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Julian Assange: Sweden suspends rape investigation

S

Shiggy

Member
Speaking on Friday, Sweden’s director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, said she had “today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding suspected rape (lesser degree) by Julian Assange”.

“At this point, all possibilities to conduct the investigation are exhausted. In order to proceed with the case, Julian Assange would have to be formally notified of the criminal suspicions against him. We cannot expect to receive assistance from Ecuador regarding this. Therefore the investigation is discontinued.

“If he, at a later date, makes himself available, I will be able to decide to resume the investigation immediately.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/swedish-prosecutors-drop-julian-assange-investigation
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
Acosta said:
Oh, surprise...

3a0.gif


Good job stealing those 7 years out of him.
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Nobody stole 7 years from him. He could go ahead and face the accusations right at the start, just like any person should do.

Shiggy said:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/swedish-prosecutors-drop-julian-assange-investigation
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So it is stopped because this guy is hiding. Great. Hopefully he rots away in that embassy.
 
T

truestatic

Member
ClosingADoor said:
Nobody stole 7 years from him. He could go ahead and face the accusations right at the start, just like any person should do.


So it is stopped because this guy is hiding. Great. Hopefully he rots away in that embassy.
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He was concerned about being extradited to the states for entirely separate charges though, wasn't he? Which makes it slightly more complicated.
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
1.21Gigawatts said:
And face extradition to the US where he would surely have a nice, fair trial waiting for him...

His behavior is absolutely understandable.
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Cool, so I can go raping people and hide away because I might be extradited to another country, where I should also face charges brought against me. The dude is scum and his behavior is unacceptable and nothing is understandable about it, except for someone why wants to get away with a crime.
 
H

hydrophilic attack

Member
It's understandable that he would fear extradition to the USA

It's a crying shame the rape investigation could not be carried out properly

Those two stances are not mutually exclusive.

I really do think that Swedish authorities should have been able to offer guarantees against extradition to the USA. They share part in the blame for the failure of the investigation
 
B

BlackLagoon

Member
1.21Gigawatts said:
And face extradition to the US where he would surely have a nice, fair trial waiting for him...

His behavior is absolutely understandable.
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That would depend on the US charges against him. If there was a danger of him being executed, no EU country would be able to extradite him.
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
jakonovski said:
Whatever? Unless you think the worst crime in the world is challenging American hegemony, the nature of the charges absolutely matter.
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What does this even mean? He should be excused for his criminal acts because he helps to take down the US?

hydrophilic attack said:
I really do think that Swedish authorities should have been able to offer guarantees against extradition to the USA. They share part in the blame for the failure of the investigation
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I am glad that the police does not let the people they investigate dictate the rules under which that investigation should take place.
 
N

Nivash

Member
hydrophilic attack said:
It's understandable that he would fear extradition to the USA

It's a crying shame the rape investigation could not be carried out properly

Those two stances are not mutually exclusive.

I really do think that Swedish authorities should have been able to offer guarantees against extradition to the USA. They share part in the blame for the failure of the investigation
Click to expand...

That's a complete legal impossibility, though. We have an extradition treaty with the US that requests that every case be handled individually by the courts - just like every other criminal case. The only way to offer a blanket assurance beforehand would be to repeal the entire treaty.

Funny thing is though, Swedish law already gives blanket assurances against extraditing people for espionage, political crimes or for crimes that carry the death penalty. Assange was pretty well protected as was but he insisted on being given assurances against getting extradited for anything, which is just silly.
 
O

Oddish1

Member
truestatic said:
He was concerned about being extradited to the states for entirely separate charges though, wasn't he? Which makes it slightly more complicated.
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The States haven't charged him with anything I don't believe. His whole "the US will extradite me" sounds like something he just made up to make it look like he's not hiding to avoid having to be investigated for a rape allegation.
 
N

Nabbis

Member
ClosingADoor said:
What does this even mean? He should be excused for his criminal acts because he helps to take down the US?


