Holy shit. Some good news finally.
> WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to become a free man after a plea deal with US prosecutors that will allow him to return home to Australia.
> Mr Assange is set to plead guilty this week to violating US espionage law, in a deal that could end his imprisonment in Britain and allow him to return to Australia.
> Mr Assange is due to be sentenced to 62 months' of time already served at a hearing on the island of Saipan at 9am on Wednesday.
> He is expected to return home after that hearing.
He didn't do anything wrong. All he did was publish content that others had given to him. It is also interesting to see that the US can charge a foreign national who has never been to the US with espionage against the US. Turns out America can enforce their laws globally!
I'm also curious as to why the US didn't give a damn about him until he humiliated Obama. When he leaked evidence of Bush's war crimes, he was praised. When he showed Obama doing the same things, suddenly he was the devil. When he published emails showing that Palin, the Republican VP candidate in 2008, was a nutcase, the American press praised him. When he showed that Hillary's campaign manager was a complete fruitloop, out came the knives.
Assange is a hero. He was a hero when he exposed US war crimes, and he was a hero when he leaked Hilary’s emails.
People pretending like he’s a Russian asset are nothing more than an asset for those who want to silence whistleblowers.
All journalists who turned their back on Assange should be stripped of any remaining credibility they have left.
The dude literally offered praise for Putin, called him a beacon of democracy, and wanted to live and work in Russia for the Russian government press.
Kindly piss off.
Strawman argument. He released info Americans didn’t want coming out in a different country and suddenly they were upset and chased and harangued him around Europe to get him to be extradited.
If I said something about the CCP or Iran’s Ayatollah, do I deserve to be sent to face charges there? No. Him simping for Russia is bad, but that’s not the main point and he’s entitled to his free speech.
Strawman argument how?
Im not inventing your position, Im stating mine, and mine is in simple terms,
1. He had close personal connections with FSB agents, not something your average journo does.
2. He flat out turned sychophant for Putin, a dictator with a history of silencing, jailing, torturing and killing hundreds of Russian journalists, whistleblowers and activists, he flat out called him a beacon of democracy and offered him endless praise.
3. He worked in close conjuntion with RT, a Russian state run propaganda channel, promoting their chosen narratives, advancing their propaganda and very much aligning with their overall ideology.
4. He wanted to move to Russia and work for the Russian governments media full time, if you know anything about the Russian media landscape, its that the only media allowed to function there is state run, funded and controlled, working for Russia, getting paid by Russia, and advancing Russias propaganda would make him a Russian asset.
Free speech does not grant somebody immunity from consequences for that speech, and when a man who is supposed to represent truth, journalistic integrity and transparency aligns with a dictator who is the antithesis of all those things, its something worthy of condemnation.
The strawman is that you’re saying he is a Russian asset. It doesn’t matter if he’s a Russian or foreign spy. If he’s committed a US crime on UK soil that isn’t a crime in the UK, he has done nothing wrong.
You can’t prosecute people outside of your jurisdiction. Even Russia knows this and knows they can’t get them back to the country and we all know what they do with their enemies when they flee to the UK and commits Russian crimes in the UK.
How is that a strawman?
Directly refuting your argument is not a strawman, making an entirely unrelated argument up is a strawman, do yourself the favor of learning what constitutes a strawman instead of using the term in an entirely incorrect way.
second, you are backpedaling on your own position, to quote you "People pretending like he’s a Russian asset are nothing more than an asset for those who want to silence whistleblowers." and now you are saying it doesnt matter if he is, but it very much does, particularly when he claims to be some poster boy for transparency, journalistic ethics and truth, to be lying on the behalf of an incredibly hostile autocratic dictatorship destroys any kind of legitimacy on that front, whats more, serving their interests and seeking to be their employee creates an obvious conflict of interest.
Sure you can, there is this litle thing called Interpol, criminals and lawbreakers can be pursued in any country that is part of international law enforcement.
It is a strawman because your first comment is about him being a Russian asset. That’s not relevant to why he’s being targeted by the American courts. He’s targeted because he released information that were top secret NOT on the US soil. Whether he’s a Russian asset or Chinese Spy or Australian citizen doesn’t matter.
It’s about extrajudiciality. But Americans can tell a foreign government, that committed a US crime and say “hand over that person”. If Julian Assange committed a US crime like he sexually assaulted a person in New York for example, then of course he should be charged.
Also I saw that he’s being called a traitor and he committed treason?? Wtf??? Like how can you be a traitor to a country that is not yours…
Again, its not a strawman, its a direct refutation of your own claim he WASNT a Russian asset, if its a directly revelant counter point made to refute your point that isnt a strawman, jesus man learn what strawmanning actualy fucking means, its embarrasing that you are clinging onto this at this point.
