Interpol issues 'red notice' for arrest of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

[LaoPo]

TIME's Julian Assange Interview: Full Transcript/Audio

This is the transcript of TIME managing editor Richard Stengel's interview with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange via Skype on Nov. 30, 2010.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2034040,00.html#ixzz16xQ59PG6

LaoPo

[Ulysses G.]

Julian Assange is on a long list of possible candidates for Time "Man of the Year" along with Glenn Beck and the Chilean Miners and the on-line poll has little do do with who actually gets it, so he is not exactly a shoo-in.

Adolf Hitler did win it many years ago, so he does have a chance.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[geriatrickid]

Lao Pao, I am not a US citizen nor a national, so do not assume "I am defending my country".

I am defending the right to privacy and the respect to confidentiality. I know how diplomats work They have been spying since there were first diplomatic missions. This is how it is. Sorry, if you are shocked by the world reality. , you have a double stamdard on the issue. My reading of all of your posts s that their is an acceptance of anything negative when it comes tp the USA, but when it comes to others, such as the allegations of Russian bribery in the Bout affair, then it is still the US' fault. That's how I see it. All I know is that if it was not for the USA despite its many imperfections, the world would not have most of its current freedoms. On that basis alone, I am willing to tolerate some of the unpleasant things the USA does and says. At lleast with the US approach I still have the right to protest and complain. If groups such as China or Pakistan were running things now, I'd be dead. I think you would be too.

[Ulysses G.]

you have a double stamdard on the issue. My reading of all of your posts s that their is an acceptance of anything negative when it comes tp the USA, but when it comes to others, such as the allegations of Russian bribery in the Bout affair, then it is still the US' fault.

Most astute, but he will deny it yet once again.

[LaoPo]

Julian Assange is on a long list of possible candidates for Time "Man of the Year" along with Glenn Beck and the Chilean Miners and the on-line poll has little do do with who actually gets it, so he is not exactly a shoo-in.

Adolf Hitler did win it many years ago, so he does have a chance.

Now that you bring another character into the discussion...which seems to be one of your strong points, going off-topic.....I didn't hear much on this forum when it was recently leaked that the CIA and US Government covered up for many WWII WAR criminals, wanted in Germany, to be trialed by the Tribunals, but guess what ?....they disappeared.

Oops..where did they go...vanished in thin air ?

You know what happened..?

They were secretly transported into the US to work for the Americans, on their atomic program.

WWII WAR criminals working for the Americans and instead getting the death sentence, they got a nice home, job and a perfect life.

The death of millions by Adolf Hitler's regime seemed to matter less than the progress of the USA.

To be fair, the Russians did the same. So much for clean hands by both super powers.

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

Lao Pao, I am not a US citizen nor a national, so do not assume "I am defending my country".

I am defending the right to privacy and the respect to confidentiality. I know how diplomats work They have been spying since there were first diplomatic missions. This is how it is. Sorry, if you are shocked by the world reality. , you have a double stamdard on the issue. My reading of all of your posts s that their is an acceptance of anything negative when it comes tp the USA, but when it comes to others, such as the allegations of Russian bribery in the Bout affair, then it is still the US' fault. That's how I see it. All I know is that if it was not for the USA despite its many imperfections, the world would not have most of its current freedoms. On that basis alone, I am willing to tolerate some of the unpleasant things the USA does and says. At lleast with the US approach I still have the right to protest and complain. If groups such as China or Pakistan were running things now, I'd be dead. I think you would be too.

1. I was addressing at you because you were taking the discussion personal, attacking me, because of my own views. Never shoot the messenger. You kow the forum rules.

2. I'm not shocked by reality; I'm supporting the whistleblower, exposing dirty criminal behavior by some governments.

3. Incorrect: I didn't talk about any Russian briberies in the Bout affair; I didn't write a single word about briberies.

4. Sorry, but I think it's absurd that you take "unpleasant things" a Nation does, says, acts and commits for granted.

Would you take it for granted if your -totally innocent- loved one(s) were shot and murdered, walking in the middle of the street, by some lunatic in a helicopter ?

As if they could be (allowed) to be the only country on earth having more rights to abuse powers, people and countries ALL OVER THE WORLD, BECAUSE they did good things in the past.

Think about it.

LaoPo

[Ulysses G.]

