Assange appears in Ecuador database, spurring citizenship speculation

[webfact]

Assange appears in Ecuador database, spurring citizenship speculation

 

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Britain, May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

 

QUITO (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's name has appeared in an Ecuadorean government database of citizen identification numbers, fuelling speculation that he may have received citizenship from the Andean country.

 

Assange has been holed up for more than five years in the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he was granted asylum in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape allegations.

 

Swedish prosecutors in May dropped their investigation into the rape allegations, but British police have said Assange would still be arrested if he left the embassy.

 

Reuters found an entry for "Julian Paul Assange" in Ecuador's Civil Registry, which only includes Ecuadorean citizens. A spokeswoman for the registry declined to comment when asked if Assange had been granted citizenship.

 

Following reports of the news in Ecuadorean media on Wednesday, Assange tweeted a photo of himself wearing the jersey of Ecuador's national soccer team. Neither he nor his lawyers responded to requests for comment.

 

Ecuador's Foreign Ministry in a statement said it was seeking to resolve Assange's situation, without making reference to the citizenship issue. The ministry declined further comment.

 

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said Ecuador was exploring mediation to solve the standoff.

 

Assange, who denies the rape allegations, fears that if he is arrested he will be handed over to the United States to face prosecution over WikiLeaks' publication of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history.

 

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito and Mark Hosenball in London; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-11

[Emster23]

Next step: make him a diplomat and then he can be on his merry way. I would have thought he'd go for a Russian passport given his cozy relationship with them.

[quandow]

30 years ago he would have been a HERO!

[BuaBS]

42 minutes ago, Emster23 said:

Next step: make him a diplomat and then he can be on his merry way. I would have thought he'd go for a Russian passport given his cozy relationship with them.

Exellent idea !

[ilostmypassword]

52 minutes ago, Emster23 said:

Next step: make him a diplomat and then he can be on his merry way. I would have thought he'd go for a Russian passport given his cozy relationship with them.

The problem with that idea is that you don't get to be an accredited diplomat just because the sponsoring country says so. The receiving nation has to accept the accreditation.

[connda]

Make him an Ecuadorian citizen, then assign him to the diplomatic corp, which gives him diplomatic immunity.  Then if he's 'arrested' it threatens the entire world's diplomatic immunity agreements, which I doubt any nation is willing to see suspended, because once the precedent has been set, all bets are off.  All diplomats are then targets from that point forward.

[Tchooptip]

58 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

The problem with that idea is that you don't get to be an accredited diplomat just because the sponsoring country says so. The receiving nation has to accept the accreditation.

Certainly not! You do not have to be ambassador or consul of the said country to be protected by a diplomatic passport, a gardener from a Russian embassy anywhere in the world could have a diplomatic passport, and so be protected by it in most countries.

[ilostmypassword]

Just now, Tchooptip said:

Certainly not! You do not have to be ambassador or consul of the said country to be protected by a diplomatic passport, a gardener from a Russian embassy anywhere in the world could have a diplomatic passport, and so be protected by it in most countries.

Only if the receiving country accepts the passport as valid. No country has the right to give people diplomatic passports to allow them unheeded passage into another country or to give them immunity unless the receiving country agrees to it. 

[the guest]

Yeah he has to run the gauntlet of getting out of the UK first, without being arrested,

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Only if the receiving country accepts the passport as valid. No country has the right to give people diplomatic passports to allow them unheeded passage into another country or to give them immunity unless the receiving country agrees to it. 

"Carrying a diplomatic passport does not automatically entitles someone to diplomatic immunity. Most persons with diplomatic immunity carry diplomatic passports, but that immunity only comes when the privilege of diplomatic status is granted by the country to which diplomatic status is claimed. It is not implied by having a diplomatic passport." 

https://cs-p.com/get-a-diplomatic-passport/

[dick dasterdly]

Which brings us back (full circle....), as to whether or not one cares about state 'secrets' -  or the 'right of people to know the truth'.

 

I'm still waiting to learn whether Sweden has promised that it will not attempt to extradite Farange for questioning. 

 

We all know that he has not been charged - and  has an understandable concern that the Swedes will send him to the US.  Much the same as the Brit. govt. has made such a HUGE, unjustifiable effort to waste money and resources to keep him locked up in the Ecuadorian embassy.....

Edited January 11, 2018 by dick dasterdly

[RawboneFunksta]

Pretty shameful of the UK to desire his arrest when known terrorists of the Islamic persuasion are walking free and unfettered on UK soil

[ilostmypassword]

27 minutes ago, RawboneFunksta said:

Pretty shameful of the UK to desire his arrest when known terrorists of the Islamic persuasion are walking free and unfettered on UK soil

Could you share that list with us? Or don't you want to alert these terrorists that you know who and where they are?

[RawboneFunksta]

After every single Islamic terror attack we discover that the perpetrators where on a 'list' but resources were not available to track them.

Several hundred ISIS fighters have returned to the west and are allowed to walk free. Nuff said.

[Thingamabob]

What would the British police arrest him for ?

[car720]

7 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

What would the British police arrest him for ?

Bad hair style.

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

What would the British police arrest him for ?

Operating a business in the UK without a license?

He's not a member of the diplomatic staff.

[ChidlomDweller]

8 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

What would the British police arrest him for ?

Skipping bail.

[bendejo]

12 hours ago, RawboneFunksta said:

terrorists of the Islamic persuasion are walking free and unfettered on UK soil

 

If they were it would be easier to track them than if they were walking on the pavement.

 

 

[Srikcir]

18 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

What would the British police arrest him for ?

More recently -

Aiding and abetting Russia's attack on a NATO ally (USA) through cyber hacking, theft and malicious disinformation?

