Sweden will request Assange's extradition to stand trial on rape allegations

From RT.com May 13, 2019:

"Sweden’s Director of Public Prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson has confirmed that the country will seek Assange’s extradition. She was announcing that the rape investigation against the WikiLeaks founder has been reopened.

The 47-year-old is currently being held at Belmarsh prison in London after he was found guilty of skipping bail and sentenced to 50 weeks in jail. He avoided extradition to Sweden for some seven years by seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012, however he was unceremoniously evicted in April and now faces the prospect of extradition to face trial for the decade-old charges.

While some of the original charges have already expired under the Swedish statute of limitations, one key charge of sexual assault remains open until 2020. Swedish prosecutors had sought to bin the case as far back as 2013 but persisted with their inquiries until 2017 owing to pressure from the British government, according to WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson.

Two years ago the case was closed as Swedish authorities “didn’t see any possibilities to advance the investigation forward,” however, in light of Assange’s recent arrest, the case and potential extradition to stand trial for it, are back on the table."

Also via RT.com, May 13: ‘Swedish prosecutor reopens case probing Assange rape allegations’, 13 May, 2019, RT.com

"I have taken the decision to reopen the preliminary investigation,” Persson told reporters at a press conference on Monday, confirming her office’s decision.
"As Mr Assange is currently incarcerated in the UK the circumstances now allow him to be extradited to Sweden on a rape warrant," she added.

Persson said that it is up to UK authorities whether the Swedish or US extradition requests take priority.”

That decision seems to up to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid former managing director of Deutsche Bank.

Assange rape case politicized, ‘mishandled throughout’ says WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief’, 13 May, 2019, RT.com

“There has been considerable political pressure on Sweden to reopen their investigation, but there has always been political pressure surrounding this case,” Hrafnsson said in a statement Monday morning, following the announcement by Swedish authorities that the investigation against Julian Assange had been officially reopened.

Hrafnsson added that several key details surrounding the investigation were suspicious after a Swedish prosecutor initially found that “no crime at all” had occurred, after which the case was reopened at the behest of the British authorities.

A Swedish prosecutor also refused to question Assange during his forced exile in the Ecuadorian embassy before eventually being impelled by the courts. Swedish authorities then sought to drop the arrest warrant as early as 2013, Hrafnsson claimed, adding that it was the British government that insisted that the case continue.

The investigation was then closed in 2017 only for it to be reopened shortly after Assange’s arrest in 2019.
Hrafnsson also alleges that he has received reports of Swedish and British authorities destroying documents related to the case, though he did not provide any evidence. He also slammed media reports that Assange had eluded questioning throughout his time in London, insisting that “Assange was always willing to answer any questions from the Swedish authorities and repeatedly offered to do so, over six years.”

The rest will come via Twitter, or at least from twitter because it gets a bit complicated:

From justice4assange.com: 'Note to editors-Sweden; The “Swedish Allegations” concerning Julian Assange: The Facts

Elisabeth Massi Fritz is the attorney for the woman who allegedly wants the case re-investigated. Earlier reports had been that it was Fritz who'd want to reopen the case. from the link:

"Assange’s Swedish lawyer Per E. Samuelson told The Associated Press on Monday that the decision to reopen the rape case is “outrageous.”

“He is in prison in the U.K., he faces the risk of being extradited to the United States and on top of that, to demand that he’s going to put all his energy into looking into a 10-year-old story from Sweden is just too much,” he said.

But Elisabeth Massi Fritz, the lawyer for the woman who reported being raped by Assange, said her client “feels great gratitude” over the decision to reopening the case.

She said it “signals that no one stands above the law,” and that “the legal system in Sweden doesn’t give a special treatment to anyone.”

Persson said a European arrest warrant will be issued for Assange. A Swedish court would formally issue the extradition request, which Assange could appeal.

myself, i think craig murray has one blind spot: Sweden has never guaranteed Assange wouldn't be sent directly to Amerika.