Julian Assange is on a long list of possible candidates for Time "Man of the Year" along with Glenn Beck and the Chilean Miners and the on-line poll has little do do with who actually gets it, so he is not exactly a shoo-in.

Adolf Hitler did win it many years ago, so he does have a chance.

Now that you bring another character into the discussion...

Adolf Hitler won the Time Man of the Year - which you brought in to the discussion. The rest of that very selective anti-American rant is totally off topic.

FYO, there is a post on another TV forum about Swedish Nazis, but I doubt that you have any interest in contributing there as it is nothing to do with demonizing the USA.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[powderpuff]

Nope. George W. got it right when he said "You are with us or you are with the terrorists"

Not hard to figure out where some of you come down.

btw. Clinton & all his toadies said Iraq had WMD. So get off blaming GWBush.

I can link you to the you tube videos of Hillary Clinton John Kerry John Edwards & the whole lib crew swearing on a stack of bibles Saddam had WMD. If he didn't have them he certainly wanted to have them. To hasten the genocide.

[LaoPo]

Yes I know; it's a very sensitive issue for many countries, brought by WikiLeaks, but if you play with fire....you might get burned.

But, who has the longest toes of them all ?

LaoPo

[Ulysses G.]

Yes I know; it's a very sensitive issue for many countries, brought by WikiLeaks, but if you play with fire....you might get burned.

As Julian Assange is finding out right about now.

[TAWP]

Nope. George W. got it right when he said "You are with us or you are with the terrorists"

A simple mind require a simple slogan.

[LaoPo]

Yes I know; it's a very sensitive issue for many countries, brought by WikiLeaks, but if you play with fire....you might get burned.

As Julian Assange is finding out right about now.

Yes, that's the world upside down...

The countries,playing dirty are now exposed and say "hey....STOP.....I know I played dirty but I forbid you to talk about it"....

Exactly that attitude needs more and more exposure and don't worry...the stream of information can't be stopped, not even with the arrest of Assange.

The countries COULD stop exposure about them until some 10-15 years ago.

Not anymore with internet in place.

LaoPo

[elcent]

from the UK, they know the whereabouts of Julian and even have his phone number. But technicalities in the arrest request hinder them to take him and send him to Sweden.

[elcent]

from a news report who obtained police report

Assange had flown into Stockholm on Wednesday, August 11, where several of the WikiLeaks internet servers are based, to speak at a seminar organised by the Social Demoratic Party, the equivalent of Britain's Labour Party, three days later.

It has been reported that the Australian lives a nomadic life, but curiously he applied for a visa to work permanently in Sweden soon after his arrival.

Woman A, who works for the Christian branch of the party, was the main organiser but they had never met before.

The attractive twentysomething, described by friends as hardworking and fun-loving, offered to let him stay in her one-bedroom flat in Sodermalm, Stockholm.

She planned to visit her family on the other side of the country and would be away until the Saturday seminar.

But she returned on the Friday, anxious about the amount of work still to do for the seminar.

According to a police source: 'They had a discussion and decided it would be OK to share the living space, then went out together for dinner.

'When they got back they had sexual relations, but there was a problem with the condom - it had split.

'She seemed to think that he had done this deliberately but he insisted that it was an accident.'

Whatever her views about the incident, she appeared relaxed and untroubled at the seminar the next day where Assange met Woman B, another pretty blonde, also in her 20s, but younger than Woman A.

In her police statement, Woman B described how, in the wake of the Afghanistan leaks, she saw Assange being interviewed on television and became instantly fascinated - some might even say obsessed.

She said she thought him 'interesting, brave and admirable'.

Over the following two weeks she read everything she could find about him on the internet and followed news reports about his activities.

She discovered that he would be visiting Sweden to give a seminar, so she emailed the organisers to offer her help.

She registered to attend and booked the Saturday off work.

She appears to have dressed to catch his eye, in a shocking-pink cashmere jumper. But, she says, among the grey-suited journalists who filled the room, she felt uncomfortably out of place.

Undeterred, she bagged a seat in the front row and was asked to buy a computer cable for Assange.

No one bothered to thank her, she later complained.

Assange, dressed in grey jeans and a suit jacket, spoke earnestly for 90 minutes on the theme 'The first victim of war is the truth'.

He could not have failed to notice the attractive blonde taking photographs of him.

What unfolded could be described as akin to the meeting of a groupie and a rockstar. The woman loitered outside the building before approaching a member of his entourage, who invited her to join a lunch at a modest local eatery called Bistro Boheme.

