>fall within the realms of journalistic endevour<

I believe Mz B was being very polite and very diplomatic, if drawing a very long bow indeed, as indeed are you Kellie, when quoting her out of context!?

At no time is publish and be dammed anything like accredited journalism, which in the first instance requires validation and or, no harm ensues from publishing what we the people have no need to know! i.e., the completely private musings of public officials!

And this from a "man" who races to seek asylum; and on patently concocted fairy tales and shoveled by the shipload, rather than face the judiciary and unresolved sexual misconduct charges in Sweden; and in my view, for no other reason?

Jumping bail is a criminal act by a criminal, I believe, seeking only to avoid natural justice; and regardless of what it has cost his so called friends/moribund dupes!

I for one would ensure he gets on that plane ASAP and is then rendered a stateless person exiled from a list of countries, which would likely include all of Scandinavia, America and all her allies; ditto England and Australia and all their allies.

And given the state of so called press freedom in Ecuador, reasonable justice?

Let him be critical of the host government there; and or, publish and be dammed human rights violations there!

On the plus side, girls are cheap; and not wearing a condom when requested, is not considered rape there?

Albeit, knowingly passing on a life or health threatening STD, may well be seen even there, as attempted murder?

I was raised to believe to first consider the consequences of an action, regardless of what that action might be! And having considered what the consequences where, to only take that action if you were prepared to wear the consequences!

This I believe, is how a man acts, and not a cowering craven coward!

A+ for effort and or, moribund loyalty Kellie!
Rhrosty.

Is it something about Assange's boyish charm that draws a worldwide menagerie of well-heeled women into his international cheer squad. Their is definitely a gender thing in his remaining support group.

Many of these women are lawyers including Kellie and https://youtu.be/AkZ0TyNM_ZQ .

Many of Assange's female support group are deserting him - from Dame Vivienne Westwood to the rich and famous (by association) Jemima Khan-Goldsmish.

For proof see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/9902321/Vivienne-Westwood-and-Jemima-Khan-have-lost-the-plot-over-Julian-Assange.html

I must admit to being more than a little skeptical of Julian Assange's plight.

JA was requested to return to Sweden to answer questions about behaviour that might have breached Swedish laws, he had not been charged with anything.

His reason for fighting the extradition request was primarily because he feared being further extradited to the US. As he had just been travelling through Sweden (who could just as easily extradited him to the US then but didn't) this excuse appears more than a little tenuous.

JA is not facing execution, at the most a light sentence if found guilty. Perhaps he should act like a man for a change and face the music.

So here Kellie, that well to do supporter of the downtrodden masses says it all.

Is she so naïve she has fallen for a rip off get rich at all costs, computer hacker, who has never shown any interest in anyone but himself? Perhaps it is simply a birds of a feather syndrome.

We can now assume that all this bleeding over her chosen downtrodden is merely a way of attacking the right of society.

Being a student activists long after leaving university is certainly a sign of nothing but immaturity.

Thank you Kellie for sticking your head above the parapet again, knowing as you probably do, that it would elicit the usual ignorant and ad hominen attacks found in the first four posts on this thread.

For the reasons you point out, Assange is right not to believe anything that Bishop might say about his risk of extradition to the US where, as Gareth Pierce and others have established, there is already a sealed indictment on charges that carry the death penalty and if he is "lucky" a 30 year stretch in some Federal hell hole like Chelsea Manning is enduring for identical conduct.

As Jeff Sparrow points out in today's Guardian online, there are clear limits on acceptable free speech in this country and when one steps outside those limits, then hell hath no fury like a government exposed for all its duplicity as has been the case with Assange's exposes of wrongdoing by the Australian government and many others.

James O'Putin - Oh yee o leftist humour.

A Facebook group calling itself Feminists for Free Speech has launched a defence of Assange:

"Glamorous babes (Jemima Khan, Bianca Jagger), political babes (Naomi Wolf and Arianna Huffington), and a host of enthralled female followers have been protesting “Julian, I want your babies”."

The Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police reports "These bimbos appear to be hot for Julian and so am I" she said. The popular women's blog Jezebel acknowledged the fascination of Julian's looks with a video showing the mighty morphing of his hair. Other bloggers have also gotten caught up in Julian fever —"Julianassnageisgorgeous".

And finally the "Julian Fanciers Guild" declared the elevation of Assange to "Justin Bieber status."

Way to go Julian!

Inspired by http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40704355/ns/health-sexual_health/t/julian-assange-unlikely-crush-object/#.VQlCco6Uf1Y

ASSANGE'S ASSUMPTION OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY

More seriously. Assange carries this narcissistic idea that his personal sexual indiscretions should amount to an issue of international diplomacy.

Assange seeks immunity from any charges or possible charges from any country including British common bail skipping penalties, bail money put up by friends never paid back and Swedish sexual assault inquiries.

This derives from Assange's feeling that the righteousness of his actions place him above the laws that govern us mere mortals.

