Assange rejects deal between UK, Ecuador for him to leave embassy

[Julian Englis]

Source: The Hill

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday rejected a deal brokered between Ecuador and the United Kingdom that would allow him to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London for the first time in six years, the U.K.’s Telegraph reported.

Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno said Assange can choose to leave the embassy without the risk of being extradited for charges abroad.

"The way has been cleared for Mr Assange to take the decision to leave in near-liberty," Moreno told The Telegraph, without elaborating on what “near liberty” meant.

Assange's lawyer, Barry Pollack, told The Telegraph that the U.K.-Ecuador agreement was not acceptable because it did not protect Assange from being extradited to the United States.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/420183-assange-rejects-deal-between-uk-ecuador-for-him-to-leave-embassy

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Two things Assaunge && tRump have in common: a history sexually assaulting women and a reasonable fear of dying in a United States prison.

[Pachamama]

1. Can someone please explain why the Ecuadorian Govt cannot just tell a non-equadorian citizen to

....leave their embassy?

[canetoad]

4. He is

An Ecuadorian citizen.

[avebury]

9. Well Ecuador did not think that through too well. nt

[canetoad]

10. They certainly did not

I thought he had taken Ecuadorian citizenship around the time he went into the embassy but it was much later than that - December 2017. Ecuador should have known better by then.

[avebury]

6. That is what I want to know!

All they should have to do is open the door and kick him to the curb. They really did not think this through when they took him in.

[RockRaven]

7. At some point in this mess he apparently got Ecuadorian citizenship, but that still doesn't mean he

is entitled to stay there forever.

[RockRaven]

2. Stinky J Ass thinks it is up to him to continue staying in the embassy indefinitely... LOL, nope

Ecuador is getting tired of him; it's only a matter of time before they push him out the door.

[DeminPennswoods]

21. Yep, this is the hint he should leave

on his own otherwise he'll be forcibly evicted.

[George II]

3. They should just kick his ass out onto the street.

[christx30]

16. I'd love to see that.

They kick him out at a random time. He sprints, sees how far he can get without being picked up. See if he can beg another embassy to take him in, but no one will. Maybe get a friend to pick him up. Might make a good movie. But we’d see him in a US courtroom inside 2 weeks.

[Denzil_DC]

28. No.

The most likely chain of events when/if Assange leaves the embassy is that he'll be immediately arrested by the UK police for skipping bail - that is, if Putin doesn't try to have him picked up in a diplomatic car (which might arguably give him diplomatic immunity) or bumped off (I'm not sure whether Putin's actually that interested in him at this stage) before the police can get to him.

He'd immediately have to answer in court for the bail default (the direct penalties for which might be surprisingly slight after all this time), and at that point we might find out whether there are in fact sealed US indictments waiting for him and the prospect of extradition.

If there are and there were moves for extradition, I'd expect that to be subject to a lengthy and expensive appeals process which could see him in a UK prison for years while it ran its course - I can't see him getting bail again, having skipped it so blatantly and defiantly before.

So you might see him in a US courtroom, but not for quite some time.

[rpannier]

17. Kick him out, but not the cat

They should keep the cat as a mascot and as a reminder not to give grifting, egocentric, narcissistic jerks asylum

[Devil Child]

19. That would be so damn satisfying to watch

[djacq]

5. Just kick the traitorous A-hole out!

[ronnie624]

20. The word 'traitor' has a definition. n/t

[still_one]

8. Why would he want to leave? Free room and board

[Haggis for Breakfast]

11. What ? The Ecuadorean Embassy doesn't have fire alarms ?

[Igel]

13. They should just stop feeding him.

Or letting others feed him.

In other words, he's protesting, put him on a hunger strike. (Perhaps in retaliation he'd go on a hunger strike.)

[BigmanPigman]

15. His fans, like Pamela Anderson, would

bring him warm cookies and milk...poor baby.

[Honeycombe8]

12. He's such a wuss. What does he do all day? Does he work? Tend a garden? What? nt

[cstanleytech]

14. Ya, I am not surprised as it was clear that the only way the UK will agree not to extradite him is

if its a case where he might face the death penalty which is an unlikely penalty if he was to be extradited to the US unless he was facing a murder charge for example.

[DeminPennswoods]

23. Isn't the reason he's hiding is because of the

potential sexual assault charges that were pending in Sweden? IIRC the statute of limitations recently ran out on those. I think that's when Ecuador started trying to get him to leave.

[BumRushDaShow]

25. Sweden decided to end the investigation last year

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39973864

However the statue of limitations isn't up until 2020 for the latest case (an earlier case had its SOL expire), it seems that at any point before this next SOL, they could resume the investigations. So I expect the hemming and hawing is due to trying to avoid jail in some country (whether England due to a failure to show up in court) or the U.S. or Sweden or anyone else impacted by him.

[The_jackalope]

18. He's gonna leave fingernail scrapes on the door frame

as he's dragged out and dumped in the street.

[DeminPennswoods]

22. Maybe Ecuador will just find a new embassy location

and leave Assange behind when everyone else leaves.

[Scurrilous]

24. That would work.

[Cha]

26. Why does Asshat fear the USA now?

Isn't he best buds with Traitortrump?

[dewsgirl]

27. So he was born an Australian citizen and at some point became

A citizen of Ecuador?

[Luciferous]

29. They should kick him out. Even if he is a citizen of Ecuador it doesn't mean they have to continue

to feed and house him.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

30. Can't Ecuador just fly him to Quito, then cut him loose?

Just another free Ecuadoran, enjoying his freedom.