Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

[snoop1130]

Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

by Niklas Pollard, Simon Johnson

 

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

 

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden reopened an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday and said it would seek his extradition from Britain.

 

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson told a news conference she would continue and conclude a preliminary investigation that was dropped in 2017 without charges being brought because Assange had taken refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

 

Assange was arrested in Britain last month after spending seven years hiding inside the embassy.

 

The United States is also seeking his extradition on charges relating to the public release by Wikileaks of a huge cache of secret documents.

 

The Swedish prosecutor said it would request Assange be detained in his absence on probable cause for an allegation of rape and that it would issue a European arrest warrant - the process under which his extradition would be sought.

 

The 47-year-old Australian is currently in prison in London after being sentenced to 50 weeks behind bars last month for jumping bail when he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy.

 

The decision to reopen the investigation poses the question of whether Assange will be moved to the United States to face conspiracy charges for hacking into classified information or to Sweden.

 

“I am well aware of the fact that an extradition process is ongoing in the UK and that he could be extradited to the US,” Persson said.

 

A British judge has given the U.S. government a deadline of June 12 to outline its case against Assange.

 

The statute of limitation for rape in Sweden is 10 years - a deadline which would be reached in mid-August next year for the alleged incident involving Assange, leaving prosecutors pressed for time to file any formal charge.

 

CLEAR NAME

 

Responding to the reopening of the Swedish investigation, WikiLeaks said it would give Assange a chance to clear his name.

 

“Since Julian Assange was arrested on 11 April 2019, there has been considerable political pressure on Sweden to reopen their investigation, but there has always been political pressure surrounding this case,” Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief, said in a statement.

 

“Its reopening will give Julian a chance to clear his name.”

 

If convicted in Sweden, Assange could face a prison sentence of up to four years. Per Samuelson, a Swedish lawyer for Assange, told public service broadcaster the decision to reopen the case was “embarrassing for Sweden”.

 

The British courts will have to rule on any extradition request and Home Secretary Sajid Javid would decide which one takes precedence once Swedish prosecutors file theirs.

 

Nick Vamos, lawyer at London-based firm Peters & Peters and former head of extradition at Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, told Reuters before Monday’s decision that he expected a Swedish request would take supremacy.

 

“In the event of a conflict between a European Arrest Warrant and a request for extradition from the US, UK authorities will decide on the order of priority,” a Swedish prosecutor’s statement said.

 

Assange’s supporters cast him as a dissident facing the wrath of a superpower over one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history.

 

WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that laid bare often critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi royal family.

 

It also published a classified U.S. military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-13

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[RotBenz8888]

If his hair could get greyer, it would...

[riclag]

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

“In the event of a conflict between a European Arrest Warrant and a request for extradition from the US, UK authorities will decide on the order of priority,” a Swedish prosecutor’s statement said.

The USA have been offering JA immunity!It's not necessary for the USA to have JA extradited for its purposes,although the optics imop would be better for live testimony to gather sworn testimony !Signed statements would be sufficient! 

"The EU has concluded agreements on extradition and mutual legal assistance with the United States of America, as well as with Japan, Iceland and Norway".

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/cross-border-cases/judicial-cooperation/types-judicial-cooperation/mutual-legal-assistance-and-extradition_en

 

Cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC), statues ICRC

Edited May 13, 2019 by riclag

[stevenl]

8 minutes ago, riclag said:

The USA have been offering JA immunity!It's not necessary for the USA to have JA extradited for its purposes,although the optics imop would be better for live testimony to gather sworn testimony !Signed statements would be sufficient! 

"The EU has concluded agreements on extradition and mutual legal assistance with the United States of America, as well as with Japan, Iceland and Norway".

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/cross-border-cases/judicial-cooperation/types-judicial-cooperation/mutual-legal-assistance-and-extradition_en

That immunity offer is doubtful to really exist.

[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

That immunity offer is doubtful to really exist.

It’s a hope on the part of people who don’t want Assange’s part in rigging the 2016 election coming to light.

[Chomper Higgot]

Toxic narcissist gets to face the justice he wasted 7 of the best years of his life in a hopeless attempt to avoid.

 

What’s not to like?

[Chomper Higgot]

The only person with the legal authority to offer Assange immunity is  the head of an investigation in which Assange is a witness.

 

So let’s be knowing who is supposed to be offering Assange immunity. 

 

Please don’t say someone who is the subject of an investigation in which Assange is a witness or anyone acting on that ‘subject’s’ behalf.

[bristolboy]

3 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The only person with the legal authority to offer Assange immunity is  the head of an investigation in which Assange is a witness.

 

So let’s be knowing who is supposed to be offering Assange immunity. 

 

Please don’t say someone who is the subject of an investigation in which Assange is a witness or anyone acting on that ‘subject’s’ behalf.

