Athinira said:
Trust is something that needs to be earned, and without calling Assange a hero or a great man, i can't fault him for not showing great confidence[...]
Just wanted to poke my head in here and suggest that you go commit a crime, and then try to sell the idea that you don't have to recognize the police's authority to arrest you because you don't trust the courts. Except you're not a global celebrity who can sell himself as a political game chip to the highest bidder so I doubt it would go well for you.
1) Swedish rape laws are known to be rather extreme (or if a might use another word, excessive), so much in fact that Swedish lawyers often joke that you need written permission from the woman before having sex. What Assange is accused for in Sweden isn't even punishable in many other modern countries.
If a woman tells you she will only have sex with you if you wear a condom and you don't put one on and have sex with her anyway, either under duress or sneakily without her knowing, that's sex without consent and therefor rape. If you have sex with someone who is unconscious, that's rape. Sorry to ruin your weekend.
2) The Swedish government was discovered (ironically through Wikileaks) to have budged to pressure from the US before. If they can budge once, they can budge again, and courts HAVE been known to be able to be politically influenced.
I'm bored by conspiracy theories. Besides, as I said before and you apparently did not read, his beef with the US and Sweden's love for sending suspects to us is a product of his own doing. It's the bed he's made for himself and is
immaterial to the rape accusations or the arrest warrant filed because of them.
3) The chief-prosecutor in the case, Marianne Ny, is politically active in the area of sexual crimes. Without going as far as calling her attempt to get Assange convicted a "witch hunt", she is definitely what I'd call "motivated".
I think you'll find that most prosecutors will go to great lengths to try and convict suspected rapists. I find it hard to fault them for zeal. I'm personally not a big fan of rape. Maybe I'm in the minority on that one.
Even if the extradition to the US isn't realistic (and I'm not saying that it isn't), Assange still has the odds stacked against him, and you can't reasonably expect people to just bend over and take it from behind by the bigger guy and then call them cowards if they don't. You didn't expect Al-Queda to just bend over and surrender to the United States when they marched into Afghanistan either, did you?
)
Assange is just doing what he can to stay afloat. He fights for what he believes in, and i respect that, and if our beliefs aren't aligned. I'd rather call people who DON'T fight for what they believe in cowards.
Assange is a self serving little weasel who's putting his own hide and wellbeing above that of the
truth. If it's true that he did NOT rape those women, a great hero of honesty should stand up for the truth like a man. I do not respect someone who is only brave when his skin isn't on the line.
Perhaps the US isn't justified in trying to nab him. Maybe Sweden will turn him over.
There is an arrest warrant out for him on suspicion of rape and he is fleeing from that. Conspiracy theories can go jump off a bridge for all I care. He's a sneaky little wimp, a hypocrite and a coward and deserves not the slightest shred of respect from anyone. Shame on him, and shame on the people who rally behind him.
Xiado said:
He would face up to the charges if he thought he would get a free trial, which he probably won't. And as was said, the case against him was previously dropped, and only reopened after the Wikileaks scandals. That's pretty effing suspicious to me.
Oh look, more conspiracy theories. How utterly tedious.
There's a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of rape. He's fleeing justice and hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in defiance of that warrant. He's a fugitive from justice and a coward.
The mitigating circumstances of his dustup with the United States, all of which was his own doing, is immaterial to that fact. He had no problem being a celebrity, making a name for himself, but now the going is getting tough. And you know what they say about admirable men. When the going gets tough, you flee from your legal responsibilities and hid in a place where you don't have to face accusations that you raped too women.
No wait, that sounds wrong. Let me try again.
when the going gets tough, the tough give rousing speeches about people who did sacrifice while doing everything you can to keep yourself from having to make similar sacrifices for your cause.
Agh, no... this is harder than I thought!