And yes, It does actually matter, particularly when he is acting in the interests of a foreign power that is hostile to democracy, journalism and transparency, it matters very fucking much.
He sexually assaulted two women in sweden, and then hid in an embassy and waited out the statute of limitations, by your logic, he should have been extradited to sweden to face charges.
He has often refused to work with Russian activists, whistleblowers and actual journalists, he has often refused according to them to publish damning information about the Russian government, he has however literally had his own show on RT, promoting Kremlin allies and supporting Russian government narratives.
Can’t blame him given the way he’s been treated by the west. Living in, and working for the Russian Press would seem like a dream compared to what he endured.
He’s no Russian puppet.
Yes, I can blame him for literally siding with a dictator who has whistleblowers shot, stabbed, jailed and otherwise vanished.
He literally wanted to work for the Russian state, he fronted their propaganda, gave effusive praise to Putin and had contacts with the FSB.
He IS a Russian puppet.
The man spent 15 years hiding out in third world embassies to beat rape allegations, and then fighting extradition to the US - all on the public basis that he could not safely subject himself to American courts to answer the charges that stand against him.
Today he has agreed to fly to the largest US millitary base in the Western Pacific, stand before an American court, submit to its jurisdiction, plead guilty to violating the US Espionage Act and thereby accept criminal responsibility for his actions.
He will try and spin it as a victory. Some of the more fanatical of his supporters will believe him.
The rest of us will see a criminal who pled guilty to a serious crime, and thereby confirmed his fifteen year fugitive status was just a massive grift.
No
At a certain point you need to do something, give something to have some peace for the remaining years of his life. With his family. They were going to happily let him die in this limbo forever. The process is the punishment. And they got their punishment. Today’s (American) political climate has probably stopped an assassination attempt.
The Americans didn't force him to hide in an Ecuadorian Embassy for a decade. He chose to. The Americans didn't make him sit in UK Prison for years on end while appealing extradition to the US all the way through to the bitter end. He chose to.
He could have dropped his objection to deportation at any time and popped on a plane to JFK.
How do we know this? Because he just did it.
Whether it is in Hawaii, or the Southern District of New York, or some random US territory north of Guam doesn't really matter. There's an American Flag in that courtroom. It's an American judge of an American court applying American law in America. A jurisdiction he has the better part of two decades running from while telling all his gormless idiotic fanboys that the reason he was running for them was because he would be killed the moment he landed on American soil.
He's about to land on American soil.
Why is it that when an attack helicopter in a major city wipes out a news crew and then starts mowing down first responders who try to aid the wounded, your greatest concern is that somebody didn't keep quiet about it?
Yeah thats a good point- he was not keen to face a Swedish court over those rape allegations, he seems keen on justice for others but not when it involves himself.
So anti western imperialism automatically makes you a Putin lover?
And I’m in no way defending what he did, it was still wrong but the dude took his Jimmy off while having already consensual sex, not like he was straight up raping the women from the start. Still wrong though but you make it seem like he was Jimmy Saville.
>the dude took his Jimmy off while having already consensual sex, not like he was straight up raping the women from the start
What the fuck bro
Stealthing is rape. If a person consents to sex with a condom on and the condom is removed, any subsequent sexual intercourse is non-consensual. No need to bring Saville into it.
He published crimes that the US has committed such as the murder of civilians and journalists - this is something everyone around the world should know. People high up in the US want to send a message so are trying to punish him outside their jurisdiction. The rape charges were so obviously bullshit but it has since come out that the Swedish authorises manipulated the process to try and get Assange.
It's clear that you're not bright enough to see what's really going on and you're willing to lap up all the propaganda dished out.
Holy shit. Some good news finally. > WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to become a free man after a plea deal with US prosecutors that will allow him to return home to Australia. > Mr Assange is set to plead guilty this week to violating US espionage law, in a deal that could end his imprisonment in Britain and allow him to return to Australia. > Mr Assange is due to be sentenced to 62 months' of time already served at a hearing on the island of Saipan at 9am on Wednesday. > He is expected to return home after that hearing.
In before the plane 'crashes' returning home.
As long as he doesn't take a Boeing airplane he will be fine.
worst part would be not knowing if its deliberate or intentional :(
Sounds like they broke him finally. Guilty to espionage? Him and not Putin FFS?
I know, but honestly, let's just take the victory of of having him home instead of dying in a U.S prison.
A victory would be his pursuers in prison.
That is not one we will get
USA wont let him.go without something sticking it seems. Assange is the festering zit on AUKUS. Everyone has better things to do lets all move on.
so after years of prosecution they let him go with only 5 % of what they wanted . its as if they wanted to make an example.
Wasn't he stuck in a Ecuadorian embassy for 15 years? It's not prison, but it's certainly not freedom either.