I am glad that the police does not let the people they investigate dictate the rules under which that investigation should take place.
Click to expand...

Either the charges were dropped due to political reasons or there never was a case in the first place. Neither outcome is something that can give bystanders enough reason to take the whole thing in good faith.
 
H

hydrophilic attack

Member
Nivash said:
That's a complete legal impossibility, though. We have an extradition treaty with the US that requests that every case be handled individually by the courts - just like every other criminal case. The only way to offer a blanket assurance beforehand would be to repeal the entire treaty.

Funny thing is though, Swedish law already gives blanket assurances against extraditing people for espionage, political crimes or for crimes that carry the death penalty. Assange was pretty well protected as was but he insisted on being given assurances against getting extradited for anything, which is just silly.
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Did the 2001 extraditions to Egypt go through a Swedish court?
 
N

nephilimdj

Member
I wonder if it was Comey's personal vandetta against him that now broke him free

Honestly how on earth is he going to leave the embassy without the UK special forces arresting him, hes gonna ned a helicopter with a rope ladder or something


Oddish1 said:
The States haven't charged him with anything I don't believe. His whole "the US will extradite me" sounds like something he just made up to make it look like he's not hiding to avoid having to be investigated for a rape allegation.
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Huh? UK has shown no backbone with Extraditions, the fact they were raiding media outlets everyweek over wikileaks showed wanted blood. Fact UK was openly raiding, yet USA it never happened, points to most big outlets in USA being FISA'd by Obama
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
Nabbis said:
Either the charges were dropped due to political reasons or there never was a case in the first place. Neither outcome is something that can give bystanders enough reason to take the whole thing in good faith.
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The Guardian says "all possibilities to conduct the investigation are exhausted." So it sounds like they just give up because they can't really investigate it like this and trying is pointless at this time. It says nothing about whether the case is a valid one or not.
 
N

Nabbis

Member
ClosingADoor said:
The Guardian says "all possibilities to conduct the investigation are exhausted." So it sounds like they just give up because they can't really investigate it like this and trying is pointless at this time. It says nothing about whether the case is a valid one or not.
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That means it's political. You don't drop the charges, just keep the case open and postponed.
 
T

truestatic

Member
Oddish1 said:
The States haven't charged him with anything I don't believe. His whole "the US will extradite me" sounds like something he just made up to make it look like he's not hiding to avoid having to be investigated for a rape allegation.
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Hm. Fair enough. I guess to me the threat of it didn't sound entirely implausible. This shit did happen during the height of the wiki leaks releasing the Chelsea Manning diplomatic cables, yeah?
Nabbis said:
Either the charges were dropped due to political reasons or there never was a case in the first place. Neither outcome is something that can give bystanders enough reason to take the whole thing in good faith.
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That seems wrong though, according to the above quote?
“At this point, all possibilities to conduct the investigation are exhausted. In order to proceed with the case, Julian Assange would have to be formally notified of the criminal suspicions against him. We cannot expect to receive assistance from Ecuador regarding this. Therefore the investigation is discontinued.
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like based on that it sounds like his inaccessibility was a formality that prevented even the beginning of proceedings, bizarre that a suspect must be notified of suspicion before investigation can proceed. I feel like I'm misreading or this is misleading.
 
F

Frodo

Member
hydrophilic attack said:
It's understandable that he would fear extradition to the USA

It's a crying shame the rape investigation could not be carried out properly

Those two stances are not mutually exclusive.

I really do think that Swedish authorities should have been able to offer guarantees against extradition to the USA. They share part in the blame for the failure of the investigation
Click to expand...

Yup.
 
N

Nabbis

Member
ClosingADoor said:
That is the conclusion you draw and is in no way a fact.
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Pretty much anything you say on this forum can be fined by that sentence. Quite obvious that it's not a fact, really.

berzeli said:
The charges aren't dropped, the investigation is. If Assange returns to Sweden before 2020 the investigation will start again.
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Oops, i misread it. What's the significance of the news then? The court system not pushing anymore paperwork?
 
