Ecuador To Grant Assange Political Asylum 432
NSN A392-99-964-5927 writes with news that Ecaudor will grant Julian Assange's request for political asylum. An Ecuador official told The Guardian that the country's president, who earlier indicated his decision would arrive after the Olympic Games, will approve the request Assange made in June.
"Government sources in Quito confirmed that despite the outstanding legal issues Correa would grant Assange asylum – a move which would annoy Britain, the US and Sweden. They added that the offer was made to Assange several months ago, well before he sought refuge in the embassy, and following confidential negotiations with senior London embassy staff. The official with knowledge of the discussions said the embassy had discussed Assange's asylum request. The British government, however, 'discouraged the idea,' the offical said. The Swedish government was also 'not very collaborative,' the official said. The official added: 'We see Assange's request as a humanitarian issue. The contact between the Ecuadorean government and WikiLeaks goes back to May 2011, when we became the first country to see the leaked US embassy cables completely declassified ... It is clear that when Julian entered the embassy there was already some sort of deal. We see in his work a parallel with our struggle for national sovereignty and the democratisation of international relations.'"
Re:Here come the drones! (Score:2, Informative)
While there are certainly many mysteries surrounding polish president's death, it was well after Poland joined EU in 2004.
Re:OK, this is senseless (Score:5, Informative)
This is a trumped up accusation of rape, disclaimed by the victims, dropped by the proscutor, and only reopened under political pressure from the US. He can't expect a fair trial any more than he could expect a fair indictment.
Re:Good (Score:5, Informative)
source?
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/south-america/ecuador/ [fco.gov.uk]
Express kidnappings are a common crime in Ecuador and are on the increase, particularly in Quito and Guayaquil. Both Ecuadorians and foreign visitors are targets. The kidnappings involve short-term opportunistic abductions aimed at extracting cash from victims who are selected at random. They are held while criminals empty their bank accounts using the victims bank cards. Once the money has been taken the victim is usually released in an isolated area. However, criminals have started to force victims to take them to their homes once they have withdrawn the cash, and violence is becoming more common. This type of crime can involve illegitimate taxis and complicit taxi drivers. In some recent cases in January, March and April 2012, the passengers were pepper sprayed. In 2009 a British tourist was express-kidnapped from a hotel in the north of Quito.
Re:Good (Score:5, Informative)
Less than 1 for every 8 Mexicans and less than the number of Asians?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_impact_of_illegal_immigrants_in_the_United_States#Geographic_Origins_of_Undocumented_Immigrants [wikipedia.org]
Something you would know if you checked your data instead of slinging childish ad-hominems.
False report (Score:5, Informative)
Apparently the story from the Guardian is false.
https://rt.com/news/assange-granted-asylum-ecuador-298/ [rt.com]
Re:Good (Score:5, Informative)
The US keeps trying, though.
Attempted coup in Ecuador in 2010 and successful coup in Paraguay in June this year.
They usually do this by funding local right wing groups so it's difficult to trace the US origins but most people know how the system works.
Re:OK, this is senseless (Score:5, Informative)
The "covert CIA operative" line is the most "jumped the shark" accusation in this whole fiasco. Do you actually know where that comes from? It's because Ardin once wrote two anti-Castro articles for a magazine Revista de Asignaturas Cubanas, which is put out by a group, Misceláneas de Cuba, which according to some professor, is itself funded by a Swedish organization (unnamed), which is connected with Union Liberal Cubana, which is led by led by Carlos Alberto Montaner, which a Wordpress article says is connected with the CIA. Oh, and she met with a women's right group in Cuba who once had a parade in Florida wherein an accused plane bomber marched next to Maria Carey. Therefore, she's a CIA operative! I kid you not [counterpunch.org].
Can you Assange fans please get back in touch with reality here and step out of the echo chamber for once? Start with the judgement [judiciary.gov.uk].
What accusations (Score:5, Informative)
You are aware that in the normal world (any place that is not Sweden) lying to get sex is not actually a crime? If it was, 99% of men would in jail. The remaining 1% are catholic priests and they would be in jail for raping kids.
Assange played two women. That is what ALL this is about. There is NO way this would stand up in any court expect in Sweden and then only because the Americans told them to do something.
Only right wing nutcases pretend the case against Assange has any merit whatsoever.
Oh and the two women involved already knew each other. AND the case had already been dismissed before the Americans got involved.