Wed Aug 15, 2012, 03:33 PM

Purveyor (13,201 posts)

Assange Faces Arrest Even If Ecuador Grants Asylum

Source: Reuters

LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has no way of leaving his refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London without being arrested, even if Quito grants him asylum shortly, lawyers say.

The Australian has been in the embassy for eight weeks since losing a legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted to stand trial for rape.

Assange denies the accusations made by two female WikiLeaks supporters. He fears Sweden could send him on to the United States, where he believes authorities want to punish him for publishing thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables on WikiLeaks in 2010 in a major embarrassment for Washington.

President Rafael Correa, who is openly sympathetic to Assange, is expected to decide on his asylum request this week. However, approval would offer no legal protection in Britain where police will arrest him once they get a chance.

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/15/wikileaks-assange-idINL6E8JF79220120815

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136 replies	Author	Time	Post
Assange Faces Arrest Even If Ecuador Grants Asylum (Original post)	Purveyor	Aug 2012	OP
If the US wants him he can be gotten no matter where he hides. National Security and all. The US	Jumping John	Aug 2012	#1
Not if Ecuador gave him diplomatic status.	dipsydoodle	Aug 2012	#2
I said that on another thread and nobody answered me.	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#5
There is a difference between granting someone asylum and granting them Diplomatic Status...	brooklynite	Aug 2012	#6
I understand but I believe the US would have no problem pissing off Ecuador to grab Assange	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#7
Can one country grant someone from another country, a non citizen, who is in a third country,	robinlynne	Aug 2012	#16
Why not? nt	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#18
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations says no	hack89	Aug 2012	#20
I am sure you personally would raid the Embassy on behalf of the USA seeing you seem to hate	Swagman	Aug 2012	#22
No - I think accused rapists should not flee arrest.	hack89	Aug 2012	#24
Limeys shooting their way into an embassy isn't going to win them any friends either.	ronwelldobbs	Aug 2012	#35
They won't do that.	hack89	Aug 2012	#44
If he goes to Sweden they will hand him over to the US and	movonne	Aug 2012	#52
He has been walking free for two years	hack89	Aug 2012	#61
You know that Manning has been seen right?	Ben_Caxton	Aug 2012	#123
They were going to find SOMETHING to hang on him - rape? Perfect.	leveymg	Aug 2012	#86
I was just about to ask about making him an Ecuadorean citizen.... nt	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#28
Ecuador does not recognize dual citizenship - he would have to relinquish his Australian passport	hack89	Aug 2012	#30
I believe he'd do that. Wouldn't you?	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#31
But their laws don't allow him to become a citizen	hack89	Aug 2012	#32
I believe the Brits have now virtually assured it happening with the threat of invading	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#33
That's a bet I would be willing to take	hack89	Aug 2012	#34
Correa might not do anything but ordinary citizens in Ecuador can . . .	ronwelldobbs	Aug 2012	#36
So Ecuadorians are a violent people? That surprises me.	hack89	Aug 2012	#45
yeah great, you think saying to the UK let him go or we will taget your citizens will work	loli phabay	Aug 2012	#54
COOL. I hope they make him a citizen then!	robinlynne	Aug 2012	#47
I believe the order granting asylum included making Assange an Ecuadorian citizen	DJ13	Aug 2012	#56
I don't think it did. Ecuador would have to violate their own citizenship laws to do so. nt	hack89	Aug 2012	#58
The embassy is not a 'compound'; it's a set of rooms in a block	muriel_volestrangler	Aug 2012	#10
Fascinating. I love the whole cloak and dagger aspect of this!	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#15
funny..I had the same OJ cavalcade in mind. Who knows how this will play out	Swagman	Aug 2012	#57
I think they'd have to make him a diplomat to the United Nations	muriel_volestrangler	Aug 2012	#9
From the sound of it,	dipsydoodle	Aug 2012	#11
A large crate like you mention would solve the problem.	cstanleytech	Aug 2012	#13
No, they probably could open it - see the legal blog linked in #9	muriel_volestrangler	Aug 2012	#14
Tatoo Assange with a diplomatic message.	HooptieWagon	Aug 2012	#53