The party consisted of two Social Democrats, a freelance journalist friend of Assange, the man himself and Woman B - who was the only female.

One of the men present recalled her as a person of a seemingly nervous disposition who didn't fit in.

'She was a little bit strange,' he said. 'Definitely an odd character and keen to get Julian's attention.'

The woman admitted trying to engage her hero in conversation.

Assange seemed pleased to have such an ardent admirer fawning over him and, she said, would look at her 'now and then'. Eventually he took a closer interest.

She explained in her statement that he was tucking into cheese served on Swedish crispbread when she asked if he thought it was good.

Assange looked at her directly and started to feed her.

His next move was pure computer geek - he told her that he needed a charger for his laptop, and she eagerly offered to help.

Assange smiled, put his arm around her back and said: 'Ah yes, it was you who gave me a cable.'

They went on a vain search for the charger. She bought him a travel card for the metro because he said he didn't have any money.

On the train he was recognised by a young man who gushed in admiration about WikiLeaks.

If she felt a thrill from this brush with fame, Woman B doesn't say.

They ended up at the city's Natural History Museum, where Assange headed to a computer console and, to the woman's clear annoyance, twittered about his day.

At 6pm they entered a bijou cinema to watch a short film about the ocean, called Deep Sea. In the darkness Assange became amorous.

At one point they moved to the back row, where it is clear from the woman's statement that the pair went far beyond kissing and fondling.

After the show, they wandered towards a park. He turned to her and said: 'You are very attractive ... to me.'

Assange said he had a traditional Swedish crayfish party to attend and needed a power nap, so they lay side by side on the grass and he fell asleep.

She stayed awake and woke him about 20 minutes later. When she asked if they would meet again, he replied: 'Of course.'

What he did not tell her was that the party was being hosted by the woman he had slept with two nights before and whose bed he would probably be sleeping in that night.

By the time she had arrived home, 46 miles outside Stockholm, and charged her mobile phone, there was a message from Assange asking her to call.

He was still at the party.

The next day Woman B tried to call him but his phone was turned off. She eventually spoke to him on the Monday when he agreed to meet her in the evening and suggested they spend the night at her flat.

She wanted to go to a hotel, but he said he would like to see her home.

Again she bought his £10 train ticket because he had no cash and said he didn't want to use his credit card in case his movement was being tracked.

He spent most of the 45-minute journey surfing the internet on his laptop, reading stories about himself and twittering or texting on his mobile phone.

'He paid more attention to the computer than to me,' she said bitterly.

It was dark by the time they arrived in her suburb and the atmosphere between them had cooled.

'The passion and attraction seemed to have disappeared,' she said.

Most of what then followed has been blacked out in her statement, except for: 'It felt boring and like an everyday thing.'

One source close to the investigation said the woman had insisted he wear a condom, but the following morning he made love to her without one.

This was the basis for the rape charge. But after the event she seemed unruffled enough to go out to buy food for his breakfast.

Her only concern was about leaving him alone in her flat. 'I didn't feel I knew him very well,' she explained.

They ate in an atmosphere that was tense, though she said in her statement that she tried to lighten the mood by joking about the possibility that she might be pregnant.

They parted on friendly terms and she bought his train ticket back to Stockholm. When she asked if he would call, he said: 'Yes, I will.'

But he did not and neither did he answer her calls.

The drama took a bizarre and ultimately sensational turn after she called the office of Woman A, whom she had briefly met at the seminar.

The two women talked and realised to their horror and anger that they had both been victims of his charm.

The issue of unprotected sex left a fear of disease. It is believed that they both asked him to take a test for STDs and he refused.

Woman B was especially anxious about the possibility of HIV and pregnancy.

And it was in this febrile state that the women, who barely knew each other, walked into a police station and began to tell their stories.

Woman A said afterwards that she had not wanted to press charges but had gone to support the younger woman, who wanted police advice on how to get Assange to take a medical test.

In any event, the police woman at the reception and two male officers, one from the sex crimes unit, believed there was enough evidence to call the female duty prosecutor, who issued the warrants.

The story was leaked to a Swedish tabloid and Assange's high profile led to the case being taken over by a senior female prosecutor who, after reading the statements, concluded there was no evidence of rape.

She agreed to the sexual molestation charge related to the first woman, but even that was watered down last week. Some legal observers now believe that will also disappear.

