Julian Assange granted asylum by Ecuador
Published: 16 Aug 12 13:53 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/42658/20120816/
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, after having waited in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for weeks, will be granted asylum to Ecuador, the country's authorities announced on Thursday.
- Assange's sex crimes accuser speaks out (16 May 13)
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Ecuador's Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino, said at a press conference that Ecuador sees it as imperative to offer asylum to those seeking it due to political persecution.
"We believe Julian Assange's fears are legitimate - he could face political persecution," Patino said during the press conference.
Sweden however rejected the claim that Assange's human rights may be violated should he be extradited to Sweden.
"Our firm legal and constitutional system guarantees the rights of each and everyone. We firmly reject any accusations to the contrary," foreign minister Carl Bildt tweeted shortly after the press conference.
According to British national broadcaster BBC, the announcement was watched live by Assange and embassy staff in a link to the press conference from Quito.
Shortly after the announcement, Assange told the BBC that being granted asylum by Ecuador is a "significant victory"
The growing risk of a diplomatic furore loomed ever closer on Thursday with police staying close outside the South American country's embassy in London, where Assange is holed up, after Ecuador slammed Britain for threatening to storm the building to arrest him.
Ahead of the announcement just after 2pm CET on Thursday, around a dozen policemen, some wearing stab vests, were positioned outside the embassy in the exclusive Knightsbridge district of London near the Harrods department store.
The British Foreign Office remains adamant however that the country's obligation to extradite Assange to Sweden will be carried out.
"Under our law, with Mr Assange having exhausted all options of appeal UK authorities are under binding obligation to extradite him to Sweden," the Foreign Office tweeted shortly after the announcement.
"We shall carry out that obligation. The Ecuadorian Government's decision this afternoon does not change that."
"We remain committed to a negotiated solution that allows us to carry out our obligations under the Extradition Act, " tweeted the Foreign Office.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
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I wonder how come Swedish government can used by US for the sake of US' politics, and swedes only watch this theater without reacting to their government.
Perhaps some of the armchair lawyers who were so successful in explaining to us why the UK legal system would be better for him than the Swedish system can amuse us by their "knowledge" of the details of the Vienna Convention, free passage of diplomatic goods etc. I'm sure they'll find a watertight legal escape route (the Umaru Dikko way perhaps albeit without the failure..).
It would be ironic if the only extraordinary rendition in this case was done by Assange himself...
now to get funding flowing back to wiki leaks to expose the true criminals and real terrorists in this world. ecuador hold your heads high. sweden and australia hangs yours in shame. a step in the right direction to bring a bit of balance back to the world.
A strange state of affairs here. How on earth are they going to get him to Eq?
The UK is obliged to uphold a court order. Which means he steps out, he will be arrested by the British authorities. I am sure JA is smarter than that.
And then comes an old UK law, that allows them to remove diplomatic immunity on the EQ embassy. If that law is implemented, the British Authorities can walk in and take him aways. However, that is easier said, than done. Imagine if the UK did that, the backlash they will face in all their embassies around the globe. A very tricky situation here. In all this, Sweden sits back and watches, as the UK has got itself in a terrible twist, that it never had to, in the first place.
Can you please give examples in which the asylum seeker is moved out of a country without the consent of that country's authorities.
Regarding the hypothetical escape plan, I doubt the UK is obliged to allow the private plane to take off . They would probably stop it if it tried to do so (even if some of those inside had diplomatic immunity and the plane was sovereign). Then they would isolate it and not allow those sovereign cars you mentioned to come and pick Assange up. I imagine it would get quite smelly very quickly as well as creating a diplomatic stink if the law of the land was broken in the process, i.e. private plane trying to take off without due permission.
It is only a matter of time, the US will get him and his followers.
Granted there are some holes in the above plan. But no more so than any of the other escape plans and conspiracy theories posted here.
But, thankfully, he'll be arrested before he even boards his flight. Other nations have tried this before, Nigeria tried to smuggle somebody out in a massive crate labelled 'diplotmatic baggage', however people smuggling, ie trafficking is illegal, he was intercepted and arrested at the airport. The moment Assange's feet hit the front step, he will be where he belongs, in handcuffs :) Ecuador knows this, they are just playing the game.
