General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Context and the Assange case. [View all]AikidoSoul
(2,150 posts)And there is no WikiLeaks public statement that makes your case.
Oh dear. Are you getting tired of being beaten down with a truthstick?
But here is something interesting for your narrow gullet:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/groundtruth/vaughan-smith-julian-assange
A bold stand in support: Vaughan Smith on Julian Assange
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Outside the Ecuadorian Embassy a gaggle of supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are clustered under umbrellas and tucked in doorways trying to stay dry. Their placards, laminated against the rain, state their case: Free Assange and Asylum for Assange. No to Rendition. One that reads Freedom of Expression is a Right is handwritten in black ink and the words run like tear-stained mascara down a white cardboard poster in a steady downpour.
An armed Scotland Yard officer in uniform is posted at the entrance of the Embassy. Several more police hover on the fringes and in unmarked cars on the narrow street known as Hans Crescent just across the entrance from Harrods. The streets are packed with tourists and shoppers on Friday afternoon in the run up to the Olympics, but few take notice of this little stand-off between the protesters and the British governments attempts to extradite Assange to Sweden where he still faces allegations of sex-related offenses.
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The United States views Assanges role in the leak of the documents as a crime and many observers consider it likely that U.S. prosecutors will seek to bring charges in connection with their publication.
Assanges political asylum case is built on a fear that if he is extradited to Sweden that he will end up being extradited to the U.S. where he could potentially face serious, criminal charges. Many prominent international and American figures have supported his asylum bid, from Oliver Stone and Michael Moore to Daniel Ellsberg of the Pentagon Papers.
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But earlier, I spent some time with Vaughan Smith, the founder of the Frontline Club, who has stood by Assange for nearly two years through his odyssey in the limelight and his legal ordeal. Smiths Frontline Club is a gathering place for journalists near Paddington which has become home base in London for many of the worlds foreign correspondents (including this one). Smith has taken some heat for his support of Assange. Some journalists have disagreed with Smiths assertion that Assange has as much right to be a member of the Frontline club as any other self-proclaimed journalist. Assange is in the business of digging for information and publishing it, and for Smith it is really that simple.
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