There is precedent for arrest of such alleged cyber crimes: "An alleged Russian hacker has been detained in Spain at the request of American authorities"

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/10/alleged-russian-hacker-pyotor-levashov-arrested-rt-claims-link-to-us-election.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-botnet/russian-hacker-wanted-by-u-s-tells-court-he-worked-for-putins-party-idUSKCN1C32EP

 

[dick dasterdly]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

More recently -

Aiding and abetting Russia's attack on a NATO ally (USA) through cyber hacking, theft and malicious disinformation?

There is precedent for arrest of such alleged cyber crimes: "An alleged Russian hacker has been detained in Spain at the request of American authorities"

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/10/alleged-russian-hacker-pyotor-levashov-arrested-rt-claims-link-to-us-election.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-botnet/russian-hacker-wanted-by-u-s-tells-court-he-worked-for-putins-party-idUSKCN1C32EP

 

Somehow, I'm fairly sure that the charge would be skipping bail ...

[connda]

On 1/11/2018 at 10:08 AM, connda said:

Make him an Ecuadorian citizen, then assign him to the diplomatic corp, which gives him diplomatic immunity.  Then if he's 'arrested' it threatens the entire world's diplomatic immunity agreements, which I doubt any nation is willing to see suspended, because once the precedent has been set, all bets are off.  All diplomats are then targets from that point forward.

"WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a press conference held Thursday, Jan. 11, in Quito, Ecuador, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed both that Ecuador naturalized Julian Assange in granting him citizenship, and that Ecuador had extended to Assange diplomatic status as well."

And guess what.  What I said is exactly what they have done.  Citizenship and diplomatic status!  Surprise!

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by connda

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, connda said:

"WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a press conference held Thursday, Jan. 11, in Quito, Ecuador, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed both that Ecuador naturalized Julian Assange in granting him citizenship, and that Ecuador had extended to Assange diplomatic status as well."

And guess what.  What I said is exactly what they have done.  Citizenship and diplomatic status!  Surprise!

 

Still will not get him out of the country. No surprise!

 

"the British government refused a request from the South American nation for Assange to be given diplomatic status, which could give him immunity from arrest should he try to leave the embassy." https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-assange-britain/ecuador-gives-assange-citizenship-seeks-end-to-embassy-stay-idUSKBN1F01RP

Regardless of what country gives Assange citizenship and diplomatic status, Britain must agree and it has not done so and likely will not do so.

[connda]

8 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Still will not get him out of the country. No surprise!

 

"the British government refused a request from the South American nation for Assange to be given diplomatic status, which could give him immunity from arrest should he try to leave the embassy." https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-assange-britain/ecuador-gives-assange-citizenship-seeks-end-to-embassy-stay-idUSKBN1F01RP

Regardless of what country gives Assange citizenship and diplomatic status, Britain must agree and it has not done so and likely will not do so.

They do so at the risk of dismantling the process of diplomatic immunity agreements world wide.  It will be interesting to watch this play out as it has far-reaching implications that go beyond the Assange issue. 

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, connda said:

They do so at the risk of dismantling the process of diplomatic immunity agreements world wide.  It will be interesting to watch this play out as it has far-reaching implications that go beyond the Assange issue. 

"it emerged this week that Mr Assange, 46, had been granted Ecuadorean citizenship but that an application by the country’s government to assign him diplomatic status was turned down by Britain." https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/whiffyleaks-julian-assange-told-to-take-shower-b98nbkhgc

I know of no agreement that guarantees automatic acceptance of a foreign nation's diplomatic credentials for a specific individual. As we saw last year, both the US and Russia have unilaterally withdrawn diplomatic status of embassy employees without challenge. It's a sovereign right. If Ecuador objects to Britain's denial of diplomatic status for Assange, it's welcome to eject British diplomatic employees from Ecuador or do whatever in retaliation.

[ilostmypassword]

4 hours ago, connda said:

They do so at the risk of dismantling the process of diplomatic immunity agreements world wide.  It will be interesting to watch this play out as it has far-reaching implications that go beyond the Assange issue. 

No, it will not be at the "risk of dismantling the process of diplomatic immunity agreements world wide." No country gets to unilaterally grant its citizens diplomatic status in another nation. That status has to be approved the government of the receiving nation..  Every country has the option to refuse to grant diplomatic status to an individual. If that weren't the case, then country a could flood country b with any number of objectionable appointees. Obviously, that is not the case. The receiving country has the right to say "no".

The Headlines themselves tell this quite clearly:

Britain rejects request to grant Julian Assange diplomatic status amid reports of Ecuadorean citizenship

Ecuador made a request. Which means it understands it doesn't have the right to unilaterally make Assange a diplomat to the UK.

 

[Srikcir]

32 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

No, it will not be at the "risk of dismantling the process of diplomatic immunity agreements world wide." No country gets to unilaterally grant its citizens diplomatic status in another nation. That status has to be approved the government of the receiving nation..  Every country has the option to refuse to grant diplomatic status to an individual. If that weren't the case, then country a could flood country b with any number of objectionable appointees. Obviously, that is not the case. The receiving country has the right to say "no".

The Headlines themselves tell this quite clearly:

Britain rejects request to grant Julian Assange diplomatic status amid reports of Ecuadorean citizenship

Ecuador made a request. Which means it understands it doesn't have the right to unilaterally make Assange a diplomat to the UK.

 

Another illustration of host country sovereignty:

In 1994, billionaire Kenneth Dart gave up US citizenship to became a citizen of Belize. At that time Dart offered his residence in Sarasota, Florida, to the government of Belize as a consulate with himself as its consul. This would have allowed him to live in the United States full-time as a foreign diplomat .... ; the State Department rejected the arrangement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Dart