Wikileaks editor in chief Julian Assange is still a refugee at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Assange is suspected of sexual misconduct in Sweden. He has yet not been charged with anything. His case has already been dismissed by one Swedish prosecutor — but reopened by another, issuing an European Arrest Warrant to have him interrogated in Sweden. British courts allowed extradition to Sweden, despite Assange fearing that the Swedes might hand him over to the US. (Where a grand jury apparently is preparing a case against him.) Then, Assange jumped bail and was granted political asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy.
I will leave the substance of the Swedish case aside in this blog post. But I can tell you, it’s very thin.
Now the statutory time period for charging Assange with the lesser of the alleged crimes in Sweden is running out. (Other parts of the investigation will remain open for another five years.)
For years Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny has refused to conduct an interview with Assange i London. (Even before his escape to the Ecuadorean embassy.) She claimed that it cannot be done, that Swedish prosecutors cannot do that. That was a plain lie. (Hell, even I have been interviewed by a Swedish prosecutor abroad.) Swedish courts and even the British government have urged Ms Ny to have this done and over with.
Finally, Friday June 12:th this summer, Swedish authorities sent a letter to the Ecuadorean embassy in Sweden — asking for an interview with Assange in London only five days later (including the weekend). To no surprise the embassy in Stockholm, the Ecuadorean government and their embassy in London did not manage to coordinate this in just a few days. So there was no interview.
Now the investigation of the suspected crimes of a lesser degree will be closed. Julian Assange will still be suspected of wrongdoing, in the public view. But not able to clear his name (in these parts) anymore. At the same time the investigations of the remaining suspected crimes will stay open, the European Arrest Warrant will still be in force and Assange will still be stuck at the embassy in London.
A perfect way for various governments to keep an inconvenient journalist in limbo, if you ask me.
/ HAX
That’s sort of inconsistent since the obvious way to clear his name would be for Assange to appear in Sweden and cooperate with the criminal investigation. That he has refused to do for no obvious reason. Hiding in the UK is not the best way to avoid US agencies.
The question now is if Ecuador even wants a hearing. The conditions raised by Ecuador indicates they are not.
// Johan Tjäder
Your real name is Clas Borgström or maybe Göran Lambertz, isn’t it, you ****** liar? Assange is even less guilty than Thomas Quick, you ***** machiavellian inquisitor! Pretty much every word you write is straight out verifiable bollocks!
He is cooperating! It’s the prosecutors who are not cooperating. Since he invited them to interview him at the embassy, they carried out over 40 such interviews in the UK alone.
The Uk not being the best place to avoid US agencies is actually not incorrect! Congratulations! It’s just such an utterly stupid comment, since it’s totally irrelevant.
First of all, he is actually on Ecuadorian territory, thus not in UK. Second, he didn’t really have a lot of options, did he? However, you do seem stupid enough to think he is enjoying his stay there.
The question now is what you, you stupid ****, think Equador benfits from Assange remainig at the embassy?