U.N. tells UK: Allow Assange to leave Ecuador embassy freely

 

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

 

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. rights experts called on British authorities on Friday to allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to leave the Ecuador embassy in London without fear of arrest or extradition.

 

The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention reiterated its finding published in February 2016 that Assange had been de facto unlawfully held without charge in the embassy, where he has now been holed up for more than six years.

 

He initially took asylum to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where authorities wanted to question him as part of a sexual assault investigation. That investigation was dropped.

 

Assange, whose website published thousands of classified U.S. government documents, denied the Sweden allegations, saying the charge was a ploy that would eventually take him to the United States where prosecutors are preparing to pursue a criminal case against him.

 

Britain says Assange will be arrested for skipping bail if he leaves the embassy, but that any sentence would not exceed six months, if convicted. It had no immediate comment on the experts' call, but in June, foreign office minister Alan Duncan said Assange would be treated humanely and properly.

 

"The only ground remaining for Mr Assange’s continued deprivation of liberty is a bail violation in the UK, which is, objectively, a minor offence that cannot post facto justify the more than six years confinement that he has been subjected to since he sought asylum in the Embassy of Ecuador," the U.N. experts said in a statement.

 

"It is time that Mr Assange, who has already paid a high price for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of opinion, expression and information, and to promote the right to truth in the public interest, recovers his freedom,” they said.

 

Lawyers for Assange and others have said his work with WikiLeaks was critical to a free press and was protected speech.

 

The experts voiced concern that his "deprivation of liberty" was undermining his health and could "endanger his life" given the disproportionate amount of anxiety that has entailed.

 

Ecuador in October imposed new rules requiring him to receive routine medical exams, following concern he was not getting the medical attention he needed. The rules also ordered him to pay medical and phone bills and clean up after his cat.

 

Assange has sued Ecuador, arguing the rules violate his rights. An Ecuadorean court on Friday upheld a prior ruling dismissing Assange's suit.

 

"We have lost again," said Carlos Povedo, Assange's attorney in Ecuador, adding that the legal team would consider bringing a case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-22

He has not been holed up, he went to the embassy freely and on his own accord.

He has only himself to blame, he must face justice like every other mortal, and he will. 

21 minutes ago, the guest said:

He has not been holed up, he went to the embassy freely and on his own accord.

He has only himself to blame, he must face justice like every other mortal, and he will. 

But whose justice will he face?

 

USA, UK but not Sweden as they dropped their charges years ago?

 

The Metropolitan Police have had a 24 hour police presence outside the Embassy and in February 2105 the costs had come to  

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31159594

 

Between June 2012 and October 2014, direct policing costs were £7.3m, with £1.8m spent on overtime, police said.

Scotland Yard confirmed the cost of the operation to UK taxpayers in the first 28 months, until 31 October last year, had reached £9m.

The Metropolitan Police said the costs were covered by the budget for diplomatic protection, which provides policing for embassies in the UK.

'Indefinite detention'

The cost of a further three months policing is now expected to have taken the total bill to about £10m.

The figures - which equate to more than £10,000 a day - were obtained by LBC radio under the Freedom of Information Act.

Edited December 22, 20187 yr by billd766
added extra text

Sadly for Assange, anyone releasing secret documents revealing the truth - will always be hunted by the govts. concerned and collaboraters who fear truth being revealed....

 

The uk govt. has made it clear that it has no intention of letting Assange go - even though the Swedish authorities have said that they have are not pursuing the case against him - the original cause of him seeking assylum in another embassy.....

 

Perhaps the UN decision will force the uk govt. to back down, but I doubt it.....

 

Too much at stake for those with embarrassing lies that they need to be with-held from the public.....

Edited December 22, 20187 yr by dick dasterdly

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

U.N. tells UK: Allow Assange to leave Ecuador embassy freely

 

What about his cat?

 

 

The UN should butt out of this, none of their business.

 

He has warrant for his arrest for jumping bail...

Edited December 22, 20187 yr by Basil B

2 minutes ago, Hayduke said:

 

What about his cat?

 

 

Who wants a cat that leaks...

Will UN pick up the tab?

Assange, like Snowden, is a man to be admired (despite his not very appealing personality).

All whistleblowers deserve our admiration and need to be protected from the elite bureaucracies who are busy stamping on our freedoms.