(click for larger to read the texts)

(only slightly redundant)

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The older a rape case is, the staler it gets. They dropped the case before. Why re-open it now? Politics.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

wendy davis's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

and money for the attorny, according to hannah jonnason. i cannae find it now, but one piece i'd read had quoted Persson as saying that the woman was elated that she might finally get restitution. now it may have lost something in translation, and she may have said 'resolution, but restitution implies money, no?

guess it's a small wonder, but this news is absolutely everywhere this a.m., and i can just imagine how er...slanted...most coverage is. crap, i'd forgotten to check at the grauniad to see if luke harding were allowed to cover it.

on edit: nope, not luke the boy wonder, but caroline davies, drinkin' the same old koolaid:

"Prosecutors dropped the investigation in 2017 because they were unable to proceed while the WikiLeaks founder remained in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. They said at the time that the investigation could be reopened if the situation changed. Assange has always denied the allegation."

but here's the same quote:

The lawyer for the woman who had asked for the investigation to be reopened welcomed the decision saying: “Today we got great news.” It signalled “that no-one stands above the law,” Elisabeth Massi Fritz, told a new conference.

“My client feels great gratitude and she is very hopeful about getting restitution and we both hope that justice will win”, she added.

She said Swedish prosecutors would be “forced to take steps quickly to ensure that we have time to get a potential criminal charge in this case.”

WikiLeaks said the reopening of the Swedish investigation 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.”

really? i'd missed that; i' file it under: be careful what you wish for...

"Assange’s Swedish lawyer, Per Samuelson, told the Swedish broadcaster SVT that he was “very surprised” by the decision to reopen the case, saying it was “embarrassing” for Sweden.

Nick Vamos, a former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, told Reuters news agency that UK extradition proceedings should not take more than 18 months.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@wendy davis

Nick Vamos, a former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, told Reuters news agency that UK extradition proceedings should not take more than 18 months

Hmm...let's see.

18 months from now will be ...

Mid-November 2020!

Sounds like ol' Trumpy doesn't want a redux of the Podesta files leak and is trying to hold Assange hostage in the UK until after election day as insurance.

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wendy davis's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

you. thanks for the reprieve. ; ) my favorite dana carvey personae, church lady.

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a Swedish prosecutor initially found that “no crime at all” had occurred, after which the case was reopened at the behest of the British authorities.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

wendy davis's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

george galloway via RTcom today:

"The reopening of an inquiry into allegations of rape against Julian Assange shows that even a “fading empire” like the US can get what it wants when it is backed by obedient states like the UK & Sweden, says George Galloway.

Former Labour MP George Galloway has told RT that Sweden is even more of a US vassal state than Britain. He believes attempts to get to the truth of rape allegations against the WikiLeaks co-founder are not genuine."

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mimi's picture

a lot of respect for Sweden (like 50 plus years ago) That's completely gone. I also can't understand how Australia lets his own citizen hanging in a foreign countries' embassy or prison and not doing anything to help Assange. The world is ruled by criminal mobsters and oligarchs and it has to stop.

Can't even find more words to say.

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wendy davis's picture

@mimi

the war on assange is close to 'words are just too inadequate', ma soeur. i'm not getting the thinking of those of his allies who believe that opening the case again...might put it to rest. as i recall, it was 'torn condom girl' who may want to change her testimony (testily?), and there's zero likelihood that appeals or demands that he not be airmailed straight to gitmo or supermax florence, colorado.

but yeah, that sweden is so easy to yield to pressure on julian is harsh indeed. but see if i can figure out what the tweeties on mama assange's accounts are, but at first blush, the two even contradicted the other.

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wendy davis's picture

interviews with sky news, and in one she talks about the possibility of the swedish prosecutor
re-opening the case. thi is one part, but in a compilation i'd sent to an erstwhile friend saying he should just go face the charges, there was this pdf about the 1961 extradition cooperation between the US and sweden. and...oy, i've lost the link for now, but 'rape' was on the list/.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=89&v=wpwyMu3PsUg]

on edit: here's the 1961 US/Sweden extradition treaty pdf, but i may have just found contradictory info on mama assange's twitter account. i'll add it below.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

having consensual sex and not telling your partner you are not wearing a condom.

Kinda broadens the definition a bit, no?

