@detroitmechworks

letter in my preceding diary, in the end i'd chosen the politico version, oly 71 signatories at the time. but the claim was that

"After his arrest [at the embassy], Swedish prosecutors said the lawyer of one of the alleged victims asked for the rape case to be re-opened. The British MPs urged full co-operation with Swedish prosecutor if they resume the case."

dunno if either are these women, the bbc link in that sure doesn't say, but it may be a total psyop, in any event.

"Swedish prosecutors dropped preliminary investigations into “rape” and “molestation” allegations as early as August 2010, concluding that “no crime at all” had been committed. The investigation was only revived for political reasons. “[I]t was the police who made up the charges” wrote one of the women in a text message. Assange’s accusers admitted they had consensual sex with him, boasting of it afterwards to friends. Anna Ardin, who arranged Assange’s “safe houses” in Sweden—one of which was her apartment—was employed by leading Social-Democratic Party politicians. It was Ardin who introduced Assange to her co-accuser, Sofia Wilen. Assange’s visit to Sweden took place amid mounting US intrigue following publication of the Iraq and Afghan war leaks."

their contention is that he couldn't be interviewed as he hiding in the ecuadorian embassy; jen robinson destroys that rubbish below).

but the larger point for me is that corbyn had rather belatedly, and not until assange was arrested, made much of a peep about what he was acing in terms of arrest and expulsion threats sine moreno, may, and the T administration; then 'no extradition to the US' and many celebrated him for doing that.

some had believed that if corbyn were to become prime minister, he'd act for assange, perhaps choose a home secretary that would be benevolently understanding of the fact that assange is NOT a criminal. the current one is a real prince of a man.

couldn't make out the meaning of the toad the wet sprocket song; comments seemed to say it was cautionary tale to believing an alleged victim? if so, good; for me it was hard to listen to.

No other category of accusations are more rife with acrimony, blame shifting, and just general "He said, she said". It will last for many, many news cycles and the most likely result will be even more people very convinced that he deserves to be hung from the nearest tree and shot. Based on the "Allegations".

Because you must ALWAYS believe the victim, even if the victim is nowhere to be found, or says that the charges were politically motivated, because clearly the victim is DISTRAUGHT and doesn't know that there must always be vengeance when TPTB demand it.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxQVN8NF3ac]

@EdMass

the cat, of course, was accused by lenin moreno of spying, according to RT. and before handing the cat over to his attorneys to give to a far-away relative (?), he was starving it, and not cleaning its litter box.

but yeppers, jeremy must be playing to his base, as seems so for Boss Tweet: 'never even heard he was arrested!'

laura gave a hella lot more examples of 'the trend', including:

"Gender politics is being deployed for nakedly pro-imperialist objectives. On Saturday, the Guardian’s front page headline insisted, “Give priority to Assange rape victim, Javid urged” with a prominent news article headlined, “Failure to extradite Assange to Sweden would endorse ‘rape culture’, say women’s groups.”

Editorials in Saturday’s Guardian and Sunday’s Observer called for Assange’s extradition to Sweden, with the Observer combining vindictiveness and slander in equal measure: “It’s not difficult to despise Julian Assange. For seven years, he has attempted to evade rape and sexual assault charges in Sweden by seeking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London… His excuse for refusing to face trial in Sweden—that he would then face extradition to the US—has always been hogwash.”

hadn't taken the time to track down guardian via the home secretary, but i will after i get a few more home chores finished. you'd get a boot outta this, though: this morning before first light there was a fox, maybe two barking down by the compost pile. hoarse, unpleasant sound, but there've been two gorgeous large red foxes trippin' around the place lately. bush tails almost as long as their bodies; whoosh.

when Politicians get ahold of an "issue" while ignoring the history, legal proceedings, filing and reporting of charges and challenges, and playing for the BIG WIN with ill-informed voters.

Just don't wipe feces on the walls of the Ecuadorian Embassy.

Where's the cat? That's the real story. South Americans eat cats I've heard (/s)

Sigh.

@Shahryar

asking for hlp on when i'd brought the politico version of the 'opening rape case' on my last diary, that had ended w/ a corbyn quote: 'no extradition to the US'. but then i hadn't known (or at least remembered):

'Sweden/UK Bilateral Treaty allows fast track rendition to US under Temporary Surrender' which asange's attorneys know, and corbyn and the home secretary also know. dunno if he'll ever get to emigrate, but australia's made it clear they don't want him?

you? i used to think that costa rica sounded nice, no standing army, etc., but that's kinda changed w/ the burgeoning anti-bolivarian OAS fists crashing down because: Venezuela. heh; iceland won't be too warm much longer, yes?

is that sending him to Sweden saves him from the U.S., right?

I've been thinking of Iceland lately. Probably too cold. New Zealand is making it difficult to emigrate there (from what I've read).

Sorry...musing on the question "is there anywhere in the world where one could go that wouldn't be under fascist control?"

@UntimelyRippd

and constraints of British politics (nevermind British law) are not the same as in the US, and it can be perilous to make strong statements about what various officials should or should not say or do without understanding said culture, traditions, expectations, and constraints.

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

@jeremycorbyn - 19:34 utc - 11 Apr 2019

"The extradition of Julian Assange to the US for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government."

then on the ITV interview: "Jeremy Corbyn says Julian Assange 'must answer' allegations of rape and sexual assault if Sweden decides to re-open their investigation into claims made by a woman in 2010, and of course ‘There can be no hiding place from those kind of accusations’.

i'd short-handed what she'd written in the OP to "She then cites Corbyn quotes from 2015 showing that he knows full well what those charges are all about."

she'd written:
"Corbyn knows perfectly well that the Swedish allegations and extradition proceedings were only ever a step toward US extradition. In July 2015, just months before he became party leader, he explained to the New Statesman that Assange had “taken himself into the embassy because he felt that, had he been taken back to Sweden, he would be taken forcibly to the US.” He knows that Assange has been targeted for courageously exposing war crimes and state conspiracies against the public, but refuses to challenge the Blairites on anything, instead echoing their threats against Assange."

and rightfully, given corbyn would have known al of this, christine assange had tweeted:

“Weasel words from #Corbyn! NO to UK/US extradition but YES to recycled UK/SWEDEN extradition! He knows full well Swedish (no charge!) ‘case’ was a political fit-up! Sweden/UK Bilateral Treaty allows fast track rendition to US under Temporary Surrender!”

but she puts Labour front and center on isolating assange. but given all that, he, like trump, must be playing to those he thinks or knows are his base, but it sure is hideous of him. imo, of course.

If these are his true colors, it would have been easy for him to show them right along. In fact, a whole lot easier than starting out by supporting Julian and then retracting. Why would a person take a false position that brought them no profit and angered a bunch of very powerful people?

Sounds like somebody sat down and had a conversation with him. I wonder who.

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

bless your heart, miz signal.

I want, when I die,
No fatherland, but no master,
To have in my grave a bouquet
Of flowers and a flag.

Don't put me in the dark
To die a traitor
I'm good and like the good
I'll Die from the sun.

Yo quiero, cuando me muera,
sin patria, pero sin amo,
tener en mi tumba un ramo
de flores y una bandera.

No me pongas in el oscuro
A morir como un traidor
Yo soy bueno y como el bueno
Morire de cara sol.