iceberg

      "But of course, that is exactly what They want you to think ....."

      So said every conspiracy theorist ever.

      Cretin.

      1. JulieM Silver badge

        Re: Tip of the iceberg

        You're really not helping Their cause. If They have a cause. Whoever They are. If They exist at all.

        How does someone manage to get hold of potentially world-shattering material, and then go and blow it with an indiscretion like that? If he genuinely was just a lecherous creep who couldn't keep his flies fastened for ten minutes, how did he not get busted long ago? Did all the power just go to his head and make him think he could get away with anything? He must surely have known from the outset that any public sympathy would be lost with the merest hint of any sexual impropriety. Doesn't matter if you stopped someone from pressing the Nuclear Button; if you were so much as caught wanking into a condom in a lay-by on a deserted country road at three in the morning, you'll still never be anything but a sex offender. (On the other hand, some people might prefer to be remembered for having sex with a pig's head than for selling an entire country to a bunch of carpet-baggers.) What was he even playing at, having sex with anyone at all? And why arrest him now, mere hours before the UK was about to leave the EU? (The October extension was not known about when the first moves would have had to have been made.)

        But that's the difference between truth and fiction, I guess. Authors have to make fiction make sense. All the loose ends get brought together and tied up in the final chapter or scene, and you're blaming yourself for not spotting the connection much earlier rather than the author or director for deliberately leading you down the wrong path around the point in the story where they thought you might make the connection. (Or else you throw the book at the wall, or storm out of the cinema in a huff.) Real life isn't constrained to a page count or running time, and doesn't care whether or not the audience end up feeling entertained.

        I suppose we're just never going to find out. Whether that is because there is nothing to find out or because of some elaborate plot to conceal the sort of unimaginable human rights abuses alongside which even sexual assault pales into insignificance, ultimately won't make a blind bit of difference anyway.

        1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

          Re Icebergs and TitanICQ Vessels full of Vassals

          I suppose we're just never going to find out. Whether that is because there is nothing to find out or because of some elaborate plot to conceal the sort of unimaginable human rights abuses alongside which even sexual assault pales into insignificance, ultimately won't make a blind bit of difference anyway. .... Julie M

          Do we have to decide whether that be hubris and ignorance or arrogance and delusion having their say, JulieM?

          Hasn't it always been the case, and therefore always will be the case, that a very select few, who may or may not know exactly what to do with what is discovered and uncovered, find out, if not quite everything, certainly more than enough to make a great deal of difference.

          And that is why they are so diligently sought after and extremely well paid to do probably either of two things

          a) Retire into the sunset as fiat currency rich as Croesus to do virtually nothing to make a further greater deal of difference .... or

          b) pick any number of conflicting sides to make them rich beyond their wildest dreams, knowing full well the value of the worth which they will pay to have discoveries and secrets keep coming their way.

          However, as is usually the case in such situations, there may very well be though quite a few other obscure options too to explore that would preternaturally excite even greater interest with the simplest of seedings and feedings with crude base investments in that which would be capable of proving itself to be so disruptive and potentially catastrophically destructive to a significant number of others.

      2. CRConrad

        Re: "...exactly what They want you to think..."

        "So said every conspiracy theorist ever."

        Jules was being sarcastic, you nincompoop.

    3. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: Tip of the iceberg

      "There is a lot here we don't know."

      No, we pretty much know everything. He's a wanker who broke several laws and finally got caught.

      What he did with Wikileaks is largely laudable but ultimately he's a cunt.

    4. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: Tip of the iceberg

      For fucks sake, you even capitalized 'They.'

      Fuckwit.

      1. CRConrad

        Yeah, that should have tipped you off.

        Capitalized "They" in the X-Files-the-Truth(1)-is-out-there style sentence about "that's what they to think".

        After a long post of semi-sceptical "conspiratorial" musings, *and a final paragraph of "Or maybe the simple explanation is that he's an asshat".* After all that, this single, *italicized*, ooo-wee-ooo-eee Twilight-Zone sentence.

        Grow up; learn to recognize sarcasm without the over-the-top delivery, hashtags, or emoti... Uh, -jis. I totally meant to say emojis. I'm not that old!(2)

        1: Yet another capital 'T'.

        2: Yes I am.

  63. Winkypop Silver badge
    Devil

    Hooray!

    Lock a part of him up in the UK

    Another part in Sweden

    And the rest in the US

    Sorted.

    1. Aladdin Sane
      Coat

      Re: Hooray!

      Distributed Denial of Assange?

  64. Cliff Thorburn

    At least the cats safe ...

    https://apple.news/ALGAKPp-JTeyYz9ULRIuP5A

    At least the cats safe from any potential Pussy Grabbers !

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