In this case, I cannot see the UK making deals with Eq. Having said that, i feel some pressure might be put on Sweden in the process to unwind things that have been set in motion. For a start, the situation can be defused if Sweden is pressured to question him in the UK...I am only speculating here...
It's really scary to think that people like you graduated from kindergarten.
Acapulco Golden has really damaged your tiny brains. Take care.
Hurrah for Ecuador! It has showed the British pirates that the country is not their colony and that Ecuador is simply not an a..licker from Barack Obama.
Sweden should be ashamed. It started all ghe fuzz by giving credit to two lesbian whores and to one very stupid police force backed up by a more stupid Attorney at Law.
I wonder what would happen if Assange is granted an Ecuatorian citizenship. Will the stupid "bobbies" still hunt him.
And it does not matter if the UK has a law of 1917 that says that they can delete de diplomatic status of any embassy if necessary.
Deep in my heart, I hope they do it so they can have the majority of the FREE WORLD against the UK.
But you know: when the head is at the lower end,like Sweden and his nationals have proven to have, anything can happen. Just ask the stupid Swedes who generated the problem by requesting the extradition of someone (Assange) who has not even convicted for anything.
And how can the Swedes support someone that has fought for Freedom of Speech, when this universal right does not exist in Sweden? If you doubt it, you can ask Vladimir Putin who, on April 26 of 2011, at a press conference with Reinfeldt in Stockholm, Reinfeldt's press secretary, Roberta Alenius, tried over and over and over, to deny Putin's right to answer a question that he had requested. Finally, the hated (by the Swedish government, but of course)Vladimir Putin gave up and said: "As you can see, they complain about democracy in Russia. This is democracy...a dictatorship" Reinfeldt blushed and Alenius just made some water on the floor.
!Viva Ecuador! jijos de su rechi.
He was welcomed by Sweden and the Swedish people, when he arrived. He stayed and liked it in Sweden until he committed the acts that resulted in suspicion and accusation of rape and sexual harassments. Instead of helping the investigation he suddenly fled to the UK and started this circus.
Maybe Mr Assange thinks it is easier to escape from the british police, the UK, Sweden and the EU, than to prove being innocent of rape...
Assange embassy gamble follows famous precedents
Now its time you respect the European laws and people and face the rape accusations like a man.
You wrote "There are also many complexities of the Swedish Judicial system
which you don't understand, but I will not elaborate on that now."
Errrm, what makes you an expert ? And I don't mean reading pro-Assange websites. Maybe a bit of humility might serve you well.
Somehow, Sweden forgot about its "firm and legal constitutional system" when it came the two Egyptians who were deported under Sweden's Extraordinary Rendition Agreement with the US.
The fate the these two men is a major factor in Assange's desire to avoid extradition to Sweden. Since Bildt's "guarantees" didn't apply to the two Egyptians, why should anyone believe that they would apply to Mr Assange?
Maybe you should check your brain first and not act like hot-head .You cant compare that twisted f*ck Polanski with JA. Those were two different cases what had happened.First one was a clear 13 year old victim with true testimony. Second was about 2 cagey dykes with no clear allegations each day changing their answers to gain some credit ( bowin down for US agency maybe??).
It does not matter if the alleged sexual assaults by the extreme leftist Juilian Assange may have been committed against "2 cagey dykes", a person of Asian, African, South American ancestry or even if the victim was of 'English' ancestry, the laws are to be applied equally. Being a LEFTIST radical does not exclude you and your ilk from the same laws that the rest of us agree with and follow. The sexual preference, race, national origin, religion of your victims do not matter in our application of justice in Sweden or the European Union! -Paul
I agree, it's better to be an elk than a man. LOL
Why don't we ever see/hear these women being interviewed? I'm sure they're sick of being used by the Swedish puritans and Americans, and would rather the whole issie goes away. In which case it would all disappear. Take the plaintiffs out of the equation, and Julian can return home to Australia. Easy as..........but that's clearly not going to be allowed. There are bigger fish to fry.
Where are these women? Are they locked up in a dungeon somewhere in Stockholm to stop them changing their story?