Some of Assange's supporters club implicitly believe he has Sovereign Immunity from prosecution, like the Queen. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity :

"Sovereign immunity is a legal doctrine by which the sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution. This principle is commonly expressed by the popular legal maxim "rex non potest peccare," meaning "the king can do no wrong."

So when you are a rebel with a club cause you can break any law you like as you assume you have sovereign immunity.

---

In the words of esteemed Guardian journalist, Luke Harding:

"I worked with Julian on WikiLeaks and we at the Guardian collaborated pretty well with him until he fell out with us like he falls out with everybody.

He has a rather primitive philosophy of complete transparency. He thinks that if all documents and official secrets are released, we shall bring governments and corporations to account and make the world more democratic.” more at http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/art-and-stage/10313009/Russia-like-a-beguiling-black-hole

It is perhaps not unexpected that having been embarrassed by Wikileaks that our government has not been overly anxious to help him.

He obviously lacks basic people skills, but his belief that our governments and corporations need the disinfectant of sunlight has virtue. He may have gone too far on occasion, but on balance, Wikileaks, I think, has been a force for good. The revelations of corruption, duplicity and war crimes etc of Western governments and our allies has been eyeopening to say the least.
https://elpidiovaldes.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/what-weve-learned-from-wikileaks/

Regarding the rape allegations, he has not been charged with any crime, he is only wanted for questioning. Both women who made complaints to the police said they had consensual sex, but wanted him to have an STD test due to condom breakage and the possibility he didn't use a condom. He is not accused of violence of any kind. They did not complain of rape or sexual molestation - that was a charge made by the Swedish Prosecutor.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/17/julian-assange-sweden

The British government has spent 9 million pounds on a 24/7 police guard outside the Equadorian Embassy - surely that is a bit over the top for someone who is only wanted for questioning and perhaps an STD test.

We know that despite denials, Stratfor emails confirm there is a sealed indictment on Assange.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/wikileaks-stratfor-emails-a-secret-indictment-against-assange-20120228

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed by the West in the war on terror. Trillions of taxpayer dollars/debt have been spent. There is no evidence that anyone has been killed due to the Wikileaks revelations - we would be told about them if they had. And yet there have been calls from prominent American politicians (Huckabee and Palin etc) that Assange be killed.

After seeing what the US does to whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning, Jeremy Hammond, Barrett Brown, John Kiriakou (only CIA agent jailed over US torture program is the one who blew the whistle), one can see why Assange is wary of being extradicted to USA.

Yes Assange, London's palacial prisoner of ego, has done himself proud.

Assange does not advocate a fair trial for those in a more threatened situation:

see http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/18/julian-assange-wikileaks-nick-cohen :

Guardian journalists' "David Leigh and Luke Harding's history of WikiLeaks describes how journalists took Assange to Moro's, a classy Spanish restaurant in central London.

A reporter worried that Assange would risk killing Afghans who had co-operated with American forces if he put US secrets [stolen by Manning] online without taking the basic precaution of removing their names. "Well, they're informants," Assange replied. "So, if they get killed, they've got it coming to them. They deserve it."

A silence fell on the table as the reporters realised that the man the gullible hailed as the pioneer of a new age of transparency was willing to hand death lists to psychopaths.

They persuaded Assange to remove names before publishing the State Department Afghanistan cables. But Assange's disillusioned associates suggest that the failure to expose "informants" niggled in his mind."

Assange, for money and fame, making up his morality.

Nice

And the US and Brits have looked after all those Afghani and Iraqi interpreters and who have risked their lives collaborating with our military to find refuge in the west ... or do they? Oh that's right, they don't. They make it as difficult for them to get visas as they can.

Assange could have endagered lives, but he was talked out of it. However, our governments actions have caused the deaths of many interpreters in Iraq and Afghanistan, and still turn a blind eye.

"The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies,... estimates more than 1,000 interpreters were killed in Iraq alone.The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, another advocate group, estimates one Afghan is killed every thirty-six hours due to his or her affiliation with the United States."
http://harvardkennedyschoolreview.com/no-one-left-behind/

In 2011 only 3 Afghan interpreters gained a visa for the USA.

If you feel like getting angry watch this John Oliver video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QplQL5eAxlY

So I agree, Julian Assange is no saint, he probably isn't even a very nice person, but is he anywhere near as bad as Western governments who could and should give asylum to the interpreters who helped save the lives of western military personnel, but choose not to? Indeed, our governments seem to make seeking asylum for interpreters a kafkaesque exercise.

On 18 August 2014, Assange announced that he would be leaving the Ecuadorian Embassy "soon" and that he had health concerns. http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/julian-assange-to-leave-the-ecuadorian-embassy-and-hand-himself-into-police-9675157.html

His miraculous recovery from illnesses proves he is the Messiah for his most ardent followers.

So why doesn't Assange do the world a favour and honour his promise to leave the Embassy?

Ecuadorian Emabassy staff are very tired of this overstaying guest - with no end in sight.

