2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Kim Dotcom: Julian Assange Will Be Hillary Clinton’s Worst Nightmare in 2016 [View all]AntiBank
(1,339 posts)revealed in 2013 that the U.S. asked the prosecution of Assange in August 2010 to the handful of governments participating under US command in the military occupation of Afghanistan. Only Sweden complied, at a time with a foreign policy under the subservient rule of Carl Bildt, i, who was exposed by WikiLeaks (massive scandal here I might add) of being a secret information officer for the US.
https://professorsblogg.com/2015/03/13/the-scandalous-political-case-of-the-swedish-prosecutor-authority-vs-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange/
[1] The US government approached Swedens authorities on the situation around Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks exposures of 2010, in August that year. The Swedish press reported on the meetings in Stockholm. Secondly, as reported in both the Phillip Shenon and NSA documents (the report by Greenwald & Gallagher in Intercept), the US contacted all countries with forces in Afghanistan with the request to initiate prosecution against the WikiLeaks founder. As being Sweden a principal country participating with military troops in Afghanistan, it is beyond discussion as to whether Sweden was also among the nations contacted by the US for that purpose. My conclusion being that it is highly likely that the reopening of the case Assange by Swedish authorities on the 20 of August 2010 was part of the US request of the 10 of August to prosecute Julian Assange by any means. But it is not only a design to simply prosecute Assange. The meaning of the strategic design in the context of the referred US request was not Assange as person, but the concept was (is) to immobilize WikiLeaks. For this a long protracted process had to be brought in place.
Follows a sequence around the European Arrest Warrant issues by the Swedish prosecutor against Julian Assange,[21] and where the conclusion emerging is that the real target of the EAW was not the detention of Assange, but the creation of an extradition process:
Assange arrived to the airport around noon, and even chosen to change to a later SAS flight of his preferences. He finally left Arlanda Airport for Berlin Tegel at 17.15. Latest around 16.55 he would have gone through airport security where, with the usual heavy police presence, staff at the gate leading to the departure hall checked his passport (if not already checked at the desk), boarding card, etc. Besides, the police have all the passengers lists in advance.
According to the prosecutor office in Gothenburg, Assange was detained in absentia already at 14.15 on 27 September 2010. [24] Normally, such order goes to all police units in the country. Why wasnt he detained at the airport? It could not be that they missed his identity. Quite the opposite: because they knew his identity at the airport desk or at the control gate, the police (or government officials, or whoever agency was operating) managed to take the laptops from Assanges checked-in suitcase. [22] Besides, he stayed around five hours at the airports premises. They just couldnt have missed him.
Assange was never informed about the detention in absentia. Further, Assanges laywer Björn Hurtig had obtained an agreement from the prosecutor Marianne Ny that Julian Assange was free to leave Sweden. [23]
In fact, Assanges lawyer received the communication on the detention warrant issued my Marianne Ny (the warrant that Elisabeth Massi Fritz is writing about in connection to Assanges departure for Berlin on the 27 of September), as late as the 30 September 2010. This means three days after that it was issued by the same Marianne Ny.
In support of this claim I refer here to the Supreme Court document Agreed Statement of Facts And Issues. Between: Julian Paul Assange (Applicant) V. Swedish Prosecution Authority (Respondent), hearings 1-2 Feb 2012,. In Item 17, page 5, it reads: On 30th September 2010, the Appellants counsel [Björn Hurtig] was advised of the existence of the arrest warrant.
The EAW immobilized Assange and, to a greater extent, WikiLeaks activities. In previous analyses, I have demonstrated that it is beyond doubt that this case is political motivated. There isnt a genuine legal case behind the charade of the Swedish Prosecutor Authority and the plaintiffs prejudiced lawyers. This is not the first time that this sort of behaviour has been seen in Sweden.
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Julian Assange on Being Placed on NSA "Manhunting" List & Secret Targeting of WikiLeaks Supporters
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/18/julian_assange_on_being_placed_on
Top-secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden have revealed new details about how the United States and Britain targeted the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks after it published leaked documents about the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. According to a new article by The Intercept, Britains top spy agency, the Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, secretly monitored visitors to a WikiLeaks website by collecting their IP addresses in real time, as well as the search terms used to reach the site. One document from 2010 shows that the National Security Agency added WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to a "manhunting" target list, together with suspected members of al-Qaeda. We speak to Assange live from the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has sought political asylum since 2012. Also joining us is his lawyer Michael Ratner, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Top-secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden have revealed new details about how the United States and Britain targeted the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks after it published leaked documents about the Afghan War. According to a new article co-written by Glenn Greenwald published this morning by The Intercept, Britains top spy agency, the Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, secretly monitored visitors to a WikiLeaks site by collecting their IP addresses in real time as well as the search terms used to reach the site. One document from 2010 shows that the National Security Agency added WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to a, quote, "manhunting" target list, together with suspected members of al-Qaeda.
AMY GOODMAN: Another document reveals the NSA considered designating WikiLeaks as a "malicious foreign actor." According to The Intercept, "Such a designation would have allowed the group to be targeted with extensive electronic surveillancewithout the need to exclude U.S. persons from the surveillance searches." In addition, the leaked documents reveal the United States urged its foreign allies to file criminal charges against Assange over the groups publication of the Afghanistan War Logs.
Joining us now from London is Wikileaks founder and editor Julian Assange, talking to us by the phone from the Ecuadorean embassy where he has political asylum since August 2012. Here in New York, were joined by Michael Ratner, the attorney for Julian Assange, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
When you read this, Julian welcome back to Democracy Now! what were your thoughts on being put on this "manhunting"their words"manhunting" list together with al-Qaeda?
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