Assange wants guarantee he won’t be sent to the US

After a week holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said he is prepared to go to Sweden for questioning in a sexual assault case – but only if he is guaranteed that he won’t be extradited to the United States.

The Australian-born whistleblowing boss made a last-resort bid for freedom last week, when he arrived at the Ecuadorian embassy and asked for political asylum. His request is now being considered by that country’s president, and the ambassador has been recalled for consultations as well.

Assange and most of his supporters believe that once he arrives in Sweden, he will be extradited to the United States, as Washington wants to pursue him for revealing sensitive information about US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is also the matter of thousands of leaked diplomatic cables, which have put the US in an uncomfortable position with its allies and partners worldwide.

Assange said that “if the US were to guarantee [it would] drop the grand jury investigation and any further investigation of WikiLeaks’ publishing activity, that would be an important guarantee… diplomatic commitments do have some weight.”

Until a decision is made about his asylum application, Ecuador says he will remain under its protection. But Assange faces arrest for breaching the terms of his bail if he leaves the West London building.

Correa on Assange asylum: We will seek other countries' opinions

Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa speaks during press conference in Quito.

Julian Assange’s bid for political asylum is being closely discussed with "other governments involved," Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said, adding that shaping a decision may take longer than first thought.

­"We don't wish to offend anyone, least of all a country we hold in such deep regard as the United Kingdom," Correa said on Friday. “We are going to have to discuss with and seek the opinions of other countries.”

It is too early to talk about a “safe passage” out of the country for Assange, since the final decision has not yet been made, President Correa added.

The WikiLeaks founder arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London seeking political asylum four days ago, breaking the conditions of his bail. British police are determined to arrest him as soon as he steps out of the front door of the embassy, whether he is granted asylum or not.

In an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp radio on Friday, Assange accused Washington of building a plot to bring him to the US. Assange hoped his dramatic move would at least “draw attention to the underlying issues," as the Australian government had made an "effective declaration of abandonment" by not intervening in British court procedures.

Rejecting reports that the decision on granting asylum might be expected soon, President Correa acknowledged that Ecuador will take all the time necessary to verify the reasons presented by Assange.

“Ecuador is a country which defends the right to life,” he said. “We have to see whether there is a threat to Julian Assange's life."

Sweden, UK dragging feet while US drums up case against me - Assange

The following article is from Russian Media, a country that completely ignores the Human Rights and Freedom of Speech of all its own citizens.

 

Whistleblower Julian Assange has accused the UK and Sweden of conspiring to trap him in England while US authorities make a legal case against him. He said the Australian government has abandoned him by refusing to intervene in his extradition.

In a live interview from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London with Australian Broadcasting Corp radio he stressed that Washington is hatching a plot to bring him to the US.

“The situation for me here in the UK has been extremely precarious and the refusal by the Swedish prosecutor to come to the UK for the past 18 months – despite that being absolutely normal procedure – and the refusal of her to explain it in any manner whatsoever to the British courts, has kept me trapped in the United Kingdom, while the United States has prepared its case against me,” the Australian said to ABC.

He added that the Australian government had made an "effective declaration of abandonment" as at no point did it intervene in UK court procedures.

He leveled criticism at Australian PM Julia Gillard for her “slimy rhetoric” with the US ambassador to Australia and categorically denied receiving any help from his country’s diplomatic mission as had been suggested.

The WikiLeaks founder arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Tuesday in a new twist in his on-going battle against extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes.

Assange, 40, maintains that the accusations set against him are politically motivated and said he hoped his dramatic actions “will simply draw attention to the underlying issues."

He has voiced concerns that his extradition to Sweden would be the first step towards a possible transfer to US jurisdiction.

Once in the US, he could face a similar fate to fellow whistleblower Bradley Manning, currently on trial with a potential court martial in the cards.

He said the American authorities had been carefully skirting around the issue of his possible extradition to the US.

“Their careful statements reflect that the [US] Department of Justice is not able to formally confirm or deny the existence of the grand jury – it's a policy with all grand juries.”

Assange stressed legal action was being taken against him by the US, insisting “the evidence is everywhere.”

He alluded to the detention of two people in an American airport last month, who he said were interrogated by the FBI.

“They ask questions about me and my organization, asked [them] to become informers,” Assange told ABC.

The UK Supreme Court denied Assange’s application to reopen the extradition case against him last Thursday. The whistleblower could potentially delay his removal to Sweden by making an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Assange provoked the fury of the US government by releasing thousands of classified diplomatic cables through Wikileaks. Aggressive rhetoric among American politicians has branded him a terrorist and calls for him to be treated as such.

‘Deliver him to Guantanamo to torture and imprisonment’

Bob Ellis, author and political commentator told RT that the purpose of Sweden’s extradition order had “nothing to do” with the allegations against Assange. He added that had the Swedish authorities been convinced by the allegations of sexual abuse “they would have charged him.”

“They are in collusion with the Americans to deliver him to Guantanamo to torture and imprisonment and probably death,” said Ellis.

Referring to the delay in the decision around whether to grant Assange asylum in Ecuador, Ellis suggested that it was to allow the whistleblower time to negotiate peace with the Australian government to bring him home.

The Ecuadorian government was due to make a decision on Assange’s asylum on Thursday, meanwhile the whistleblower is confined to the country’s embassy in London. If he leaves he faces arrest by UK police for violating his bail conditions.

Sweden’s patchy record

Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis told RT it would be significantly easier for the US to get its hands on Assange once he is in Sweden.

She highlighted the fact that Sweden does not have a good track record when it comes to pandering to US demands.

“Sweden has covertly handed over people to the US before, those people were tortured and in the end it was a case of mistaken identity,” she told RT. (She is unable to provide any prove to this statement)

The UN ruled that the country had violated the global ban on torture in 2006 after it aided the CIA in handing over two asylum-seekers to Egypt. Both refugees were brutally tortured and were eventually found to be innocent of charges of terrorism.