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wendy davis's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

that he'd had sex with them while they were asleep? but at least they both had wanted to compel aids tests, with which he'd complied while he was in sweden (hope i'm remembering that correctly).

then 'rape' became 'sexual assault', and tra la la.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@wendy davis Per the Guardian:

Her account to police, which Assange disputes, stated that he began stroking her leg as they drank tea, before he pulled off her clothes and snapped a necklace that she was wearing. According to her statement she "tried to put on some articles of clothing as it was going too quickly and uncomfortably but Assange ripped them off again". Miss A told police that she didn't want to go any further "but that it was too late to stop Assange as she had gone along with it so far", and so she allowed him to undress her.

According to the statement, Miss A then realised he was trying to have unprotected sex with her. She told police that she had tried a number of times to reach for a condom but Assange had stopped her by holding her arms and pinning her legs. The statement records Miss A describing how Assange then released her arms and agreed to use a condom, but she told the police that at some stage Assange had "done something" with the condom that resulted in it becoming ripped, and ejaculated without withdrawing.

When he was later interviewed by police in Stockholm, Assange agreed that he had had sex with Miss A but said he did not tear the condom, and that he was not aware that it had been torn. He told police that he had continued to sleep in Miss A's bed for the following week and she had never mentioned a torn condom.

So Miss A claims Assange tried to coerce her into unprotected sex, but once he agreed to protected sex, she consented, but then the condom tore (which she claims he did on purpose, thus triggering the charges).

Then came Miss W.

On the following morning, Saturday 14 August, Assange spoke at a seminar organised by Miss A. A second woman, Miss W, had contacted Miss A to ask if she could attend. Both women joined Assange, the co-ordinator of the Swedish WikiLeaks group, whom we will call "Harold", and a few others for lunch.

Assange left the lunch with Miss W. She told the police she and Assange had visited the place where she worked and had then gone to a cinema where they had moved to the back row. He had kissed her and put his hands inside her clothing, she said.

That evening, Miss A held a party at her flat. One of her friends, "Monica", later told police that during the party Miss A had told her about the ripped condom and unprotected sex. Another friend told police that during the evening Miss A told her she had had "the worst sex ever" with Assange: "Not only had it been the world's worst screw, it had also been violent."

Assange's supporters point out that, despite her complaints against him, Miss A held a party for him on that evening and continued to allow him to stay in her flat.

On Sunday 15 August, Monica told police, Miss A told her that she thought Assange had torn the condom on purpose. According to Monica, Miss A said Assange was still staying in her flat but they were not having sex because he had "exceeded the limits of what she felt she could accept" and she did not feel safe.

Assange has bad but consensual sex with the woman hosting him, they apparently decide to not have any more sex, and then hooks up with a different woman (Miss W) the next day.

The following day, Miss W phoned Assange and arranged to meet him late in the evening, according to her statement. The pair went back to her flat in Enkoping, near Stockholm. Miss W told police that though they started to have sex, Assange had not wanted to wear a condom, and she had moved away because she had not wanted unprotected sex. Assange had then lost interest, she said, and fallen asleep. However, during the night, they had both woken up and had sex at least once when "he agreed unwillingly to use a condom".

Early the next morning, Miss W told police, she had gone to buy breakfast before getting back into bed and falling asleep beside Assange. She had awoken to find him having sex with her, she said, but when she asked whether he was wearing a condom he said no. "According to her statement, she said: 'You better not have HIV' and he answered: 'Of course not,' " but "she couldn't be bothered to tell him one more time because she had been going on about the condom all night. She had never had unprotected sex before."

In submissions to the Swedish courts, they have argued that Miss W took the initiative in contacting Assange, that on her own account she willingly engaged in sexual activity in a cinema and voluntarily took him to her flat where, she agrees, they had consensual sex. They say that she never indicated to Assange that she did not want to have sex with him. They also say that in a text message to a friend, she never suggested she had been raped and claimed only to have been "half asleep".

Even assuming Miss W is telling the truth about being asleep, there are no indications that she withheld her consent once she woke up. The sleep issue (even if true) is a red herring and is not directly related to the charges based of unprotected consensual sex.