The world needs people who ask embarrassing questions.

44 minutes ago, blazes said:

Assange, like Snowden

Engaged in a criminal activity to access state classified documents.

Snowden in particular rejected the procedures available for government whistleblowers that would protect him for possible prosecution, likely because he knew he wasn't a whistleblower.

So no, not men to be admired.

If they want admiration, face the authorities and clear themselves in a court of law.

1 hour ago, Basil B said:

The UN should butt out of this, none of their business.

 

He has warrant for his arrest for jumping bail...

For a possible charge, that no longer exists....

Edited December 22, 20187 yr by dick dasterdly

5 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Engaged in a criminal activity to access state classified documents.

Snowden in particular rejected the procedures available for government whistleblowers that would protect him for possible prosecution, likely because he knew he wasn't a whistleblower.

So no, not men to be admired.

If they want admiration, face the authorities and clear themselves in a court of law.

Know what you mean ????.

 

Whistle blowers are protected, and certainly never treated as 'enemies' ????!

1 hour ago, evadgib said:

Will UN pick up the tab?

No, but I guess they'll pick up the tabby, along with Assange ....

4 hours ago, the guest said:

He has not been holed up, he went to the embassy freely and on his own accord.

He has only himself to blame, he must face justice like every other mortal, and he will. 

I can think of many mortals who deserve the kind of "justice" you are talking about far more than does Mr Assange.

 

Unfortunately, the majority of them are in charge of doling it out.

Edited December 22, 20187 yr by Krataiboy

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

Engaged in a criminal activity to access state classified documents.

Snowden in particular rejected the procedures available for government whistleblowers that would protect him for possible prosecution, likely because he knew he wasn't a whistleblower.

So no, not men to be admired.

If they want admiration, face the authorities and clear themselves in a court of law.

Nonsense, our lawmakers and institutions should not be involved in illegal activities. The surveillance that Snowden revealed was illegal when it was introduced and had been denied in public by Bush and other officials. They should be facing charges of illegal spying.

While I think Assange is a political scum who sold his soul, I think he probably should be allowed to go free. US laws are not global laws and each of us should have the right to choose our sides.

 

In the western word we have our own personal freedoms to think the way we want. Regardless how stupid that might be from others point of view. 

 

On the other side is how we should deal with the Russian empowered actors, who suppress their people's own freedoms to speak freely and use brute force to push their agenda towards themselves as well as towards us in the western world. 

 

I think our free will is strong enough to cope with the Assagne type of actors. Even though it seemed for a while that the west was taken down by rather clever actions from the east.

 

So let Assagne go free and let him be the stick on Russia's butt in the future. Russia is where he is going to head towards anyway, if he is allowed to leave the embassy.

Just let him go. All he's done is reveal the truth.

9 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

Just let him go. All he's done is reveal the truth.

No. Assange acted as Russian agent. He was, at the start, seeking to tell the truth, but he changed, like all of us over the years.

 

He should be allowed to go, not as a truth teller, but as a manipulator. 

Assange is a Russian agent.

 

He is deeply implicated in Russia’s manipulation of the 2016 election, and for that he is going to spend very many years behind bars*.

 

Always assuming the Russians don’t get to him first.

 

 

 

 

Let him walk - let’s see how long he lasts 

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Assange is a Russian agent.

 

He is deeply implicated in Russia’s manipulation of the 2016 election, and for that he is going to spend very many years behind bars*.

 

Always assuming the Russians don’t get to him first.

Yes he is Russian agent. Not probably because he wanted to choose the side, which empowered his actions. 

 

Assange used to be truth teller and Assange did a strategic move and became a Russian asset later on. 

 

Assange used to be the clear ice person, but he personally decided to support the Russian regime, which hates the truth tellers on their side. 

 

Assange is not a good person at his heart. Assange is not a person to be presented to our kids.

Assange is a person, who is selfish and works only to himself. 

He has a warrant out for his arrest in the UK hasn't he?  Let him own that, then let him go on his way.  if I were him I wouldn't want to go too far from a safe room.

The UN should stay out of the UK‘s sovereignty. Time for a Unexit. 

States have secrets for reasons lock that Russian stoolie up and throw away the key!

9 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Engaged in a criminal activity to access state classified documents.

