Assange's Attorney Explains What Went On In Court Today: "It's A Persecution, Not A Prosecution"

[Turborama]

Run time: 05:35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcMKpcxuP2Y   Posted on YouTube: December 07, 2010 By YouTube Member: YouJudgeThis Views on YouTube: 84   Posted on DU: December 08, 2010 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 620

 
Mr Assange's lawyer Mark Stevens told Sky News after the hearing that a fresh bail application would be lodged.
He said: "I have described this Swedish process as a persecution and not a prosecution."

=snip=

Mr (John) Pilger, who offered £20,000, said he had a "very high regard" for Assange as a journalist and personal friend. He told City of Westminster Magistrates' Court: "I am here today because the charges against him in Sweden are absurd and were judged as absurd by the chief prosecutor there when she threw the whole thing out until a senior political figure intervened."

A post on Wikileaks Twitter account labelled the decision to refuse bail "bizarre".

Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "The longer he is in this country, the more possibility there is the Americans will find a law they can reasonably charge him with and get a prosecution." He added that legal workers had been surprised at the court decision to refuse bail.

More: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201009115849036

More on what John Pilger Said about this persecution here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9714443

[Boudica the Lyoness]

1. Very interesting

Thanks for posting this. It certainly does look like persecution to me.

[Poll_Blind]

2. Finally got a chance to catch this- very interesting. Thanks for posting the update!

PB

[midnight]

3. Swedish prosecutor has no charges, but did she have him arrested?

Who is filing charges if the swedish prosecutor is not?

[LAGC]

4. Political pressure on the prosecutor's office caused them to re-file the charges.

Its completely political. If they do succeed in whisking him away to Sweden, they'll probably make a show trial out of it and lock him away for a few years. I hope WikiLeaks has contingency plans in case Assange is put out of circulation for awhile...