'Grow up': Assange's mother to Obama-struck Oz Julian Assange’s mother has dubbed the Australian ruling elite as a bunch of “star-struck teenagers” in the thrall of US president Barack Obama. Christine Assange was among a group of protestors outside Parliament House yesterday while the US President addressed a special sitting of MPs and Senators. She is currently lobbying …
Potential questioning at some un-named date? He still hasn't actually been charged with anything.
And the pro-US grovelling from our pollies and media (who push the politicians in this direction, more thanks to Rupert there) just underlines their disconnect from the mainstream as evidenced at the last federal election. Neither of them have realised how marginal they have become to the vast majority.
Australia has become a corporatist/bureaucratic state with a generally apathetic population.
No matter how many times "He still hasn't actually been charged with anything" it doesn't change the fact that his is being accused of committing a crime. The code in the EAW that allows a warrant to be issued for Assange doesn't require a person to be charged with an crime. In the minimalist state all it requires is that it be a crime in both countries, and the person to be the accused of a crime.
It is ironic that Assange's mother would even use such a term, when it is she who is having a serious problem to maturely deal with the accusations against her son. Her son had many famous people put bail for him. One man even is even allow him to stay with him is a high class house. Assange is being treated like a king on someone else money.
Mr Assange did not «flee the country» - rather, the charges against him were dismissed and he was free to leave Sweden. Subsequent to some to pretty heavy lobbying, however, the venue of the case was suddenly moved from Stockholm (where the alleged incidents had occurred) to Göteborg, a new chief prosecutor called in, and an international warrant for Mr Assange's arrest taken out. Procedurally very dodgy, indeed, but when it comes to demonstrating our allegiance to the Empire, there's little our government or our judicial system finds itself unwilling to do....
Henri
"... rather, the charges against him were dismissed and he was free to leave Sweden."
Did you miss the bit in a UK court where his lawyer had to eat crow and ADMIT he lied and that his client did skip the country *while the police were looking for him*?
Or did you just get well paid to ignore it?
it would indeed seem that your mind easily boggles, but if you re-read my comment, you will notice that I discussed what happened here in Sweden, *prior* to Mr Assange's arrival in the UK. On 1 February this year, the Swedish Prosecution Authority released a chronology which in some parts is (deliberately ?) vague, but which may be of interest to those who follow the case ; it can be accessed here : http://www.aklagare.se/Media/Assangearendet/Kronologi-i-Assangearendet/ . The new Chief Prosecutor assigned to the case, Marianne Ny, decided to renew the pre-trial investigation on 1 September 2010. Mr Assange remained in Sweden until 14 September, so had Ms Ny wished to question him, she certain had ample opportunity to do so. The second of the two entries for September - for which, oddly enough, no specific dates are provided - states that «Julian Assange 'anhålls' [i e, is arrested pursuant to a decion made by a prosecutor] in absentia». Note that it was not until 18 November that Ms Ny requested in a court of law that Mr Assange be «häktad», ie, arrested pursuant to a court decision....
I submit that nothing in the above chronology supports allegations to the effect that Mr Assange was not, as I put, «free to leave Sweden» or that he «fled the country»....
Pardon me for once again boggling your mind, Windrose, but evidence can do that to minds with preconceptions concerning matters about which they are ignorant....
Henri
If by fled you mean left before he was arrested, and after he was given permission by the prosecutor to leave the country, then sure, he fled Sweden. But you really should get a different dictionary.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/interpol-issues-red-notice-for-arrest-of-wikileaks-julian-assange.ars
icon because that's what the Swedish authorities told Assange he could do.
The constant groveling and boot-licking that has been going on in the last two days has been truly nauseating.
It made me ashamed to be Australian.
Well, more ashamed really.
The US is well on the way to becoming some sort of Orwell-Huxley hybrid and our "Leaders" continued insistence on tying our flag to their mast is a huge concern.
When the US says jump, our "leaders" jump.
It makes me sick.
We should be distancing ourselves from the US as they continue their decline into despotism.
Instead we help them rearrange the deck chairs while the entire Western World follows them down the toilet.
The fact that the US is a bully and her son can't keep his dick in his pants aren't actually connected.
Assange is getting a fair shake by the UK legal system and will continue to get one if/when he gets carted off to Sweden.
Bear in mind if the US was really after him they could have fast tracked any Bradley Manning evidence they had and put him through the US-UK extradition treaty.
At most the US is fucking with him behind the scenes for the lulz.
Let's face it - if Asshat was as pure as he claims to be he'd stop this silly extradition fight and have donated the hundreds of thousands it's costing to Bradley Mannings defence fund.
On this very day a bill was before US Congress to censor the internet...
http://americancensorship.org/
Also on this day there was a protest in Sydney about the new agreement with PM Julia Gillard (without consultation of the people) to deploy 2500 marines in Darwin.
http://youtu.be/JjdFOnDM4Ls
This same day Australia was also bullied into supporting a loophole for the cluster bombs it signed an international treaty to oppose...
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/2011111783832165197.html
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