I think Riclag is a bit confused probably due to wishful thinking:

DOJ offering witnesses immunity in exchange for testimony against Assange, Wikileaks claims

WikiLeaks said Wednesday that U.S. prosecutors have begun offering immunity in exchange for the testimony of individuals associated with the website’s publication of classified U.S. military and diplomatic documents.

The anti-secrecy group laid the claim in a statement that announced the filing of an application with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), a monitoring group based in Washington, D.C., entered by lawyers fighting to keep WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange from being extradited to the U.S.

“The submission reveals for the first time that U.S. federal prosecutors have in the last few months formally approached people in the United States, Germany and Iceland and pressed them to testify against Mr. Assange in return for immunity from prosecution,” WikiLeaks said in a statement 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jan/23/wikileaks-doj-offering-immunity-exchange-testimony/

[riclag]

5 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

I think Riclag is a bit confused probably due to wishful thinking:

DOJ offering witnesses immunity in exchange for testimony against Assange, Wikileaks claims

WikiLeaks said Wednesday that U.S. prosecutors have begun offering immunity in exchange for the testimony of individuals associated with the website’s publication of classified U.S. military and diplomatic documents.

The anti-secrecy group laid the claim in a statement that announced the filing of an application with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), a monitoring group based in Washington, D.C., entered by lawyers fighting to keep WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange from being extradited to the U.S.

“The submission reveals for the first time that U.S. federal prosecutors have in the last few months formally approached people in the United States, Germany and Iceland and pressed them to testify against Mr. Assange in return for immunity from prosecution,” WikiLeaks said in a statement 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jan/23/wikileaks-doj-offering-immunity-exchange-testimony/

Rand Paul Proposes Immunity for Assange in Exchange for Testimony

[bristolboy]

2 minutes ago, riclag said:

Rand Paul Proposes Immunity for Assange in Exchange for Testimony

I wasn't aware that Rand Paul had retired from the Senate and jointed the DOJ.

[Chomper Higgot]

6 minutes ago, riclag said:

Rand Paul Proposes Immunity for Assange in Exchange for Testimony

Wot, this Rand Paul?

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/rand-paul-donald-trump-perfect-russia-stooge

[riclag]

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Wot, this Rand Paul?

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/rand-paul-donald-trump-perfect-russia-stooge

who am i to dispute VF! fact is he proposed  it regardless of what the left thinks of him

[metisdead]

A post in which the quoted content was attributed to the wrong poster has been removed. 

[bristolboy]

10 minutes ago, riclag said:

who am i to dispute VF! fact is he proposed  it regardless of what the left thinks of him

Here's what you claimed:

"The USA have been offering JA immunity!"

Since when does a solitary US Senator speak for the USA? Especially a Senator who has been out of sync with the Trump administration on many issues.

[CGW]

The "experts" will be out in force to tell us how they think and what is the correct thoughts in this situation, never for a moment considering they may be wrong and are just caught up in the illusion of "free' & fair politics ????

Usual suspects already at the forefront as usual, why are mericans so gullible? 

[Srikcir]

16 hours ago, riclag said:

the International Criminal Court (ICC)

The United States is not a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It never ratified the treaty and it does not have any obligations toward it.

[Srikcir]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

If convicted in Sweden, Assange could face a prison sentence of up to four years.

If convicted in the US he might be facing 10-20 years.

Best to be tried in Sweden first.

Then find another embassy to hide.

[Basil B]

16 hours ago, stevenl said:

That immunity offer is doubtful to really exist.

The only immunity the US is offering is if is extradited to the US first the statute of limitation on the rape case will have run out before the Swedes get the mits on him.

 

 

[ravip]

Just now, Srikcir said:

The United States is not a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It never ratified the treaty and it does not have any obligations toward it.

Why? The US is not included in the infamous International Community? Or is it because the US is very special and is entitled to a very special niche?

[Chomper Higgot]

15 hours ago, CGW said:

The "experts" will be out in force to tell us how they think and what is the correct thoughts in this situation, never for a moment considering they may be wrong and are just caught up in the illusion of "free' & fair politics ????

Usual suspects already at the forefront as usual, why are mericans so gullible? 

You could start your own forum in which only you get to make comments.

[madmen]

18 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Toxic narcissist gets to face the justice he wasted 7 of the best years of his life in a hopeless attempt to avoid.

 

What’s not to like?

Yeah like him or not he is an idiot. Thats 7 years he could have already served in jail and now has to start all over again

[Baerboxer]

The "rape' charge was very dodgy and appeared to be being politically manipulated e.g. let's find a prosecutor who will do what we want, not regard the law etc.

 

It seems certain political pressure groups are determined to teach a lesson - reveal our secrets and wrongdoings and you'll be punished. Free speech is only o k  if we approve of what's being said.

 

The world is moving towards more totalitarianism by government, elected ones or not.

[IAMHERE]

Won't a hard Brexit nullify any extradition agreement with Sweden?

[Scott]

Troll posts removed.

 

[unblocktheplanet]

Better Sweden than a US gulag! There is no more Constitution for free press or speech...