And yeah, not Assange's finest moment by any stretch, but not 'rape' by the definition we typically associate that crime with.

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wendy davis's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

reminding me/us of all of that additional hilarity cum satirical testimony, but i'll add that when they'd forensically examined said torn condom, there was no dna evidence on it. is that how you remember it?

i'll freely admit, mine eye are too crap to even see the texts in the OP when enlarged. sorry if i'm blathering; i'm not sleeping well and i need to lie down and try for a bit o' REM sleep with nightmares or dreams.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@wendy davis @wendy davis @wendy davis

is even more interesting, although a lot of the sourcing comes from right wing websites with their own axes to grind.

Justin Rainomdo of Anti-War (IMO a fairly credible writer albeit with a right wing slant) had a nice piece on all this if you're interested.

Julian Assange in the Honey Trap

Here is where the story gets murky: for some reason not readily apparent to me, Sophia called Anna, and the two got to talking: the former confided she had been sleeping with Assange. Anna was furious: here is a woman who had earlier posted on her personal blog a rather scary “Seven Steps to Legal Revenge,” which reads like it might have been written by Valerie Solanis.

Sitting alone in Enkoping, wondering why Assange didn’t call, Sophia had been simmering in her own resentments, and Ardin was more than happy to give her the opportunity to vent. Together they concocted a plan to go to the police: initially the focus was on Sophia’s obsession with the possibility she might have contracted AIDS from the unprotected sex. The two of them went to a police station and asked if it was possible to force Assange to undergo a test for STDs.

It was the weekend, and the regular prosecutor was off duty: a substitute prosecutor listened to their story and decided, on her own authority, to go after Assange. The police combed the entertainment district of Stockholm, looking for him: to no avail. This indictment was later rescinded, however, by the regular prosecutor, due to the fact that, as the office put it, there was “no evidence” a crime had been committed.

The two had leaked the story to the Swedish tabloid Expressen, which relentlessly blared it on their front pages. Pretty professional work for a couple of alleged groupies. Indeed, Ardin is a former Swedish embassy official who served in Buenos Aires, and Havana: she was reportedly asked to leave Cuba after her interactions with Cuban exile groups linked to the CIA.

Here's the kicker: even in Sweden, what Assange did isn't actually a crime.

In league with a third prosecutor, Marianne Ny, Borgström succeeded in having the case re-opened in order to advance this unique legal innovation: the concept of “rape” without physical coercion. As Assange’s Australian lawyer, James Caitlin, puts it:

“Consensual sex can be rape, according to Borgström and Ny – but the alleged victims don’t decide – they do. ”The new laws which establish these ‘precedents’ are not yet on the books – but it’s Marianne Ny’s intention to make the Assange affair into a test case for that purpose. ”In other words: Marianne Ny wants to try Julian Assange for something that wasn’t a crime when it took place.

So much for the “legal” case against Assange. It’s a put up job, pure and simple, so brazen that one wonders how anyone – let alone a sitting judge outside of Zimbabwe, or Saudi Arabia – can entertain it with a straight face. And yet a British judge has indeed upheld the validity of the international arrest warrant, which went straight to the top of Interpol’s agenda as soon as it was issued: in the new world order, “sex by surprise” is on a par with being a mass murderer. In spite of having pledges of funding from prominent supporters, the judge denied Assange bail: and so the governments of the world have him where they want him – behind bars.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

I've never read this story before, but others that were less inflammatory and far different. I'm wondering if the truth will ever come out because after the first interview with Assange he was cleared to leave Sweden. If the first one is true you'd think that they would have wanted to hold on to him longer became that does sound like something that could be punishable. But the fact that both women continued partying with him adds more bewilderment to the story.

In other words: Marianne Ny wants to try Julian Assange for something that wasn’t a crime when it took place.”

I read that after the case was closed it was opened again after Britain put pressure on the prosecutor. Then it was closed again two years ago. But Assange said that he was always willing to go to Sweden if they would guarantee that he wouldn't be extradited here. The refused to say they wouldn't.

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wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

This one discusses lots of what happened before during and after.

Assange Smear 2: “He’s a rapist.”