He'd be unlikely to qualify as a UN member representative before the UN seated him as such,	struggle4progress	Aug 2012	#116
Not legal according to international law	hack89	Aug 2012	#19
yeah thats what i thought too, we have seen lots of diplomats lose their accreditation over the year	loli phabay	Aug 2012	#55
K&R	midnight	Aug 2012	#3
Not necessarily.	Daemonaquila	Aug 2012	#4
Well, they could always smuggle him out of the country in a trunk.	MADem	Aug 2012	#8
Ecuador says Britain threatened to raid embassy over Assange	muriel_volestrangler	Aug 2012	#12
Those two women in Sweden could recant. And end this!	robinlynne	Aug 2012	#17
What if they think they were raped?	hack89	Aug 2012	#21
Assange has not been charged with anything. Rape has not been established	Swagman	Aug 2012	#25
Being a fugitive from justice is a crime - he has two valid arrest warrants he is running from.	hack89	Aug 2012	#27
Mohammed al-Zari and Ahmed Agiza	tama	Aug 2012	#40
They don't think they were raped n/t	tama	Aug 2012	#39
and their lawyers say they have. They do not want charges. All they wanted was for Julian	Swagman	Aug 2012	#26
You can't go to the prosecutors, describe a rape, and then ask the prosecutor not to investigate	hack89	Aug 2012	#29
You are aware that rape charges have been used to lynch many black men in the US?	ronwelldobbs	Aug 2012	#37
but they did not describe a rape.	robinlynne	Aug 2012	#41
According to the prosecutors they did.	hack89	Aug 2012	#43
a broken condom during consentual sex?	robinlynne	Aug 2012	#46
Suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion - according to a Swedish arrest warrant.	hack89	Aug 2012	#48
Sounds to me like he's being accused of being an inconsiderate lover.	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#49
European countries don't have mediveal rape laws like America	hack89	Aug 2012	#59
the law in question is actually pretty much the same everywhere	reorg	Aug 2012	#68
On the other hand	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#72
Not being Swedish I don't know where they draw the line	hack89	Aug 2012	#73
Actually , there aren't "four charges in all". There are four allegations	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#75
There is a valid arrest warrant with four charges. Things changed when he ran.	hack89	Aug 2012	#77
Thanks for the correction.	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#79
you mean: since you cannot demonstrate that such charges have ever been brought	reorg	Aug 2012	#82
NO! What matters is what the women say!	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#74
What about the rights of the rapist's next victim?	hack89	Aug 2012	#76
This is about Assange who is not a rapist. Full stop. The women don't fear him or feel he's a threat	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#78
We were talking about the general case	hack89	Aug 2012	#84
Ah, so much revealed with that little word "we". Who's "we" hack?	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#87
He means "we" in its first person singular sense of course...	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#90
I know, just ensuring I don't worry my pretty little head about it...	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#91
I thought you said that in every case it was the woman's decision	hack89	Aug 2012	#95
So you think I don't get to make my own decisions?	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#97
If there is clear evidence that a crime has been committed the government has to act	hack89	Aug 2012	#100
Okay so we're clear. You believe women aren't entitled to that control	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#102
The smell of paint in that corner must be getting overpowering by now... nt	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#105
What if there was an eyewitness?	hack89	Aug 2012	#106
I asked you 7 questions in my post. You didn't answer any of them. Not one.	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#107
Kind of awkward for you I know.	hack89	Aug 2012	#109
Actually more awkward for you since you aren't answering me. A paste from #110	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#111
Even more crickets hack89.... answer me why you get to be the sex patrol	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#114
violent? the condom broke. violent?	robinlynne	Aug 2012	#130
You really need to read the four actual charges.	hack89	Aug 2012	#131
I wish there was a way to K&R your post.	idwiyo	Aug 2012	#124
back to baseless slander, I see	reorg	Aug 2012	#81
When they make official.statements that describe rape	hack89	Aug 2012	#88
The government does NOT get to tell me what's going on with my own body!	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#92
