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Ecuador Grants Asylum to Julian Assange

By Jeralyn, Section Foreign Affairs
Posted on Thu Aug 16, 2012 at 01:15:25 PM EST
Tags: Julian Assange, Wikileaks (all tags)
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Ecuador has granted asylum to Julian Assange of Wikiliaks.

“The government of Ecuador, faithful to its tradition of protecting those who seek refuge in its territory or in its diplomatic missions, has decided to grant diplomatic asylum to Julian Assange,” said Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño, reading from a government communiqué at a news conference....

“There are indications to presume that there could be political persecution,” and that Mr. Assange would not get a fair trial in the United States and could face the death penalty there.

Ecuador can only provide protection to Assange in Ecuador. And Britain still says it must extradite him to Sweden. How does he get to Ecuador? [More..]

The move gives Mr. Assange with protection from British arrest, but only on Ecuadorean territory, leaving him vulnerable if he tries to head to an airport or train.

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since June 19, sleeping on an air mattress in an office. He can't go outdoors, so he gets no exercise or sunlight.

Some of Mr. Assange’s friends have encouraged him to put on music and dance as a way of getting physical activity and that they had also brought sunlamps.”

Sweden has thus far indicated it would comply with any request to extradite Assange to the U.S. to face charges over Wikileaks.

Wikileaks issued a statement yesterday before the asylum decision:

We remind the public that these extraordinary actions are being taken to detain a man who has not been charged with any crime in any country,” the statement said. It added: “We further urge the U.K. government to show restraint, and to consider the dire ramifications of any violation of the elementary norms of international law.”

Update: Why Ecuador was right to grant asylum to Assange.

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    Ecuador Grants Asylum to Julian Assange | 43 comments (43 topical)

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    actually from what I've read (5.00 / 2) (#19)
    by Slayersrezo on Thu Aug 16, 2012 at 03:59:43 PM EST
    According to Swedish law, he has to be "in custody" for questioning before they can bring "formal" charges. So the defenders of this prosecution can always use that as a "he's being charged" (or even has been charged, it's just not 'formal')type of "gotcha" moment.

    Of course then they never tell the rest of the story.
    A. How he was initially questioned in Sweden when the accusations first broke. How the original prosecutor declined to prosecute him.
    B. How he was there a whole month before he left, and how he was given permission to leave.
    C. How he has repeatedly offered to be questioned :

    1. On foreign soil
    2. Or in a web appearance
    but how these offers have been declined.

    Of course the charges themselves are fishy because of the tweets (available on the net) sent right "after the fact" by the two women (whose names are also available in many places)about their time with him and how much fun they were having.

    Then there's that never denied and widely reported Grand Jury convened in Virginia concerning Assange and Wikileaks, the fact that Sweden has been known to bend its laws and bend over backwards to send people to us (in the most famous case to be tortured) in violation of its own laws, and the fact that a certain type of radical feminism has a foothold in terms of the laws in Sweden and you can see why, if I was Assange, I would do everything in my power to avoid being in their clutches as well.

    Good one Slay... (none / 0) (#21)
    by fishcamp on Thu Aug 16, 2012 at 04:08:03 PM EST


    Parent
    They must want him pretty badly... (5.00 / 1) (#33)
    by unitron on Thu Aug 16, 2012 at 06:34:33 PM EST
    Britain is making noises about revoking the embassy's diplomatic status so that they can go in and grab him.

    Obviously this is all about sex.

    "they" = Barack Obama (none / 0) (#35)
    by Andreas on Thu Aug 16, 2012 at 10:38:36 PM EST
    All of this is happening because the despotic regime led by Barack Obama wants to indefinitely imprision or kill Julian Assange.


    Parent
    Suzie, thank you for writing this and (5.00 / 1) (#40)
    by caseyOR on Fri Aug 17, 2012 at 01:38:10 AM EST
    injecting some facts into the discussion. Some days I just don't have the energy to respond to rape apologists and deniers.

    Assange should, IMO, be sent back to Sweden to deal with the questions concerning these alleged sexual assaults. He should not then be extradited to the U.S. It infuriates me that the U.S. government, the British government and, to some extent, the Swedish government are using allegations of sexual assault to mount a political persecution.

    I do not for one minute believe that the U.S. government gives a damn about the possible sexual assaults. I am disgusted by the feds manipulating of the situation, which effectively minimizes the sexual assault claims, to their own very dubious ends.

    Of course, we already know that our government often views claims of sexual assault as annoyances that get in their way. Just think of the very low number of such assaults in the military that get reported and the even lower number that get prosecuted. And don't get me started on the government's tolerance of such activity by contractors.

    I don't know (5.00 / 1) (#44)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Aug 17, 2012 at 07:59:15 AM EST
    where you get this hyperbole but I wish you'd leave it off this site: "Of course, we already know that our government often views claims of sexual assault as annoyances that get in their way."

    He hasn't been charged or convicted of a crime. He's wanted for investigation in Sweden. A grand jury was convened here over Wikileaks and the U.S. wants him badly. This is political and now that he has been granted asylum in Ecuador, he should be allowed to go there.

    Next to Chapo Guzman, there's probably no bigger target in the U.S. cross-hairs right now.

    Parent

    Perhaps I wasn't clear, J. I know Assange (3.50 / 2) (#45)
    by caseyOR on Fri Aug 17, 2012 at 08:12:50 AM EST
    has neither been charged nor convicted. The point I was trying to make was that it is despicable, in my view, that our