Snowden in particular rejected the procedures available for government whistleblowers that would protect him for possible prosecution, likely because he knew he wasn't a whistleblower.

So no, not men to be admired.

If they want admiration, face the authorities and clear themselves in a court of law.

Why would he want to face a court of law rigged against him at the outset.  Assange has done nothing but publish material. He did not steal it.  Newspapers published the Pentagon Papers (Top Secret Rand Corp study) that Daniel Ellsberg released. The Newspapers were never brought to trial only Ellsberg (acquitted mostly do to the governments misconduct and illegal evidence gathering). Assange is seen by the US government at the evil enemy for publishing but he has never personally stolen the information he publishes. U.S. Government would love to get him and put him in jail to make an example of him, thus stopping people finding out about how governments really work.

10 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Engaged in a criminal activity to access state classified documents.

 

 

But why were the classified?

 

Now that's a tricky question, and going from your comment, you don't like people asking tricky questions.........or reveal the answers by themselves.

7 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

He is deeply implicated in Russia’s manipulation of the 2016 election, and for that he is going to spend very many years behind bars*.

 

He was in asylum many years before the 2016 elections started, because the US government was secretly preparing an extradition also, long before the elections started.

 

The evidence of that has come to the surface not so long ago, but Assange most probably knew that long time before you denied it in the thread on this forrum.

 

Maybe he considered it payback time

17 hours ago, billd766 said:

But whose justice will he face?

 

USA, UK but not Sweden as they dropped their charges years ago?

 

The Metropolitan Police have had a 24 hour police presence outside the Embassy and in February 2105 the costs had come to  

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31159594

 

Between June 2012 and October 2014, direct policing costs were £7.3m, with £1.8m spent on overtime, police said.

Scotland Yard confirmed the cost of the operation to UK taxpayers in the first 28 months, until 31 October last year, had reached £9m.

The Metropolitan Police said the costs were covered by the budget for diplomatic protection, which provides policing for embassies in the UK.

'Indefinite detention'

The cost of a further three months policing is now expected to have taken the total bill to about £10m.

The figures - which equate to more than £10,000 a day - were obtained by LBC radio under the Freedom of Information Act.

I have little concern about the cost as I am not a UK citizen or UK tax payer. You?

6 hours ago, Trouble said:

Why would he want to face a court of law rigged against him at the outset.  Assange has done nothing but publish material. He did not steal it.  Newspapers published the Pentagon Papers (Top Secret Rand Corp study) that Daniel Ellsberg released. The Newspapers were never brought to trial only Ellsberg (acquitted mostly do to the governments misconduct and illegal evidence gathering). Assange is seen by the US government at the evil enemy for publishing but he has never personally stolen the information he publishes. U.S. Government would love to get him and put him in jail to make an example of him, thus stopping people finding out about how governments really work.

Thank you for being a US law and US Government spokesman. Your comments are seemingly without merit unless backed by a credible source within the US Goverment, if such a thing exisits.

 

Catch phrases and emotional laments are merely fodder for sheeple to echo.

18 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

10 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

Really? And he managed to do all this whilst inside the embassy?

I think you may need to change your doctor and the medicine he gives you.

However I will agree with you when you can provide reasonable links to what and how he did it.

Naturally you also have the proof of what you have said.

Post the links then.

I’m happy with my doctor thank you.

You on the other hand ought to learn a bit about the technology Assange uses to commit his crimes.

It's called the internet.

Assange was strongly implicated in the release of the Clinton emails which greatly helped the narcissistic fool win the presidency. Ecuador removed his internet privileges because of this.  I'm not sure why the Republicans want him in the US, perhaps they want to give him a medal and a slot on Fox

Interesting that Bradley (Chelsea) Manning, the army  man who actually stole the allegedly classified cables, has been released from jail after spending less time behind bars than Assange has been confined to the Embassy. He/she used the time in prison for hormone therapy to assist the gender change. She now makes money from speaking tours and recently tried for political endorsement for the senate.

I think Assange was railroaded with the false rape charges from Sweden,  the use of European and British laws to attempt a political extradition to a third country, and the way over the top, expensive, guarding of the embassy to contain a simple bail jumper.  

While I always considered him to be an arrogant sod, I did believe he, and WikiLeaks, were a much needed conduit to attempt to keep the despots honest. 

That said my personal opinion of him changed with his reported interference in the Presidential election.