Naomi Klein on it

In other words: Never in twenty-three years of reporting on and supporting victims of sexual assault around the world have I ever heard of a case of a man sought by two nations, and held in solitary confinement without bail in advance of being questioned — for any alleged rape, even the most brutal or easily proven. In terms of a case involving the kinds of ambiguities and complexities of the alleged victims’ complaints — sex that began consensually that allegedly became non-consensual when dispute arose around a condom — please find me, anywhere in the world, another man in prison today without bail on charges of anything comparable.

J’Accuse: Sweden, Britain, and Interpol Insult Rape Victims Worldwide

Caitlin

People Who Publicly Fret About Assange Rape Allegations Are Lying

I found this so deeply illustrative of the way mainstream liberals throw every value they claim to stand for right in the garbage as soon as it becomes an obstacle to their petty partisan attacks. They all warned that Trump was campaigning on a platform of xenophobia, homophobia and demagoguery, but as soon as he was elected they began launching phony Russiagate attacks which themselves were rife with xenophobia, homophobia and demagoguery. Liberal pundits who rightly criticized Bush for his unforgivable invasion of Iraq now attack Trump for being insufficiently hawkish toward Russia and its allies. These mindless automatons don’t actually stand for anything beyond blind partisan loyalty.

In the same way that they will happily wipe their asses with any of their pretend values the second it becomes politically convenient to do so, mainstream liberals will also fabricate grave, solemn concerns about things they never actually cared about before as soon as it can be used as an angle of partisan attack.

Yep pretty much.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@snoopydawg

is a marvel and should be everyone's go-to guide for all matters Assange.

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wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

and tracks with what i know, and she adds a couple things i hadn't known. i didn't watch the link to the video, but weren't nye's emails discovered thru a foia request? perhaps one by stefania maurizi?

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wendy davis's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

exposé later, but oddly, i'd just mentioned raimondo yesterday on the boards as one of the Great and antiwar Libertarians. youch on the back-story.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

and they're a couple of soulless spooks. Doesn't add up with the frantic 2010 phone messages from the one saying that he wasn't guilty, though. Or am I misremembering that?

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal @Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

they're a couple of soulless spooks

Sophia seems more likely to be an Assange groupie (I am told there are such women) who Anna exploited to set the trap.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

Doesn't add up with the frantic 2010 phone messages from the one saying that he wasn't guilty, though. Or am I misremembering that?

Caitlin says....

SW freaked out when she learned the police wanted to charge Assange with rape for the half-asleep incident, and refused to sign any legal documents saying that he had raped her. She sent a text that she “did not want to put any charges against JA but the police wanted to get a grip on him,” and said she had been “railroaded by police and others around her.” AA went along with the process.

Seems pretty clear AA was driving the train on this railroad.

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wendy davis's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

eyes are better than sometimes, the morning light's good, so i'd clicked to enlarge the texts between the two women again, and this is fascinating (but you might want to check out the rest shown yourself); the second one i've paraphrased to shorten it:

on aug, 26 AA wrote to SW that they ought to sell their stories to a newspaper.
on aug 28 and SW wrote that their lawyer had negotiated with the largest tabloid newspaper

and the one admitted she wasn't asleep at all, and the sex had gotten better. ; )

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@wendy davis

and my mind just reels at how far public discourse has sunk. My reason rebels at the fact that we're supposed to take any of this seriously.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

wendy davis's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

even knew how things used to be (before the internet). history, as it's said...belongs to the victor. and my stars, finding alternate versions of the histories we were told keep blowin' my mind.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@wendy davis

to know that this is not the way things used to be.

One way I keep my memory of public discourse alive is by remembering what people were saying in (presidential) election years, because presidential elections tend to make Americans talk politics. Thus, you can figure out how Americans approach politics by remembering the discussions and debates they had in relation to presidential elections. In 2004, even in 2008, these fabricated charges would have been treated with the contempt they deserved by at least half of the country.

but then, in 2004 or 2008, we still asked which policies presidential candidates embraced, instead of just asking what kinds of scandals they were involved in and which of them could beat the illimitable evil of the other party.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

wendy davis's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

yes to that. i ran campaigns for D candidates for decades, and saw a hella lotta smear by innuendo that was repeated often enough that it stuck. and i'm certainly not thinking of 'willie horton' sort of stuff. but modern debates are more akin to press conferences, with candidates usually not permitted to speak more than 5 mins. on any pre-arranged questions.

but now i see that we were talking past one another...i see what you'd meant.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@wendy davis

1988...the year the League of Women Voters stopped hosting the debates in disgust.

