Very odd behaviour if you ask me, running to a central-american embassy to seek asylum from a western European country.

I'm still not sure how Sweden has suddenly come to be seen as more of a puppet of the US than the UK, especially given that any ultimate deportation decision would end up in the European courts whether the US attempted to deport him from either Sweden or the UK.

I'm also not sure why his supporters continue to act as though the potential charges he faces in Sweden have been fabricated by the authorities solely to get him to a country where the chances of deportation wouldn't seem particularly higher than from the UK. There may well be a couple of women in Sweden who have genuine reasons for wanting to see him brought to face court.

If he's broken the law, he should face the consequences, and if that consequence is the death penalty then he made his own bed. He comes across as an arrogant tw@ that thought he wouldn't get caught.

Agreed with both.

It just comes across as trying to evade the law in any desperate way. And trying to paint Sweden as some kind of US puppet with a corrupt, bent judiciary is just daft and doesn't help his case.

He's clearly got a lot to hide on both scores. I really don't know why he's not been convicted of terrorism for releasing the information he did. Stick him in the Bay and then let Sweden have what's left.

Agree with all of the above. I can't understand though why a journalist would want to flee to a country which is famous for persecuting journalists? Or why someone who supposedly stands us for justice is trying to evade questioning by the Swedish authorities in relation to serious crimes?

What's more interesting though is what will happen if he is granted asylum by Ecuador. The Met will arrest him the second he steps outside the embassy and the RAF has confirmed that no helicopter will be allowed to leave the vicinity.

My opinion FWIW is that if Assange is recognised as a refugee by the Ecuadorian government then he will be suddenly be made a some kind of attachee and thus be able to flee the UK under the cloak of diplomatic immunity.

I don't know the ins and out of diplomatic protection etc but I think in basic terms an Ecuadorian diplomatic car is just like an extension of the embassy and so couldn't (without causing a diplomatic incident) be stopped by British Police. Whether Ecuador would want to annoy Britain, the US, the EU and Sweden all at once though, I don't know.

AFAIK diplomatic cars are NOT an extension of the embassy. Recognised diplomatic staff can exercise diplomatic immunity anywhere in their host country but diplomatic vehicles do not have such benefits.

Even if they did, and this may sound silly, Assange would still have to physically exit the building to get into a car. The Met are on the doorstep and would apprehend him before he even had the door opened for him.

Why don't the Yanks send over a helicopter gunship to patrol the sky above the Ecuadorian embassy just in case he tries to make a run for it? Mind if there's any photographers waiting outside the embassy I hope their cameras don't look like rifles.

Can you explain to me whose law he has broken?
As he's in the UK, I'd like you to tell me which UK law he has broken, and if he has why hasn't he been charged in the UK?

If the Swedes want to extradite him, perhaps they should charge him first. He hasn't been charged with an offence in Sweden.

On the other hand you can always bend down on your knees to the mighty US of A whenever they ask you to.

I'm no expert on extradition matters but I'm not sure the Swedes have to charge him in order to undertake a lawful extradition. It depends on the treaty.

I do know that it has reached the highest UK court and that the Swedes were found to have a lawful claim to him.

Nobody should be extradited on suspicion that they may have committed a crime unless they have been charged. The Swedes only want to question him. This is a stitch up.

By the way I think Assange is a creep.

So what if the two women in Sweden [ihave[/i been sexually assaulted? So far, the Swedish authorities only have the testimony of the victims. Is that enough to charge Assange? No. Even if they had DNA, without a sample from Assange they don't have enough to charge him. All they want to do is ask him questions and give himself the chance to clear his name.

But Assange doesn't want to do this. I do not doubt he fears extradition to the US, but in the interest of justice (what he supposedly campaigns for) he should at least avail himself to questioning.

ok, then.

USA, USA, USA.

For heavens's sake, he HAS NOT BEEN CHARGED WITH AN OFFENCE. Therefore he should not be eligile for extradition.
Our court system has been shown to be supine again when it comes to the mighty US of A. And don't try to pretend we are not treating Sweden as a proxy.

So anyone who skips the country having committed a serious criminal offence cannot be questioned and thus have to be charged?

Yes.
That would be a good start. Better than extradition on suspicion. What do you think? By all means the Swedes could come over here and convince a judge there is a case to answer and have him charged. If not, no, no, no - we have a pretty good justice system, so they can get lost.

Oh, and by the way it's ALLEGEDLY. Innocent until proven guilty.

I'm going to take a guess at the reason being he's not a terrorist. As far as I know he's never even been suspected of terrorism never mind charged or convicted of such.

Isn't it a European Arrest Warrant that's been applied for/obtained, not extradition?

Think you're correct. All they have so far is allegations made by the women, very serious allegations and he should go to Sweden and answer them. Think the problem is, that these allegations only came to light after Wickileaks leaked the secret info and Assange is smelling a rat. It isn't just the yanks who would like to see the back of him, he's seems to have upset all of the major powers so his nose might just be right.

The Yanks want him and will maybe get him through extraordinary rendition.

Have you ever heard my rendition of a selection from Maid of the Mountains?

Barak Obama will personally lead Seal Team 6 to take care of business! "Yo, Assange, I'm gonna pop a cap in your Australian ass - and not in a nice way motherfu**r!"

Book, TV movie deal (I see Ice T as the President, Paul O'Grady as Assange, Steven Segal as leader of Team 6), big budget movie deal (Samual L Jackson as the President, John Malkovich as Assange, Matt Damon as leader of Team 6), Wayans Brothers parody (Marlon Wayans as the President, Andy Dick as Assange, Pamela Anderson as the leader of Team 6).

It's all gold.

He what serious criminal offence has he been proved to have committed?


Its a pretty ridiculous state of affairs, we have the Swedes wanting him for something he may or may not have done, they havent bothered to actually look at that yet but they believe he should up root and travel to Sweden just to put their minds at rest

and the USA wanting to pretend their law and jurisdiction extends across the entire world.

If Sweden dont want to charge him, why not just send two detectives to question him in this country?

I find it quite strange people are willing to forcibly extradite someone to another country on the basis of evidence which wouldnt even justify an arrest in this one.

Its sad how blase people are about other peoples freedom.

I'm fairly sure being accused of rape in this country would end up with an arrest even if released afterwards. People are arrested "on suspicion" all the time.

But they need to have a suspicion. There is a difference between 'on suspicion' and just an accusation.

You would think nearly two years after the accusation was made the Swedish authorities would have gathered some evidence, especially considering he has already been interviewed and the arrest warrant withdrawn once "I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape," says one of Stockholm's chief prosecutors, Eva Finne.