Hi Fester,

Why do you think Assange should rot in an American prison?
Hasn't he paid enough?

American prisons are the most dreadful places -
and their system of torture apparently beggars belief.

Is Mise,

Good points raised.

For anyone interested - read about the David Hicks case:

http://lawcouncil.asn.au/policy-agenda/human-rights/david-hicks

I also came across the following on the web that in 1791
in an attempt to stop the publication of the first part of
Thomas Paine's work - "The Rights of Man", the British
government tried to buy up the copyright.

The publisher refused to sell.

The following year, after the 2nd part of the work was
published, the government tried a more direct tactic,
charging Paine with sedition, libel and treason.

Outraged, Paine listed the things his book had done -
exposing fraud, ending war, and promoting universal peace.
Stating - "if these things are libellous - let the name libeller
be engraved on my tomb."

Sound familiar?

Now hundreds of years later governments around the world still
endeavour to supress damning information, violating the
right to freedom of expression and targeting those responsible
for exposing it.

If sent back to the US - Assange would stand trial on
espionage charges and is convicted could face a prison sentence
of up to 175 years.

One more thing:

Assurances by the US authorities that they would not put
Julian Assange in a maximum security prison or subject
him to abusive special administrative measures (SAM)
including prolonged solitary confinement have been
discredited by their admission that they reserved the
right to reverse those guarantees.

There have been recent reports that the CIA considered
both kidnapping and killing Assange while he was holed up
in the Ecquadorian Embassy. They bugged the embassy,
followed Assange's family and associates and burgled the
office of his lawyer which clearly shows the political
motivation behind this case.

All things the US government has not contested.

Our federal government needs to take a strong stand in the
name of justice for its Australian citizen - and not let
this case drag on - as they allowed with the David Hicks
case.

"How does anyone break US law when they are not US citizens and are not in US jurisdiction at the time of the alleged offence?"

If your actions result in people being harmed or killed I would like to think that you should be accountable for your conduct in some part of the world. Jules has had the best legal representation other people's money can buy, and that representation has not convinced the British courts that he should not be sent to the United States to stand trial for his conduct.

Foxy,

I don't like Jules at all. I probably like him even less than you like George Pell. For me, George had the integrity to face a trial and put himself at the mercy of the courts, whereas Jules in my eyes has demonstrated a detestable cowardice in evading the law. Further, I don't see such behaviour as reason for mitigation. For all I know Jules might be the lovely person that you think him to be, but for me he is a bit like a dodgy tele-evangelist ripping of his parishioners. Yuck!

Fester,
Pell faced accusers in his own country for offences against Australian law, if Assange has broken any laws then he should be tried in Australia, if he hasn’t broken Australian law and has broken no US law within their jurisdiction then it is not lawful to send him to the US to face trial.
He might be the greatest bastard in the World but he is entitled to our protection as a citizen of this country. How much trust can we place in our Government to look out for us when in a foreign country?