UK court rejects Assange's bid

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PUBLISHED: February 13, 2018 at 2:34 pm
UPDATED: February 13, 2018 at 2:35 pm
By Karla Adam and William Booth | Washington Post

... "I find arrest is a proportionate response even though Mr. Assange has restricted his own freedom for a number of years," the judge said.

"Defendants on bail up and down the country, and requested persons facing extradition, come to court to face the consequences of their own choices,” she said. “He should have the courage to do the same. It is certainly not against the public interest to proceed" ...

"I accept that Mr. Assange had expressed fears of being returned to the United States from a very early stage in the Swedish extradition proceedings but, absent any evidence from Mr. Assange on oath, I do not find that Mr. Assange’s fears were reasonable."

The judge added that she does "not accept that Sweden would have rendered Mr. Assange to the United States" and risk touching off a diplomatic crisis ...

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/13/uk-court-rejects-assanges-bid-for-freedom/

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1. Assange's health could be worse

5:42am Feb 14, 2018
KEY QUOTES FROM JUDGE EMMA ARBUTHNOT'S JUDGMENT:

... "I have read the medical reports. Mr Assange is fortunately in relatively good physical health. He has a serious tooth problem and is in need of dental treatment and needs an MRI scan on a shoulder which has been described as frozen. I accept he has depression and suffers respiratory infections. Mr Sommers [Mark Sommers QC, Assange's lawyer] contends he has been punished enough. I do not accept there is no sunlight; there are a number of photographs of him on a balcony connected to the premises he inhabits. Mr Assange's health problems could be much worse."

* ON THE U.N. WORKING GROUP FINDING OF ARBITARY DETENTION:

"It is true that he has restricted freedom in the Ecuadorian embassy, but there is a distinction between being held in Wandsworth Prison and living in the embassy. Firstly, he can leave the embassy whenever he wishes; secondly, he is free to receive, it would seem, an unlimited number of visitors and those visits are not supervised; thirdly, he can choose the food he eats, the time he sleeps and exercises. He can sit on the balcony (I accept probably observed by the police and his supporters) to take the air. He is not locked in at night. Importantly for a man who spends a great deal of time on his computer, he is free to use multimedia, whether his computer or a mobile telephone, in a way that prisoners are not allowed to do. I suspect if one were to ask one of the men incarcerated in Wandsworth Prison whether conditions in the Ecuadorian embassy were akin to a remand in custody, the prisoner would dispute the Working Group's assertion ...

https://www.9news.com.au/world/2018/02/14/06/12/assange-s-health-could-be-worse-uk-court

[spooky3]

6. Frozen shoulders are no big deal. A physical therapist can help him. Can they not send a dentist

to the embassy or release him only to go to the dentist? Sounds as if he has the typical complaints of someone his age.

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2. Assange has one of his worst days

By Europe correspondent Lisa Millar
Updated about an hour ago

... "The impression I have, and this may well be dispelled if and when Mr Assange finally appears in court, is that he is a man who wants to impose his terms on the course of justice, whether the course of justice is in this jurisdiction or in Sweden," Ms Arbuthnot read from her prepared ruling ...

... Assange .. appears to be running out of options to leave the Ecuadorian embassy and not face arrest.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-14/julian-assange-one-of-his-worst-days/9444888

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3. Judge upholds UK arrest warrant

Feb 13, 2018 Updated 2 hrs ago

... Judge Emma Arbuthnot said Tuesday that by jumping bail in 2012 Assange had made "a determined attempt to avoid the order of the court."

She said Assange "appears to consider himself above the normal rules of law and wants justice only if it goes in his favor" ...

http://tucson.com/news/world/the-latest-judge-upholds-uk-arrest-warrant-for-assange/article_63f9298a-0697-5982-8e0b-85b0bf0402b1.html

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4. British judge upholds arrest warrant

Today 05:35 am JST
By Robin MILLARD

... Ecuador in December granted citizenship to the Australian-born Assange, and asked Britain to recognise him as a diplomat in an unsuccessful attempt to provide him with the immunity that could see him walk free.

But London swiftly rejected the move.

https://japantoday.com/category/world/assange-loses-new-bid-to-cancel-uk-arrest-warrant

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5. Arrest warrant is upheld

NEW YORK TIMES
PUBLISHED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018 AT 5:00 PM

... On Feb. 6, Arbuthnot rebuffed a claim by Assange’s lawyer, Mark Summers, that the warrant was void because it stemmed from a Swedish extradition request that has since been withdrawn.

On Tuesday, she rejected the argument that the warrant was contrary to the public interest, saying that Assange’s “failure to surrender has impeded the court of justice."

Summers gave no immediate public response ...

Arbuthnot dismissed the United Nations group’s finding as ill informed. The British authorities have said in the past that Assange is in self-imposed isolation, not detention ...

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/national/julian-assanges-arrest-warrant-is-upheld-by-uk-judge-20180213

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7. Arrest warrant upheld by judge

Wednesday, 14 February 2018

... There is no public record or evidence demonstrating any US criminal charges are pending against Assange, but he and his supporters believe US prosecutors could have a sealed, therefore secret, indictment against him ...

... Arbuthnot said that should the United States seek Assange's extradition, he would be able to challenge that in the courts by raising issues such as whether he could get a fair trial and whether US prison conditions were acceptable.

"The courts would consider, with the assistance of Mr Assange's lawyers and expert witnesses, whether he should be extradited," she said.

The judge also said she had to take into account the impact on public confidence in the British criminal justice system should Assange be allowed to avoid a warrant for his arrest by staying out of reach of the police for years ...

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/assange-arrest-warrant-upheld-judge

[Gothmog]

8. Arresting Julian Assange is a priority, says US attorney general Jeff Sessions

Assange needs to go to jail https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/apr/21/arresting-julian-assange-is-a-priority-says-us-attorney-general-jeff-sessions

The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is now a “priority” for the US, the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has said.

Hours later it was reported by CNN that authorities have prepared charges against Assange, who is currently holed up at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Donald Trump lavished praise on the anti-secrecy website during the presidential election campaign – “I love WikiLeaks,” he once told a rally – but his administration has struck a different tone.

Asked whether it was a priority for the justice department to arrest Assange “once and for all”, Sessions told a press conference in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday: “We are going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks. This is a matter that’s gone beyond anything I’m aware of. We have professionals that have been in the security business of the United States for many years that are shocked by the number of leaks and some of them are quite serious.”

He added: “So yes, it is a priority. We’ve already begun to step up our efforts and whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail.”

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9. "I love Wikileaks"

[Gothmog]

10. Because Putin and Wikileaks help him get elected

[Blue_Tires]

11. Good to see so many zombie myths finally get buried.