Do you remember when third-party candidates could just get into the debates automatically? I remember John Anderson on the stage with Reagan and Jimmy Carter at the 1980 debates. That was when we had actual politics. Not always good politics, certainly, sometimes horrendous politics, but it was real. It's been getting increasingly farcical over time.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

TheOtherMaven's picture

@wendy davis

(not to mention thinking with the wrong head at the wrong time, because he KNEW TPTB were out to get him). But behaving like a cad, while reprehensible, is not illegal in most semi-reasonable jurisdictions.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

wendy davis's picture

@TheOtherMaven

with that formula myself. but they'd played the same game with him multiple times, which is no excuse for thinking with his little head. no: check that: letting his little head rule and NOT thinking.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

@wendy davis

especially if it flashes the dirty linen of the US of A, you should either be solidly married to a spouse you would trust with your life, or take a serious oath of celibacy. They CAN use sex against you, and they WILL. (That trick is Older Than Print, considering the infamous example of Delilah.... )

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wendy davis's picture

@TheOtherMaven

with that formula for any number of reasons, but especially that your enemies can make shit up, and still it sells. but now i what you'd meant about caddish behavior and 'publishing embarrassing stuff'. i don't really fault anyone for having sex, and julian wasn't married.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@TheOtherMaven

walked into a police station. Supposedly the original charge was not "he forced me to have sex" but "he refused to use a condom" and the desired result was not "put that rapist in jail!" but "make that asshole take an STD test."

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

snoopydawg's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

Laws about consent and rape are significantly different in Sweden from most other societies. Assange had consensual sex with two women, “SW” and “AA” in Sweden in August 2010. SW and AA were acquainted with each other and texted about their encounters and, after learning about some uncomfortable sexual experiences SW said she’d had with Assange, AA convinced SW to go to the police together to compel Assange to take an AIDS test. AA took her to see her friend and political ally who was also a police officer. SW said one of the times Assange had initiated sex with her happened while she was “half-asleep” (legally and literally very different from asleep) and without a condom, and AA said Assange had deliberately damaged his condom before using it. SW freaked out when she learned the police wanted to charge Assange with rape for the half-asleep incident, and refused to sign any legal documents saying that he had raped her. She sent a text that she “did not want to put any charges against JA but the police wanted to get a grip on him,” and said she had been “railroaded by police and others around her.” AA went along with the process.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@TheOtherMaven

but in order for something to BE a legal offense, it has to be illegal under a system of laws which exists as part of a sovereign nation-state or else as an offense against international law.

So let's say Assange had committed some offense against Swedish law. That might have something to do with Sweden, or it might have something to do with Australia, since he is an Australian citizen. It has next to nothing to do with Britain, which is grasping at the legal straw of evading arrest so they can have an excuse to jail him, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the United States, against whose laws he has committed no offense whatsoever. I know what they're *saying* he did, and it's obvious that they're trying to gin up a handy offense so they can get their hands on him, all of which is being done retroactively. Years passed with no hint from USGov that they thought Assange helped Manning take that data. They've just figured out, finally, that it'll be easier for them to get their grimy hands on him if they can say that he was more than a publisher.