<IMG SRC="javascript:alert();"></div>Good article!

Dear "joedon"

Thanks for your vacuous Tweet but something more thoughtful might have been better. Are you just one more of Assange "The Lad's" well-heeled Girl Group?

Back to the Lad's character - or lack there-of.

Nick Cohen - one of the Lad's growing army of former friends and ex-followers, sums up the Lad http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/18/julian-assange-wikileaks-nick-cohen :

"The grass or squealer usually blabs because he wants to settle scores or ingratiate himself with the authorities. Assange represents a new breed, which technology has enabled: the nark as show-off. The web made Assange famous. It allows him to monitor his celebrity – I am told that even the smallest blogpost about him rarely escapes his attention. When he sees that the audience is tiring, the web provides him with the means to publish new secrets and generate new headlines. Under the cover of holding power to account, Assange can revel in the power the web gives to put lives in danger and ensure he can be what he always wanted: the centre of attention."

Are there any Men left who remain doting followers of the Lad?

Hi Plantagenet,

Why the hate-on for Assange?
Most of what you have written is an attack on his character, not the merits or otherwise of his work in Wikileaks.

Journalists have repeatedly failed to question governments and investigate wrong doing. Millions of people protested against the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Much of the evidence our governments put forward to say Hussein was a threat was not credible, and history has shown this to be true. But you wouldn't know it by reading mainstream newspapers.

As Mark Twain said, "If you don't read the newspaper you are un-informed, if you read the newspaper you are mis-informed" not much has changed.

Without whistleblowers and Wikileaks we would not know that:

The US instructed diplomats to acquire credit card and other private details of UN leadership.

That the US used British bases like Diego Garcia for extraordinary renditions flights (rendition = kidnap, detention and interrogation of suspects without legal process) and to get around cluster bomb bans.

2 Reuters employees were among a dozen killed in cold blood, and then a father and two children in a van shot were shot at when they came to their aid in the Collateral Murder video.

US authorities failed to investigate reports of abuse, torture and even killing by Iraqi police and soldiers.

Afghan President freed convicted drug smugglers due to their political connections.

British government trained Bangladeshi paramilitary group which human rights organizations have called a death squad.

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest funders of international terrorism

Secret US military action in Pakistan and Yemen.

Assange may not be perfect, but surely we have a right to know if our governments are lying to us.

Do any of the secrets listed above match up with governments that respect liberty, freedom, democracy or justice? Actions speak louder than words.

In this age where Whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, Matthew Diaz, Barrett Brown, Jeremy Hammond, John Kiriakou, Jeffery Sterling face terrible sanctions or in the case of Michael Hastings and Aaron Swartz even death for telling the truth, I think we need more truth-telling, not less.

BJelly

Julian is no longer Robin Hood. The public couldn't care less about him.

Even the Snowden publicity industry is having trouble selling interest, books and films.

Hi Plantagenet,

Again, you make more ad hominem attacks, while saying nothing about what Assange or Snowden have done - that is curious to me.

Who cares if they are popular or not? What they have done has been revolutionary. Ordinary people have been allowed to peak behind the curtain and much of what we suspected has turned out to be true, and there were other abuses of power like the PRISM program, we were totally clueless about.

Thanks to Snowden, people living in western liberal democracies now know our countries have become surveillance states. We know everything we do can be tracked if we have a smart phone - with this device security agencies can track our every move, every phone call can be listened to, every email or text looked at, our phones can be remotely turned on and they can listen to our most private moments.

New anti-terror legislation put to parliament this year, has given police the power to conduct warantless searches of people's homes. ASIO now has the power to copy, delete or modify data on computers they are monitoring. With powers like these, I can't see anything going wrong can you?(sarcasm off) This should be shocking to people, this should wake people up, but it hasn't. We are still content to slumber.

Most people may not be paying attention, but the US courts have ruled that the NSA mass phone surveillance revealed by Snowden was unlawful.

Hi BJelly

Yes thats Edward.

But the article and the discussion in this thread mainly concern Julian. Julian would probably do well to step out of the Embassy long before a rightwing Republican becomes President. US Presidential Elections tend to swing from Democrats to Republicans.

Julian would get a better deal under Obama.

If/when a rightwing Republican becomes President there exists the risk that Ecuador could be pressured to temporarily reduce the Diplomatic Immunity of the Embassy.

Hi Plantagenet,
I'm not so sure about that. Despite Obama's rhetoric of transparency and respecting the rule of law, his administration has been one of the most secretive, and has gone after more whistleblowers than any other. He has authorized the killing of US citizens in Yemen, including children. He is no Mr nice guy.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/02/drone-wars-secrecy-barack-obama

Hi BJelly

If Julian escaped to Ecuador he would be unsafe, hence it is more likely he would attempt to join Edward in Russia. Although North Korea may be temporarily inviting. Cuba now values its relations with the US and once bold Venezuela is suffering low oil revenue.

So Ecuadorians, left on a limb, are weighing up whether the political expense to Ecuador is worth it.