Britain’s threats against Quito for granting asylum to Julian Assange and Stockholm’s refusal to guarantee he will not eventually be rendered to the United States have overshadowed the debate over the WikiLeaks founder’s decision to seek refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as a means of avoiding extradition to Sweden. Mr. Assange contends the British order for him to be questioned in Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual molestation is a political move to facilitate his extradition to the U.S. over WikiLeaks’s publication in 2010 of some 251,000 U.S. official documents. That act of leaking — many of the documents were also published in The Hindu as part of this newspaper’s partnership with WikiLeaks — made a significant contribution to public interest in India and other countries and greatly embarrassed Washington and its allies, as well as business corporations. At first sight, Mr. Assange’s fears seem misplaced. As signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights, neither Britain nor Sweden can extradite a suspect to a country where he could face the death penalty or “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” something Bradley Manning is already undergoing in the U.S. for his alleged involvement in the leaks.
Nevertheless, there are grounds to believe there is more to this case than meets the eye. The Swedish government can override court extradition orders (though not court refusals of such), but it refuses to respond to Ecuador’s request for assurances that it will not extradite Mr. Assange to the U.S. Secondly, in Sweden, charges are not laid until just before prosecution, but Stockholm, in contrast to its own previous practice, has rejected Ecuador’s invitation to question Mr. Assange at the London embassy. Thirdly, U.K. foreign minister William Hague hinted darkly and unwisely about revoking the embassy’s diplomatic status, though London has since assured Quito it has no intention of breaching the inviolability of the premises. It has also emerged that a British counterterrorism unit has been covertly involved in policing the embassy perimeter and in plans for arresting Mr. Assange if he leaves the premises. The onus is on Britain as host nation to find a diplomatic way out. The criminal case against Mr. Assange must be heard and the women who allege they suffered at his hands are entitled to a thorough investigation of their charges. A simple solution is already at hand. As Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa told the Guardian, “if Mr Assange goes to Sweden to face Swedish justice, as is his will and as is our will, he should receive a guarantee that he will not be extradited to a third country.” These are wise words. It costs nothing for London and Stockholm to act on them.
Keywords: WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, political asylum, extradition case, Ecuador
The brave people like Assanage are hard to find in the whole world, as
he was able to use his tact for earning crores of dollars, but its all
his purity of spirit that he used his knowledge for wellness of
humanity and to curb corruption at international level. The shackles
of USA are such savage that they will first kill assanage and later on
expose in the media, that mr. assanage had been killed in so and so
operation. And the whole world will just pass some comments nothing
else, so there is an urgent need to save is life, he is not a
Perpetrator but a defendant.
Thanks for the editorial which is balanced. True any victims of power
must get justice - be it the Swedish women who allege they are victims
of Assange, or be it Assange himself who is now a victim too, or most
importantly, the victims all over the world of US power and
imperialistic attitudes - the victims for whom Assange's act has intentionally or unintentionally has brought somewhat a 'half-
justice'.
@Joel Anderson: Tell me how long it will take to extradite Assange to
US in the name of 'non-political' crimes even if he has not committed
one? A fraction of a second? or, perhaps something already made up?
@K. Raghunathan: You are right, one does not need to be anti-US. But
is there anything wrong in being anti-imperialistic? Resisting a force
that wants to rule the whole world at any cost - no matter how many
humans are killed, wounded, orphaned, and so on, in addition to other
destructions? Not just US, any nation or force with such mindset must
be resisted and stopped.
how long could he hide in a foreign embassy?what sort of a life will he be leading for the rest of his life? It will be worst than a death sentence, we feel.Why USA, for all its tall talks about democracy, freedom of speech, expression etc, should act like a communist block, where humans will disappear without a trace? Where will Assange go from Eucuador?why Aussies are letting him down?will Hindu manage to get in touch with Assange and publish his views?
Judge for yourself the credibility of Anna Ardin and Sofia Wilen, the two women accusing Assange. Documentary from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, not necessarily huge fans of Asssange. www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2EaE80TiiQ&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1
Around 20 minutes into the video, the alleged rape and womens claims are discussed.
I believe we Indians have a case study here at how to bring criminals of
foreign origin to justice. Instead of teaching Kasab marathi and
rpoviding urdu newspaper it would be advisable and in sync with the
common sense of the common man if the government finishes his court
proceedings soon. A case which was touted by UPA as an embodiment of our
impartial judiciary, has become a mockery of our whole system including
the police.
Mr. Assange must be given enough support in his fight against the United
States while he must be ready to undergo a fair trial in Sweden. That
all these charges of molestation and sexual abuse against him by some
women have cropped up after the wikileaks clearly indicates something
behind the smokescreen.
It is really funny to see Mr Rafael Correa mouthing words of wisdom and morality on Assange case. Only recently he had no qualms in handing over a Belarus anti-establishment person after the Belarus visited his country. He is cocking a snook at his natural enemies in this case and Assange is the pawn.
The case against Assange needs thorough investigation giving reasonable
opportunity to the accused to stand a fair trial.As rightly said the
fears are misplaced and he should make use of the legal proceedings to
prove not guilty.At the same time securing him through force from the
Mexican embassy would go against international conventions and will be a
blot on the oldest democracy in the world.
As you rightly said the criminal case against Assange in Sweden must be heard. So must the criminal case against him in the U.S. It is ridiculously biased and irrationally uninformed on your part to be so anti-US without any basis. The U.S. has a stronger case against Assange than Sweden does. Assange will have his day in court in the U.S., and no one in the world can stop that.
Assange is alleged to be a molester and possibly a sexual predator. He
has the responsibility to go to Sweden and face the victim's charges.
Whatever else he is doing is totally unacceptable. He should not have
gone into the Ecuador Embassy and thus have violated the British law
on bail. He CAN be and MUST be extradited to the US to face charges of
his complicity in stealing US Gov properties. Let him face the law
where ever he is alleged to have violated, be it Sweden or the US. I
wish the British Counter terrorism Unit somehow lure him to step
outside the Embassy and nab him. If that's not possible in another
week or so, storm the Embassy to take Assange by force. Ecuador cannot
possibly harbor alleged criminal in its property. Where's the morality
here?
But there is no extradition request from the US and Sweden is
forbidden by law to extradite Assange for "political crimes". So you are asking the Swedish gov't to give a blanket guarantee not to
extradite Assange for any non-political crime without its juridical
system having a look at the charges first? Sorry, but it's not going
to happen. And shouldn't happen.
Our country India has full of problems. Whether Wikileaks survives or not, it is less of a headache to the Indians!
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