well, the Stockholm prosecutor Eva Finné disagrees with you	reorg	Aug 2012	#104
Is Assange a "rapist"? I thought that would require one of three things:	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#83
I was addressing the general case not Assange specifically.	hack89	Aug 2012	#85
"Addressing the general case" in this case amounts to a smear by association	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#89
When a poster says that it should always be left up to the woman	hack89	Aug 2012	#93
I really want to know why you think its a "bad idea" for women to define their own	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#94
Because if there is clear and convincing evidence that a rape actually took place	hack89	Aug 2012	#98
What clear and convincing evidence do you think you would have?	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#101
An eyewitness. A bystander that witnessed the rape and intervened.	hack89	Aug 2012	#108
Eyewitness accounts are wrong at least 50% of the time	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#110
Crickets hack89. Asked you to respond hours ago. Crickets.... nt	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#113
There is not clear and convincing evidence that rape took place. Remember, the woman went back for	robinlynne	Aug 2012	#132
I wasn't specifically addressing the Assange case	hack89	Aug 2012	#134
We are all addressing the Assange case.This OP is all about the Assange case.	robinlynne	Aug 2012	#135
The sub thread veered into the general	hack89	Aug 2012	#136
It's a grey area. Take domestic violence, for example	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#96
Very rare for a DV case to go forward without the woman's cooperation	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#99
That makes sense - a successful prosecution requires evidence after all	GliderGuider	Aug 2012	#103
The women don't call it rape, they didn't want to press charges	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#51
When they make official statements to the police that describe rape according to Swedish law	hack89	Aug 2012	#60
Police ignore crimes all the time! Sweden has some of the worst rape prosecution rates in the EU	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#62
Is your argument really 'the police ignore crimes all the time, so they should ignore this' n/t	Bodhi BloodWave	Aug 2012	#63
Yes, because that's what the women want. Who are you, or anyone! to tell them what to do	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#64
i'm sure rich people everywhere are thanking you currently	Bodhi BloodWave	Aug 2012	#115
The women in this case, the supposed "victims", say there's no crime!	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#117
we don't know what assange supporters might have done shrugs	Bodhi BloodWave	Aug 2012	#118
So you are for slut shaming by the state, that you + them get to be the arbiters of consensual sex	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#119
considering i took a look at the article you posted in another thread	Bodhi BloodWave	Aug 2012	#120
So the evil patriarch strikes again?	hack89	Aug 2012	#65
So the short summer of love with Feminism is over?	reorg	Aug 2012	#67
Gender equality and the MIC can coexist perfectly	hack89	Aug 2012	#69
sure	reorg	Aug 2012	#70
So only "despicable, sexist, voyeuristic men" think Assange may have committed rape? Really. nt	hack89	Aug 2012	#66
No, they are the ones who are forcing and using these women in this power play,	riderinthestorm	Aug 2012	#71
They have	tama	Aug 2012	#38
perhaps you wil find Assange left the Embassy weeks ago in the trunk of a car	Swagman	Aug 2012	#23
he spoke live from the embassy window on Sunday with news reporters from all around the world taping	robinlynne	Aug 2012	#133
So will continue to be a guest of the embassy indefinitely.	David__77	Aug 2012	#42
then all should be revealed about the corruption that is dragging this world down	fascisthunter	Aug 2012	#50
Things happen over time...things change	lovuian	Aug 2012	#80
Why doesn't Obama call off his attack dogs? Obviously.. its the U.S. who wants Assange...	lib2DaBone	Aug 2012	#112
Majority of American want to see people behind Wikileaks prosecuted	tama	Aug 2012	#121
Unasur backs Ecuador's asylum offer to Assange	cqo_000	Aug 2012	#122
Good for them and thank you for posting this	idwiyo	Aug 2012	#125
Guess I mised their call......	djean111	Aug 2012	#126
Not an easy case for DU	tama	Aug 2012	#127
If all of this pounding about Assange is to ensure DU will support Obama no matter what....	djean111	Aug 2012	#128
Assange should not be "prosecuted for Wikileaks"	SylviaD	Aug 2012	#129