Chelsea Manning blows my mind. What a pillar of strength.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

wendy davis's picture

i dunno; can you get what aloysha's claiming? anyhoo, from mama assange:

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

to countries were it wasn't illegal to torture people. This is just one more spot to the stain that covers this country. How many innocent people were renditioned for torture only to have been found innocent of all charges? Way too many of course. One is too many.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

most sincerely on that charge was obomba, and right on the cover of the new york times. after he'd claimed with a serious face: the united states does not torture, one of his underlings had said: whoosh; you're about to put us out of the torture bidness. so...he offered a new defintion: we'll send them on whistle-stop tours to black sites, but they'll only 'visit' for X number of days. problem solved. 'we don't torture, they do it for us.'

i could hunt down the link, but iirc it began with expressing concern about the 'agony' of his Terror Tuesdays' drone assassinations, perhaps first in afghanistan. meanwhile, the bureau of investigative journalists UK kept as close a count as they were able as to the count, bless their hearts. names, when known, ages, locations, photos...some of the hardest blogging i ever did or will do.

when i'd learned that the approximate ages of the assassinated chirren could only be reckoned by the sizes of their wee rubber zoris...i knew i'd never be the same again. dayum, here come the tears again...

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Thanks, Wendy, for keeping us apprised.

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wendy davis's picture

@HenryAWallace

amigo. they just keep pourin' buckets of merde on his poor, beleaguered head, don't they?

but i'd forgotten to put this up for snoopy dawg; in her honor until she clicks in:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25EWUUBjPMo]

there's a longer 17 minute wikileaks version, but one needs to sign in to see it.

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ggersh's picture

not disarmament but the empire

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

for this and the iran war drumbeats thread. for a second i'd wondered which thread i was on. whooosh. god damn amerika! (obama's former preacher (rev. jeremiah wright?) whom he'd thrown under the bus when it was electorally pragmatic to do so...)

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Open the case. Close it. Open it again.

Which is it?

Sorry, is that not #MeToo enough of me?

If Assange had raped someone, that would have to be the easiest rape charge to bring in the history of history; the most powerful people in the world would like him to be a criminal, which would then justify them treating him badly. It's basically the same mechanism as the idea of the black thug: if you show that a black man is a thug, you can then justify imprisoning him, torturing him, blowing his head off while he's unarmed on his knees, strangling him while he pleads for breath, etc. That's why character assassination is so necessary. If you can prove somebody is a Bad Man, their human rights miraculously disappear, like a rabbit in a hat. Presto!

No woman accusing Assange of rape would ever have to worry about getting the red dress treatment. It would be more like the red carpet treatment.

This nine-year-long on again off again feeds Sweden's credibility through a shredder.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

mimi's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
but that lady that claims to be raped has not been raped but bought, imho. That doesn't mean that he could have had some weird attitudes with women that could be interpreted as rape. But as everybody knows it takes two to tango. And there are a lot of bad dancers out there.

Forget the whole shit. Not worth a dime. They are not after Assange, because he allegedly has raped someone. That is too ridiculous to even talk about.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@mimi

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

mimi's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
just a general 'you'.
It's not where you go, it's who you travel with.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@mimi

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

wendy davis's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

them. but as far as #MeToo, the guardian had carried a piece a while ago about 70 MPs who wanted him tried in sweden because 'rape culture shouldn't be minimized'. i'll see if i can find it, i don't have the words right. but allegedly they'd been putting pressure on the home secretary. here it is.

meanwhile, esp. cuz i love arundhati roy witlessly:

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@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

Not only did he skateboard in the embassy during his imprisonment there, he was also a bad lay.

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wendy davis's picture

@Sirena

not to mention he'd smeared feces on the walls in the embassy, and wouldn't take care of his kitty-cat (the cat who spied for him).

may i drop this only slightly OT tweet of chelsea's off here?

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Sirena

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

ggersh's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal killing was a no no

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=32152116

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0 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

is vile. How can anyone give any credibility to any of this? The crime isn't a crime. The prosecution isn't a legal prosecution. The asylum, apparently, ceased to be a real asylum once Correa was no longer president. And, the cherry on top of this sundae made of sewage, Assange's belongings apparently are not his own private property and are protected neither under the laws of Great Britain nor those of Ecuador. The United States' desire to get its hands on something it can use to gin up another story about Assange trumps all those silly rights, laws, and sovereignty.

Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets, I guess.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

wendy davis's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

had needed to flee lenin moreno's political persecution and relocated in (i've forgotten where).

how many crimes have been perpetrated on manning and assange for exposing US war and other crimes?