Claes Borgstrom, the lawyer representing the women, said they were upset about the way the case had been handled.

'This case is a regressive sign for women that it's not worth reporting when something like this happens,' she said.

'I was struck by the senior prosecutor's statement that it's not that she didn't believe it but that she didn't feel it was a crime.

'That's why I'm going to a higher prosecutor to demand that the case is reopened.'

Assange's lawyer Leif Silbersky said yesterday that he was unable to comment about the case until Tuesday.

It is expected that the Swedish prosecution service will issue a statement about the case then.

Whatever the outcom

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz16y0naMHd

Edited December 2, 2010 by elcent

[Ulysses G.]

Guilty as charged!

[A_Traveller]

^ I have to say reading the above which I'd seen before reminds me more of those who one is introduced to here who have great plans/money etc., always want to meet in a hotel lobby, and have trans-dimensional bladders which ensure they are in the rest room when the bill arrives.

There's something odd about the whole WikiLeaks set-up, and given that there are a range of discrete sites without 'a leader' who have contributed to rolling back needless secrecy for years, I do wonder what the whole point is.

After all Assange can't be so naive to think that this type of action will bring the edifice crashing down, can he? So is the aim to try and move the ecosystem of leaks and accountability forward? If so that would be a more worthy aim. Try and make the governments / institutions aware that information does wish to be free to use the old saw. To create a realistic framework for 'The whistle-blower', by providing a truly secure way for data to be provided and be published.

Placing data to an established news outlet then it could have been used to drive an expose of, as a simple example, US spying on the UN/Allies etc.

Why the drama?

Regards

Edited December 2, 2010 by A_Traveller

[LaoPo]

Guilty as charged!

I suppose you're talking about the WWII WAR criminals I spoke of, secretly transported to the US and who were responsible of murdering millions of Jews ?

There was enough time to bring them to court.

I can't think of anyone else, convicted by self-appointed Judge Ulysses_G who was on trial without charges...

LaoPo

[elcent]

^ I have to say reading the above which I'd seen before reminds me more of those who one is introduced to here who have great plans/money etc., always want to meet in a hotel lobby, and have trans-dimensional bladders which ensure they are in the rest room when the bill arrives.

There's something odd about the whole WikiLeaks set-up, and given that there are a range of discrete sites without 'a leader' who have contributed to rolling back needless secrecy for years, I do wonder what the whole point is.

After all Assange can't be so naive to think that this type of action will bring the edifice crashing down, can he? So is the aim to try and move the ecosystem of leaks and accountability forward? If so that would be a more worthy aim. Try and make the governments / institutions aware that information does wish to be free to use the old saw. To create a realistic framework for 'The whistle-blower', by providing a truly secure way for data to be provided and be published.

Placing data to an established news outlet then it could have been used to drive an expose of, as a simple example, US spying on the UN/Allies etc.

Why the drama?

Regards

He didn't want to be traced so he didn't want to use his CC.

All info was sent to news outlets worldwide for review weeks before they put it on their site.

[mark45y]

There are always at least two ways to look at things. Take a look at some snips from an article by FAREED ZAKARIA and the Gaurdian.

The cables also show an American diplomatic establishment that is pretty good at analysis. The British scholar Timothy Garton Ash concurs, writing in the Guardian, "My personal opinion of the State Department has gone up several notches. [W]hat we find here is often first-rate." It is also often well wrought. The account of a wedding in Dagestan filed by William Burns, now the No. 3 person at the State Department, is - as Garton Ash writes - straight out of Evelyn Waugh. When foreigners encounter U.S. diplomats and listen to their bland recitation of policy, they would do well to keep in mind that behind the facade lie some very clever minds.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims that the documents were actually leaked by Washington. After all, they expose as an utter lie Ahmadinejad's constant claim that he has befriended all Arab states and that, if not for Washington, Iran would be beloved by all in the region.

[elcent]

In the case of Ardin it is clear that she has thrown a party in Assange’s honour at her flat after the “crime” and tweeted to her followers that she is with the “the world’s coolest smartest people, it’s amazing!”. Go on the internet and see for yourself. That Ardin has sought unsuccessfully to delete these exculpatory tweets from the public record should be a matter of grave concern. That she has published on the internet a guide on how to get revenge on cheating boyfriends ever graver. The exact content of Wilén’s mobile phone texts is not yet known but their bragging and exculpatory character has been confirmed by Swedish prosecutors. Niether Wilén’s nor Ardin’s texts complain of r-pe.