Response to Purveyor (Original post)

Wed Aug 15, 2012, 03:40 PM

Jumping John (930 posts)

1. If the US wants him he can be gotten no matter where he hides. National Security and all. The US

can also buy or blackmail Ecuador into doing whatever - that's the American way.

Assange Faces Arrest Even If Ecuador Grants Asylum

1. If the US wants him he can be gotten no matter where he hides. National Security and all. The US

2. Not if Ecuador gave him diplomatic status.

5. I said that on another thread and nobody answered me.

6. There is a difference between granting someone asylum and granting them Diplomatic Status...

7. I understand but I believe the US would have no problem pissing off Ecuador to grab Assange

16. Can one country grant someone from another country, a non citizen, who is in a third country,

18. Why not? nt

20. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations says no

22. I am sure you personally would raid the Embassy on behalf of the USA seeing you seem to hate

24. No - I think accused rapists should not flee arrest.

35. Limeys shooting their way into an embassy isn't going to win them any friends either.

44. They won't do that.

52. If he goes to Sweden they will hand him over to the US and

61. He has been walking free for two years

123. You know that Manning has been seen right?

86. They were going to find SOMETHING to hang on him - rape? Perfect.

28. I was just about to ask about making him an Ecuadorean citizen.... nt

30. Ecuador does not recognize dual citizenship - he would have to relinquish his Australian passport

31. I believe he'd do that. Wouldn't you?

32. But their laws don't allow him to become a citizen

33. I believe the Brits have now virtually assured it happening with the threat of invading

34. That's a bet I would be willing to take

36. Correa might not do anything but ordinary citizens in Ecuador can . . .

45. So Ecuadorians are a violent people? That surprises me.

54. yeah great, you think saying to the UK let him go or we will taget your citizens will work

47. COOL. I hope they make him a citizen then!

56. I believe the order granting asylum included making Assange an Ecuadorian citizen

58. I don't think it did. Ecuador would have to violate their own citizenship laws to do so. nt

10. The embassy is not a 'compound'; it's a set of rooms in a block

15. Fascinating. I love the whole cloak and dagger aspect of this!

57. funny..I had the same OJ cavalcade in mind. Who knows how this will play out

9. I think they'd have to make him a diplomat to the United Nations

11. From the sound of it,

13. A large crate like you mention would solve the problem.

14. No, they probably could open it - see the legal blog linked in #9

53. Tatoo Assange with a diplomatic message.

116. He'd be unlikely to qualify as a UN member representative before the UN seated him as such,

19. Not legal according to international law

55. yeah thats what i thought too, we have seen lots of diplomats lose their accreditation over the year

3. K&R

4. Not necessarily.

8. Well, they could always smuggle him out of the country in a trunk.

12. Ecuador says Britain threatened to raid embassy over Assange

17. Those two women in Sweden could recant. And end this!

21. What if they think they were raped?

25. Assange has not been charged with anything. Rape has not been established

27. Being a fugitive from justice is a crime - he has two valid arrest warrants he is running from.

40. Mohammed al-Zari and Ahmed Agiza

39. They don't think they were raped n/t

26. and their lawyers say they have. They do not want charges. All they wanted was for Julian

29. You can't go to the prosecutors, describe a rape, and then ask the prosecutor not to investigate

37. You are aware that rape charges have been used to lynch many black men in the US?

41. but they did not describe a rape.

43. According to the prosecutors they did.

46. a broken condom during consentual sex?

48. Suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion - according to a Swedish arrest warrant.

49. Sounds to me like he's being accused of being an inconsiderate lover.

59. European countries don't have mediveal rape laws like America

68. the law in question is actually pretty much the same everywhere

72. On the other hand

73. Not being Swedish I don't know where they draw the line

75. Actually , there aren't "four charges in all". There are four *allegations*

77. There is a valid arrest warrant with four charges. Things changed when he ran.

79. Thanks for the correction.

82. you mean: since you cannot demonstrate that such charges have ever been brought

74. NO! What matters is what the women say!

76. What about the rights of the rapist's next victim?

78. This is about Assange who is not a rapist. Full stop. The women don't fear him or feel he's a threat

84. We were talking about the general case

87. Ah, so much revealed with that little word "we". Who's "we" hack?

90. He means "we" in its first person singular sense of course...

91. I know, just ensuring I don't worry my pretty little head about it...

95. I thought you said that in every case it was the woman's decision

97. So you think I don't get to make my own decisions?

100. If there is clear evidence that a crime has been committed the government has to act

102. Okay so we're clear. You believe women aren't entitled to that control

105. The smell of paint in that corner must be getting overpowering by now... nt

106. What if there was an eyewitness?

107. I asked you 7 questions in my post. You didn't answer any of them. Not one.

75. Actually , there aren't "four charges in all". There are four allegations

118. we don't know what assange supporters might have done shrugs