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WIKILEAKS FOUNDER JULIAN Assange has lost his legal battle to overturn a British arrest warrant against him, and with it his hopes of freely leaving Ecuador’s London embassy where he has been holed up since 2012.
In a court in the British capital, Judge Emma Arbuthnot rejected his lawyers’ argument that upholding the warrant was no longer in the public interest.
“I find arrest is a proportionate response even though Mr Assange has restricted his own freedom for a number of years,” she said.
Assange was awaiting extradition to Sweden over a 2010 investigation into claims of rape and sexual assault when he breached his bail conditions to seek refuge in the embassy.
Sweden dropped its investigation last year, but the British warrant for his arrest for jumping bail remains, meaning he would be detained as soon as he steps outside.
The judge rejected claims that Assange was suffering from his confinement, saying: “Mr Assange’s health problems could be much worse.”
She had last week rejected claims by Assange’s team that the warrant was rendered null-and-void because there was no longer any underlying crime.
Assange says he fears his arrest could lead to his extradition to the United States over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret US military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year said his arrest was a “priority”.
But the judge rejected this, adding:
He appears to consider himself above the normal rules of law and wants justice only if it goes in his favour.
Gareth Peirce, one of Assange’s lawyers, told AFP it would be possible to appeal against the judge’s decision, but she said this had not yet been decided.
‘Akin to imprisonment’
Assange wrote on Twitter before the hearing that his latest legal argument hinged on an alleged “cover-up” by the British government to keep him detained.
He highlighted newspaper report which quoted emails sent by Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to Swedish counterparts in 2012, urging them not to drop their application for a European arrest warrant.
In the emails, a CPS lawyer apparently commented on a 2012 article saying that Sweden was dropping the case by writing: “Don’t you dare get cold feet!”
Swedish prosecutors told the CPS in 2013 that they “felt obliged” to lift the warrant, but only announced last year that it had finally been dropped.
The CPS also admitted it destroyed emails relating to the case after the lawyer handling the British response retired in 2014.
Ecuador’s foreign ministry said it wants to reach a solution with Britain that satisfies both sides and respects Assange’s human rights.
Assange’s lawyer Mark Summers said his client had been living in conditions “akin to imprisonment” and his “psychological health” has deteriorated and was “in serious peril”.
The court heard that the 46-year-old was suffering from a bad tooth, a frozen shoulder and depression.
Assange only very rarely emerges onto the balcony of the embassy building, citing concerns for his personal safety, but he frequently takes part in media conferences and campaigns via video link.
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.
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Far left
@Seamus Balfe: That’s what we need more of.
They are having a slash against the wind
Far Left vs Far Right, Muslim population wanting their own laws, France is on the edge & will be the first European country to descend into chaos. Macron warning about Putin & the Far Right, when the fact is, he failed the French people in his terms of office & France has splintered since under his watch. Putin doesn’t have to consider invading Europe, as it will destroy itself from within, led by incompetent leaders like Macron. Amazing how the Far Left are seen as acceptable, even the French Communist party, considering the history of Communism & the massacres inflicted on people.
@SV3tN8M4: I see reactions from people who are unaware that policies on climate modelling or immigration are influenced by the academic community acting through social politics.
Left and right politics are governed by forces people do not sufficiently appreciate. Even though the combination of civil laws and laws of nature (Enlightenment) was meant to replace monarchies and church hierarchies, it was based on awful foundations in the late 17th century.
We inherit the worst and most unstable part of that subculture with many as victims.
A win of RN seems inevitable and that’s a good thing.
White flag
The new Netflix doc about the Nazi’s – ‘Evil on Trial’ is really good, even if you’ve seen a lot on the subject already. We can never have enough ‘timely reminders’ about what happened. Right now it really is timely. So many of the same things are being said, spouted and dispersed but on a much larger scale. The disinformation is turbo charged.
One of the main things that comes across is how much disbelief there is within the larger more apathetic populace. They assume there will be enough safeguards in place and that authoritarians aren’t fully serious when they clearly tell you what they are going to do if put in a position of power.
There’s lots of incredible footage that really drives home (once again) how easily people are caught up in frenzies, if it looks like a large enough crowd are behind a movement.
You can see the seeds being planted here with all of the obvious accounts that are there to pump one part of the Irish media with far right ideas on top of X/Twitter, Facebook and all the rest. There’s so many lies being told and as ever with the far right all your problems will allegedly be solved by getting rid of a certain group of people. As if. Simple ‘solutions’ for the simple minded. You might be annoyed about current problems in your society but far right is never ever the way to go.
@SerotoninWars: or have a look at the tattooist of austwhich
Good. Keep the demons out.
I for one think that The Judaen People’s Front are better than The People’s Front of Judea!
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