General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Context and the Assange case. [View all]struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)to arrange for a second interview with him. His lawyer then informed the Swedish authorities that Assange would return to Sweden on a particular date in the near future and that he would be available for a second interview with the authorities then -- but he did not return on that date. Eventually the authorities obtained from the courts an arrest warrant and sought his extradition from the UK: the case progressed through the UK courts for a year and a half, with Assange losing at every level, until Assange decided to forego the next appeal to Strasbourg, jumped bail, and squatted in the Ecuadorian embassy
These are not the behaviors which will suggest obvious innocence to impartial rational minds. But if Assange is as obviously innocent, as he says and as his supporters think, then the natural reaction might be that this matter could have been quickly settled long ago by a short trip to Sweden, with the result that Assange would again be free to roam the world, rather than being confined to a small windowless room in a tiny embassy. And the bare fact, that Assange has preferred that small room to his freedom, plausibly says much about his mental condition. Moreover, given the reputation of the Swedish criminal justice system, one suspects that, even if he were somehow convicted in Sweden, his incarceration there might offer him a considerably more comfortable and stimulating environment than he currently experiences in the embassy. Remarks from various of his lawyers unfortunately indicate that he does not intend to leave the embassy, even Sweden drops all charges
Something is clearly wrong here; and I prefer simple explanations, rather than rationalizations that require international conspiracies