Source

[elcent]

here's some info from one of the woman accusing

'Julian wants to go to a crayfish party, anyone have a couple of available seats tonight or tomorrow?

Sitting outdoors at 02:00 and hardly freezing with the world's coolest smartest people, it's amazing!

find out more here

[LaoPo]

I just watched a film/documentary, produced by and also in Israel/Russia/France about the Russian/Israeli Mafia: Thieves By Law; produced by Alexander Gentelev, a story about 3 Russian gangsters, making Tony Soprano look like a Choir boy.

Also very nice chaps, showing how dirty Governments, worldwide, are working together with so many low lives and covering up their crimes....

http://www.trailerad...-by-law/trailer

LaoPo

What a coincidence....

Another leaked cable from WikiLeaks:

U.S. worried over organized crime in Israel: cable

JERUSALEM | Thu Dec 2, 2010 1:00pm EST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States is worried about a rise in organized crime in Israel and is doing all it can to prevent the violent gangs from expanding their operations across the Atlantic, a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable said.

The cable, entitled "Israel, a promised land for organized crime?," was released by the WikiLeaks website and shows there is more than just nuclear diplomacy and peace prospects concerning the United States in the Middle East.

More:

http://www.reuters.c...E6B13KH20101202

LaoPo

Edited December 2, 2010 by LaoPo

[LaoPo]

WikiLeaks cables: Berlusconi 'profited from secret deals' with Putin

Russian PM allegedly promised Italian leader a cut of energy contracts, leaked US dispatches say

Thursday 2 December 2010 12.23 GMT

US diplomats have reported startling suspicions that Silvio Berlusconi could be "profiting personally and handsomely" from secret deals with the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, according to cables released by WikiLeaks.

Exasperated by Berlusconi's pro-Russian behaviour, American embassy staff detail allegations circulating in Rome that the Italian leader has been promised a cut of huge energy contracts.

The two men are known to be personally close, but this is the first time allegations of a financial link have surfaced.

More:

http://www.guardian....utin?intcmp=239

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

WikiLeaks cables: Secret deal let Americans sidestep cluster bomb ban

Officials concealed from parliament how US is allowed to bring weapons on to British soil in defiance of treaty

An expert from the Mines Advisory Group inspects an unexploded Israeli cluster bomb in the Lebanese village of Ouazaiyeh, Lebanon, after the 2006 war. Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/AP

http://www.guardian....r-bombs-britain

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

WikiLeaks disclosures are leading to diplomatic cracks for U.S.

Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemn disparaging cables made public by WikiLeaks. Further international fallout is feared.

http://www.latimes.c...-+World+News%29

LaoPo

[Ulysses G.]

Guilty as charged!

I can't think of anyone else...

Try a little harder.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[LaoPo]

Guilty as charged!

I can't think of anyone else...

Try a little harder.

Pfff...just a messenger boy.

It's about the real criminals who are exposed and more to come.... not post delivery boys.

LaoPo

[moetownblues]

<br />

<br />A long sentence for espionage in a Marine Brig would be well deserved by Mr Assange. <img src="http://www.nohomers.net/images/smilies/pac-man.gif" /><br />

<br /><br /><br />WHY GENERAL????<br />Just for giving us the inside lowdown on America's conceited views on the rest of humanity????<br />

<br /><br /><br />

The little Aussie guy has got the Yanks trenbling in thier boots and they are running scared. The truth of what America thinks about the rest of the world is coming out and they don't like thier hypocracy being revealed and that is all it is.

[Ulysses G.]

It is actually all pretty typical diplomatic stuff.

[mark45y]

<br />

<br />A long sentence for espionage in a Marine Brig would be well deserved by Mr Assange. <img src="http://www.nohomers.net/images/smilies/pac-man.gif" /><br />

<br /><br /><br />WHY GENERAL????<br />Just for giving us the inside lowdown on America's conceited views on the rest of humanity????<br />

<br /><br /><br />

The little Aussie guy has got the Yanks trenbling in thier boots and they are running scared. The truth of what America thinks about the rest of the world is coming out and they don't like thier hypocracy being revealed and that is all it is.

Relax moetownblues, the US is only trying to save the reputation of friends.