Since running for cover inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, just monitoring him alone has cost £ Millions. Posting a couple of coppers at the embassy's front door doesn't come cheap. All foreign embassies already have state security, so a couple of extra men in uniform probably did nothing special. I do hope Mr Assange will be made to repay that sum.
It's been a very strange affair; 7 years locked away in a foreign embassy in central London. Enough to send anyone crazy.
We have no idea if he's guilty of the alleged rape and sexual misconduct accusations in Sweden, but we do know he's been responsible for giving air to whistleblowers around the world. Exposing political scandal and shenanigans certainly has its place; rape and groping doesn't.
He's an odd character, and, frankly, the sooner he's shipped off to Sweden or the USA the better. He may have friends in Abbott and Corbyn, but that was to be expected. The majority would like to see him face his charges; otherwise we couldn't give a damn.
His lawyer was on TV. He was never charged with any offences in Sweden. The US want him in connection with the Bradley Manning case. They do not want him for anything else. There is no evidence of any Russian agent stuff that's wildly banded about. He did Trump a service by revealing the shenanigans in the Clinton camp against their candidate Bernie Sanders. Other publishers notably the Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, the Telegraph - the list is endless have published Wikileaks information regarding things Iraq, US election and Vatican pedophelia etc., etc. Are their editors to be arrested too?
ReplyDeleteIt all depends on what was leaked, and who is in power at the time. If it's to the advantage of the POTUS, then OK. If not; lock him up.
DeleteHe was never charged in Sweden as he was never extridited to Sweden.
DeleteShould Hillary Clinton be arrested for refusing to use a secure server?
ReplyDeleteAgain, I suppose it depends on what is being revealed; and against who!
DeleteSecretary of State should not be allowed to use insecure server.
DeleteShe WASN'T allowed. Totally verboten.
DeleteExactly.
DeleteThere is an awful lot we would not know if not for him. He is an odd character. I think he has been preparing his old man appearance for his exit from the embassy.
ReplyDeleteYes, as I said above, there's certainly a place for exposing political scandals, but not so much for (alleged) sexual abuse.
DeleteAmerica only wants him for hacking into a military computer - or so they say. It might be double-bluff with Corbyn. Whatever he recommends, the current government are going to do the opposite. Maybe he hates Assange. One thing I don't like about the U.S.A. is that they demand extradition of anyone from this country, but I am not so sure it is a reciprocal agreement.
ReplyDeleteI quite expect he'll be sent off somewhere. I don't think the UK want him any more; not even Corbyn.
DeleteHis looks have changed substantially. He is not a pretty boy anymore. He will come back here, cost us hundreds of millions and no one will be satisfied with the outcome. He has cost us enough in many, many ways.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what extradition arrangements the UK has with Sweden, but he should have been sent there 7 years ago. He's been nothing but a nuisance.
DeleteOh, I think this was a pre-planned by the various governments involved. Right after the Mueller Report completed. Assange is an Aussie, so that may come into play as well. If he is sent to the USA, I'm certain he will be completely safe because he KNOWS SO MUCH THAT PEOPLE IN HIGH PLACES want to know. It's all politics. Politics = Insanity
ReplyDeleteThe behaviour of the Ecuadorian government has been the strangest. Why they allowed him to stay in their embassy for 7 years, I cannot imagine.
DeleteThe previous government of Equador was far left and took delight in being a thorn in the side of the USA. The new government is more centerist. They've also just received a huge loan from the IMF to bail them out of the economic hole the previous government left them in.
DeleteThe irony is that had Assange been extridited to Sweden he stood a good chance of beating the rape charges. Secondly the very Liberal Swedish legal system would have probably opposed extradition on humanitarian grounds. Instead he chose self imposed imprisonment for 7 years, he how faces charges and possibly prison for jumping bail followed by extradition to the USA!
I think he just bounces from place to place. Certainly has made an unconventional kind of life for himself. God forbid he wind up someplace with a bathroom he dislikes.
ReplyDeleteNot your ideal weekend guest!
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