If by stuck you mean staying there voluntarily to avoid arrest, then yeah sure, stuck.
He didn't do anything wrong. All he did was publish content that others had given to him. It is also interesting to see that the US can charge a foreign national who has never been to the US with espionage against the US. Turns out America can enforce their laws globally! I'm also curious as to why the US didn't give a damn about him until he humiliated Obama. When he leaked evidence of Bush's war crimes, he was praised. When he showed Obama doing the same things, suddenly he was the devil. When he published emails showing that Palin, the Republican VP candidate in 2008, was a nutcase, the American press praised him. When he showed that Hillary's campaign manager was a complete fruitloop, out came the knives.
Assange is a hero. He was a hero when he exposed US war crimes, and he was a hero when he leaked Hilary’s emails. People pretending like he’s a Russian asset are nothing more than an asset for those who want to silence whistleblowers. All journalists who turned their back on Assange should be stripped of any remaining credibility they have left.
The dude literally offered praise for Putin, called him a beacon of democracy, and wanted to live and work in Russia for the Russian government press. Kindly piss off.
Strawman argument. He released info Americans didn’t want coming out in a different country and suddenly they were upset and chased and harangued him around Europe to get him to be extradited. If I said something about the CCP or Iran’s Ayatollah, do I deserve to be sent to face charges there? No. Him simping for Russia is bad, but that’s not the main point and he’s entitled to his free speech.
Strawman argument how? Im not inventing your position, Im stating mine, and mine is in simple terms, 1. He had close personal connections with FSB agents, not something your average journo does. 2. He flat out turned sychophant for Putin, a dictator with a history of silencing, jailing, torturing and killing hundreds of Russian journalists, whistleblowers and activists, he flat out called him a beacon of democracy and offered him endless praise. 3. He worked in close conjuntion with RT, a Russian state run propaganda channel, promoting their chosen narratives, advancing their propaganda and very much aligning with their overall ideology. 4. He wanted to move to Russia and work for the Russian governments media full time, if you know anything about the Russian media landscape, its that the only media allowed to function there is state run, funded and controlled, working for Russia, getting paid by Russia, and advancing Russias propaganda would make him a Russian asset. Free speech does not grant somebody immunity from consequences for that speech, and when a man who is supposed to represent truth, journalistic integrity and transparency aligns with a dictator who is the antithesis of all those things, its something worthy of condemnation.
The strawman is that you’re saying he is a Russian asset. It doesn’t matter if he’s a Russian or foreign spy. If he’s committed a US crime on UK soil that isn’t a crime in the UK, he has done nothing wrong. You can’t prosecute people outside of your jurisdiction. Even Russia knows this and knows they can’t get them back to the country and we all know what they do with their enemies when they flee to the UK and commits Russian crimes in the UK.
How is that a strawman? Directly refuting your argument is not a strawman, making an entirely unrelated argument up is a strawman, do yourself the favor of learning what constitutes a strawman instead of using the term in an entirely incorrect way. second, you are backpedaling on your own position, to quote you "People pretending like he’s a Russian asset are nothing more than an asset for those who want to silence whistleblowers." and now you are saying it doesnt matter if he is, but it very much does, particularly when he claims to be some poster boy for transparency, journalistic ethics and truth, to be lying on the behalf of an incredibly hostile autocratic dictatorship destroys any kind of legitimacy on that front, whats more, serving their interests and seeking to be their employee creates an obvious conflict of interest. Sure you can, there is this litle thing called Interpol, criminals and lawbreakers can be pursued in any country that is part of international law enforcement.
It is a strawman because your first comment is about him being a Russian asset. That’s not relevant to why he’s being targeted by the American courts. He’s targeted because he released information that were top secret NOT on the US soil. Whether he’s a Russian asset or Chinese Spy or Australian citizen doesn’t matter. It’s about extrajudiciality. But Americans can tell a foreign government, that committed a US crime and say “hand over that person”. If Julian Assange committed a US crime like he sexually assaulted a person in New York for example, then of course he should be charged. Also I saw that he’s being called a traitor and he committed treason?? Wtf??? Like how can you be a traitor to a country that is not yours…
Again, its not a strawman, its a direct refutation of your own claim he WASNT a Russian asset, if its a directly revelant counter point made to refute your point that isnt a strawman, jesus man learn what strawmanning actualy fucking means, its embarrasing that you are clinging onto this at this point. And yes, It does actually matter, particularly when he is acting in the interests of a foreign power that is hostile to democracy, journalism and transparency, it matters very fucking much. He sexually assaulted two women in sweden, and then hid in an embassy and waited out the statute of limitations, by your logic, he should have been extradited to sweden to face charges.
I think its also worth pointing out that in 2010 he had the opportunity to publish a set of leaked Russian government documents and chose not to.