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wendy davis's picture

RT UK on twitter to see if the special rapporteur on torture had said what condition he and the 'other interlocutors' he'd mentioned had found julian in belmarsh prison. nope, but these. miz poly seems to be either wrong or confused: as i understand it, sweden can extradite julian straight to the US without the permission of the UK, but i sure don't grasp the supplemental extradition treaty dr. aloysha brooks mentioned in her tweet. dunno quite how to bingle for that treaty.

on edit: i found it, but it's Greek to me: ‘Supplement to United States Extradition Treaty with Sweden (1984)’

anyhoo, this one then kristinn, yessir, saying he hopes that the UK will prioritize the swedish extradition request.

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And has now become the insurance, backup plan in the event something in UK were to go sideways, such as someone coming into power w a moral conscience.

Assange always knew and was right (about Sweden) except of course for Ecuador that couldn’t last forever when power traded hands.

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wendy davis's picture

@Sirena

jeremy corbin were elected UK PM, it would make a difference to julian's fate, and at one time it might have, but then this:

Corbyn shows his true colors.

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@wendy davis
And also why some of us thought there had been a big rush to have him arrested before the changing of the guard, but alas, apparently not.

Major disappointment.

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wendy davis's picture

@Sirena

agrees with you, serena.

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wendy davis's picture

in order to watch an episode of Les Miserables on pbs. the metaphor that had occurred to me was: Publish a borrowed loaf of bread...and Inspector Javert will dedicate his life to seeing you chained and in prison.

it's hard to think of a closing song, so i'll go with the same one i used on the Iran War Drums post. from boots riley and the coup's 'strange arithmetic'. the lyrics are here. g' night.

History has taught me some strange arithmetic
Using swords, prison bars, and pistol grips
English is the art of bombing towns
While assuring that you really only blessed the ground

Teacher, my hand's up
Please, don't make me a victim
Teachers, stand up
You need to tell us how to flip this system

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QSLlCCXfmw]

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@wendy davis

“Keep your hands off of my stack, Jack”

[video:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U]

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wendy davis's picture

@Sirena

Money, it's a crime
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're
Giving none away, away, away

ain't it the truth, especially in the present financial climate.

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@wendy davis
Appears in both Pink Floyd songs.

[video:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cpbbuaIA3Ds]

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wendy davis's picture

@Sirena

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wendy davis's picture

but if stefania says in the clip what she writes above it, i didn't hear it:

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wendy davis's picture

One Year Ago: UK prosecutors admit destroying key emails in Julian Assange case’, Correspondence between CPS and its Swedish counterparts about WikiLeaks founder deleted after lawyer retired in 2014, the guardian

“The destruction of potentially sensitive and revealing information comes ahead of a tribunal hearing in London next week.
Adding to the intrigue, it emerged the CPS lawyer involved had, unaccountably, advised the Swedes in 2010 or 2011 not to visit London to interview Assange. An interview at that time could have prevented the long-running embassy standoff.

The CPS, responding to questions from the Guardian, denied there were any legal implications of the data loss for an Assange case if it were to come to court in the future. Asked if the CPS had any idea what was destroyed, a spokesperson said: “We have no way of knowing the content of email accounts once they have been deleted.”

The CPS data destruction was disclosed in a freedom of information (FOI) case being pursued by the Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi.
Maurizi, a reporter on La Repubblica who has covered WikiLeaks since 2009, has been pressing both the CPS and its Swedish counterpart for information relating to Assange and extradition.

Unhappy over the limited material released so far, she is taking her case against the CPS to an information tribunal on Monday and Tuesday.
“It is incredible to me these records about an ongoing and high-profile case have been destroyed. I think they have something to hide,” Maurizi said.

She is keen to establish how much influence the UK had in the decision of the Swedish authorities at the time not to travel to London to interview Assange. She is also looking for evidence of US involvement in extradition moves.
She unearthed two years ago, through an FOI request to the Swedish prosecutors, an email from a lawyer in the CPS extradition unit on 25 January 2011 saying: “My earlier advice remains, that in my view it would not be prudent for the Swedish authorities to try to interview the defendant in the UK.”

The sentence was redacted in the email obtained by Maurizi from the CPS under an FOI request but not when it was released under an FOI request from the Swedish prosecutors.”

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