B

berzeli

Banned
Nabbis said:
Either the charges were dropped due to political reasons or there never was a case in the first place. Neither outcome is something that can give bystanders enough reason to take the whole thing in good faith.
Click to expand...
The charges aren't dropped, the investigation is. If Assange returns to Sweden before 2020 the investigation will start again.
hydrophilic attack said:
Did the 2001 extraditions to Egypt go through a Swedish court?
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This just comes off as deflection, the Swedish authorities can't "offer guarantees against extradition to the USA" as you wrote in your post.

Bringing up the highly criticised, and fucked up separate case (which isn't exactly the same because the extradition was to Egypt, even though it was handled by the US) doesn't change the fact that, by law, guarantees regarding extradition cannot be given.
 
T

truestatic

Member
berzeli said:
The charges aren't dropped, the investigation is. If Assange returns to Sweden before 2020 the investigation will start again.

This just comes off as deflection, the Swedish authorities can't "offer guarantees against extradition to the USA" as you wrote in your post.

Bringing up the highly criticised, and fucked up separate case (which isn't exactly the same because the extradition was to Egypt, even though it was handled by the US) doesn't change the fact that, by law, guarantees regarding extradition cannot be given.
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Then his request for said guarantee just comes off as stonewalling and misdirection? A complete invention. If they can't possibly give it then by making an ultimatum for it he forestalls all further inquiry. Is that accurate?
 
R

Ravensmash

Member
ClosingADoor said:
Cool, so I can go raping people and hide away because I might be extradited to another country, where I should also face charges brought against me. The dude is scum and his behavior is unacceptable and nothing is understandable about it, except for someone why wants to get away with a crime.
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The charges in the US would not relate to the rape case.
 
B

berzeli

Banned
truestatic said:
Then his request for said guarantee just comes off as stonewalling and misdirection? A complete invention. If they can't possibly give it then by making an ultimatum for it he forestalls all further inquiry. Is that accurate?
Click to expand...
Pretty much.

I mean his lawyer lied (in court) about the attempts made by the prosecutor to reach his client (source, in Swedish), so it's basically par for the course of their legal strategy to just blatantly lie.
 
D

Dierce

Member
I'm pretty sure this piece of shit is being investigated by the FBI for his connections to Russia's election interference. He is not going anywhere so thank you Ecuador for hosting this inhuman piece of garbage.
 
D

Daedardus

Member
1.21Gigawatts said:
And face extradition to the US where he would surely have a nice, fair trial waiting for him...

His behavior is absolutely understandable.
Click to expand...

I mean, if you leak sensitive documents with the intent of destabilising a government, you would expect some retaliation too, regardless if those documents contain information relevant to the public. In the aftermath of Wikileaks I feel like he has created more of a dangerous political platform rather than a needed and politically neutral whisteblowing site. It's more a tool of propaganda instead of the objective platform it sets out to be.
 
J

jakonovski

Member
ClosingADoor said:
What does this even mean? He should be excused for his criminal acts because he helps to take down the US?


I am glad that the police does not let the people they investigate dictate the rules under which that investigation should take place.
Click to expand...

It means just what it says, read and don't knee jerk. It's way different to be accused of rape than it is to face retaliation from the US for having helped Manning and Snowden.

In my book, the rape accusation is the only legit charge.
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
jakonovski said:
It means just what it says, read and don't knee jerk. It's way different to be accused of rape than it is to face retaliation from the US for having helped Manning and Snowden.

In my book, the rape accusation is the only legit charge.
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And because of him hiding out he is now getting away with it. Bit strange to see some people in this thread being OK with that or be understanding of him evading justice.
 