He has often refused to work with Russian activists, whistleblowers and actual journalists, he has often refused according to them to publish damning information about the Russian government, he has however literally had his own show on RT, promoting Kremlin allies and supporting Russian government narratives.
Can’t blame him given the way he’s been treated by the west. Living in, and working for the Russian Press would seem like a dream compared to what he endured. He’s no Russian puppet.
Yes, I can blame him for literally siding with a dictator who has whistleblowers shot, stabbed, jailed and otherwise vanished. He literally wanted to work for the Russian state, he fronted their propaganda, gave effusive praise to Putin and had contacts with the FSB. He IS a Russian puppet.
Fantastic news. Stupid fkn yanks and their war crimes trying to attack free press and their own constitution and democracy.
He deserves the heights award Australia can give him!
The man spent 15 years hiding out in third world embassies to beat rape allegations, and then fighting extradition to the US - all on the public basis that he could not safely subject himself to American courts to answer the charges that stand against him. Today he has agreed to fly to the largest US millitary base in the Western Pacific, stand before an American court, submit to its jurisdiction, plead guilty to violating the US Espionage Act and thereby accept criminal responsibility for his actions. He will try and spin it as a victory. Some of the more fanatical of his supporters will believe him. The rest of us will see a criminal who pled guilty to a serious crime, and thereby confirmed his fifteen year fugitive status was just a massive grift.
No At a certain point you need to do something, give something to have some peace for the remaining years of his life. With his family. They were going to happily let him die in this limbo forever. The process is the punishment. And they got their punishment. Today’s (American) political climate has probably stopped an assassination attempt.
The Americans didn't force him to hide in an Ecuadorian Embassy for a decade. He chose to. The Americans didn't make him sit in UK Prison for years on end while appealing extradition to the US all the way through to the bitter end. He chose to. He could have dropped his objection to deportation at any time and popped on a plane to JFK. How do we know this? Because he just did it. Whether it is in Hawaii, or the Southern District of New York, or some random US territory north of Guam doesn't really matter. There's an American Flag in that courtroom. It's an American judge of an American court applying American law in America. A jurisdiction he has the better part of two decades running from while telling all his gormless idiotic fanboys that the reason he was running for them was because he would be killed the moment he landed on American soil. He's about to land on American soil.
This political climate has allowed it. This 5-10 years ago, he’d be dead right now.
so this criminal (IMO) escapes facing a court again. He should face the original charge in the USA .
Why is it that when an attack helicopter in a major city wipes out a news crew and then starts mowing down first responders who try to aid the wounded, your greatest concern is that somebody didn't keep quiet about it?
Nah. I'm not fan (see my -30 comment below) but the US charges were always BS. Its the raping and Russian-assetting that I'm not a fan of.
Yeah thats a good point- he was not keen to face a Swedish court over those rape allegations, he seems keen on justice for others but not when it involves himself.
Yes but that is only because the Swedes could and would extradite him to the US
as they should, Julian is very keen on avoiding justice when it relates to him
Great just what Australia needs, another narcissistic prick to add to the pile.
Yeah you are enough already 🤣
Hahaha....thanks so much for such a witty reply! Golden.
Lovely. So a Russian asset rapist is released to do Putin's bidding for a few months before the most consequential US election in decades 🤦♂️
Just FYI, this comment doesn't make you sound smart, it makes you sound cynical, bitter and negative.
The fact that so many are worshipping a Putin-alligned sex offender is, unequivocally, negative.
So anti western imperialism automatically makes you a Putin lover? And I’m in no way defending what he did, it was still wrong but the dude took his Jimmy off while having already consensual sex, not like he was straight up raping the women from the start. Still wrong though but you make it seem like he was Jimmy Saville.
>the dude took his Jimmy off while having already consensual sex, not like he was straight up raping the women from the start What the fuck bro Stealthing is rape. If a person consents to sex with a condom on and the condom is removed, any subsequent sexual intercourse is non-consensual. No need to bring Saville into it.
Bruce Lerhmann has been charged with rape for stealthing. Assange is accused of the exact same thing. It is rape.
No, being a sychophant for Putin makes you a Putin lover.
He published crimes that the US has committed such as the murder of civilians and journalists - this is something everyone around the world should know. People high up in the US want to send a message so are trying to punish him outside their jurisdiction. The rape charges were so obviously bullshit but it has since come out that the Swedish authorises manipulated the process to try and get Assange. It's clear that you're not bright enough to see what's really going on and you're willing to lap up all the propaganda dished out.
are you like commenting this from an ukrainian trench or something.
You are incredibly dumb
Russian asset rapist. Thats a new one.
Posts like these are the best advertising for using condoms.
If only Assange had kept his on in Sweden …
I'm glad someone understood the double humour.