Julian Assange charges dropped

[Genuine Uncertainty]

While doing my daily scan of news outlets, I learned that the charges from Sweden against Julian Assange have been dropped.

And that apparently there is/was no reason to suspect he committed sexual assault.

That...to me...is just shocking. I'm not even sure what to say about that.

[Rehab]

I never managed to hear much about the actual trial circumstances myself, other than that Assange called the charges laughable or something. Assuming you know more than I do, what makes it shocking? (not rhetorical question etc)

Edited September 6, 2012 by Rehab

[Excellen Browning]

The judiciary system tried very hard to get Julian Assange out of Britain to Sweden, so he could be questioned for supposed sexual assault on two women and then transported to the US so he could be tried for publicizing government secrets publically and get something like life or death penalty or just disappear.

Which is what makes it surprising they gave up on the attempts.

Edited September 6, 2012 by Daigoji Excellen

[Genuine Uncertainty]

IF Sweden wanted to press charges, they could have contacted Mr. Assange in the Embassy he was holed up in. I mean, its not like he's cut off from the rest of the world.

Which, in light of recent events, leads me to believe even more strongly that

A) there was no actually sexual assault that took place and

B) its just efforts probably by the US to get him back to the United States and charge him.

[Hero]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/julian-assange-case-as-political-vladimir-putin/story-fnd134gw-1226466863042

Are you sure that Assange is off the hook? I did some searching on my own and although I didn't find anything that had been put up since your post what I found seems to indicate that the legal situation has been static for the last few days.

I've been arguing that the Swedish rape prosecution is entirely political in nature from the beginning and that it's not only extremely wasteful but bad PR for the US government to press for his extradition and eventual conviction and sentencing. I would be the first to call for a toast if the Swedish or US government decided to show some decency toward the man and let him walk, but either of those cases still seems to be a long way off.

IF Sweden wanted to press charges, they could have contacted Mr. Assange in the Embassy he was holed up in.

Early on this is what Assange proposed, but a Swedish judge ordered that this would be inadequate and he must be brought to Sweden. That's when he started to try to keep a low profile and court foreign governments for protection, and when the European arrest warrant came out. That's why so many people were immediately suspicious of the charges despite the generally positive international reputation of the Swedish justice system, because of the uncharacteristic stringencies taken in relation to the allegations and the irregularities in the process taken to internationalize the case.

Sweden wants to press charges alright, but they want to do it the old fashioned way. The prosecution team would come out looking weak if Assange found permanent shelter somewhere after being stuck for this much time under warrant in an EU country.

B) its just efforts probably by the US to get him back to the United States and charge him.

Julian Assange has spent time in the US but he has never been a permanent resident here. If his nationality was with the US instead of Australia, I don't doubt that he would have been extradited a long time ago. It's not like the UK government is less close a partner of the US than Sweden is.

As a side note, I think it's very hard to plausibly deny that the timing of the Cablegate media circus played a role in the Swedish prosecutor's decision to pursue the charges. It's also not surprisingly a winning scenario for the US state department if Assange ends up in a Swedish jail. He gets his life ruined in punishment for playing a role in the publication of their secrets while the US government doesn't have to get its hands dirty and therefore doesn't come out looking vindictive or sadistic the way they do with Bradley Manning.