J

John Dunbar

correct about everything
Daedardus said:
I mean, if you leak sensitive documents with the intent of destabilising a government, you would expect some retaliation too, regardless if those documents contain information relevant to the public. In the aftermath of Wikileaks I feel like he has created more of a dangerous political platform rather than a needed and politically neutral whisteblowing site. It's more a tool of propaganda instead of the objective platform it sets out to be.
Click to expand...

has assange actually leaked anything? i think he has only published stuff.
 
J

jakonovski

Member
ClosingADoor said:
And because of him hiding out he is now getting away with it. Bit strange to see some people in this thread being OK with that or be understanding of him evading justice.
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Meh, at this point spending 5 years cooped up in an embassy out of fearing US retaliation is way worse than anything the Swedes would've imposed on him.
 
I

Ishan

Junior Member
He does bad stuff . But if this got dropped on legal valid reasons we have to respect it .


Edit : the ic is probably gonna screw him over anyway .
 
P

Paertan

Member
Glad he may not be extradited to USA.
To bad he doesn't stand trial for the rape accusation. I doubt he is guilty of them but still would like him to stand trial for them.
Hopefully he is innocent of rape.
 
S

ShadowKingpin

Member
ClosingADoor said:
Nobody stole 7 years from him. He could go ahead and face the accusations right at the start, just like any person should do.


So it is stopped because this guy is hiding. Great. Hopefully he rots away in that embassy.
Click to expand...

Go and face charges when Sweden had the US breathing down their necks as a possible attempt to extradite Assange to America? Nah. If you know a country that wants your head has an extradition agreement with a country you have charges in (Especially with America's power and influence), you would be wise to dodge. Yes, the charge was serious, but he would be rotting away in a US military prison if he didn't do what he did.
 
N

norinrad

Member
The charges against him in the US is basically life in prison. Having him in prison guarantees all his sources will be right next door to him. How are they going to do that? The current US government loves torture.
 
C

Coriolanus

Banned
ClosingADoor said:
There were allegations of rape against him. He fled and hid for years to get out of that. Now that investigation his dropped. Instead of cooperating with the investigation, he pulled all kinds of bullshit and is now grinning on a picture about it. And old picture, but still.
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the accused have no obligation whatsoever to cooperate with their prosecution, fwiw.

heck, a lawyer will usually tell them explicitly to shut the fuck up and do as little as possible.
 
S

ShadowKingpin

Member
Ozigizo said:
So that makes it ok?
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I never said that, now did I? My whole post is about how most people would react in that very scenario. I blatantly said that the charges are serious. It's survival and Julian survived. I don't agree with him, but he did what he had to.
 
MisterFalcon

MisterFalcon

Member
Coriolanus said:
the accused have no obligation whatsoever to cooperate with their prosecution, fwiw.

heck, a lawyer will usually tell them explicitly to shut the fuck up and do as little as possible.
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Lawyers tell their clients to run from the authorities and skip bail ? Sounds like a good way to get disbarred.
 
C

CDX

Member
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/19/swedish-prosecutors-drop-julian-assange-investigation

The Metropolitan police in London said Assange would also face immediate arrest for breaching his bail conditions by entering the embassy, after a warrant was issued when he failed to attend a magistrates court after entering the embassy.

“The Metropolitan Police Service is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the embassy,” the statement said.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39973864

Police in London said they would still be obliged to arrest him if he left.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said Mr Assange still faced the lesser charge of failing to surrender to a court, an offence punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine.

But the UK has not commented on whether it has received an extradition request from the US, where Mr Assange could face trial over the leaking of hundreds of thousands of secret US military and diplomatic documents.
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So he'll still be arrested in the UK if he leaves the embassy.

The plaintiff in the rape case was "shocked" by the decision, her lawyer said, and maintained her accusations against Mr Assange, Agence France-Presse reported.
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Shame he was able to shield himself from a rape investigation and the victim was unable to get justice.
 
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