Julian Assange

It was only a light-hearted aside to the thread subject, POGS

I think Assange should answer the allegations that Sweden are making and not hide out in a foreign embassy on UK soil. He's a coward and using the situation for his own purposes. If he's innocent, then he has nothing to fear. This really isn't the UK's problem and we should stay out of it. Our only involvement should be to ensure that he gets to Sweden to answers the questions they have.

Anagram

I am being very lazy, can't be bothered to re view Newsnight.

A friend has just called and we were discussing Assange. She did not see Newsnight. Can you tell me, was the woman from the Independant Newspaper or had I said the wrong thing.? I was telling her how sensible she was and I felt true to herself and not going along with anything other than facts.

Another light-hearted aside...Does anyone agree that the eyes are mirrors of the soul?

Yes. I sort of agree with that. Although I think it's more the look on the face rather than the eyes themselves.

Can eyes be sad? Or smiling?

Or is it what's going on around the eyes? While the eyes stay the same?

Jings A cruel person has the coldest eyes.

{{{ shudder! }}}

Yes, POGS it was Joan Smith of The Indpendent.

soop.

Poor old Marty Feldman. Where would he be in that thought.

Anagram, thank you.

There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. They certainly were far from "blank"...

Wow

Has anybody watched R.T.Today. They have quoted a swedish minister who declared to a german newspaper 'Sweden will not send Assange to any country that could give him the death penalty'

Does anyone think things could move forward?

I think Assange would surely show his true colours if he did not go to Sweden. Has he not seeked asylum stating his life was in danger and that was the reason Equador backed him.

POGS I don't think the President of Ecuador backed Assange because his life was in danger but because he likes to stick up two fingers to the US – an increasingly common attitude these days that, sadly, the US does little to improve. The President of Ecuador has no problem about putting the lives of tiresome media people in danger (or simply ending them) if they annoy him. I don;t think the people of Ecuador were consulted about Assange and certainly not all of them approve.

The local people they spoke to on Newsnight seemed not to know much about Assange, but were glad to seize upon the opportunity to stick two fingers up at both the US and the UK.

absent.

Sadly very true. Strange our news stations don't get a view from other countries apart from Equador and his followers.

Could be interesting to know the feelings of the various international and E.U bodies.

Nice to see Galloway getting a bit of stick.

When I say I can't stand the man it has nothing to do with his looks. We all develop our own ways of 'reading' people throughout our lives, deciding who to trust and who to keep at arms length. Having taught schoolchildren for over twenty years does expose one ample opportunities of testing these skills. I can't stand Assange because I mistrust his demeanor, his words and his actions.

I think you'll find POGS that Australia has something to say on the matter as Assange is an Australian national.

I presume he sought sanctuary with Ecuador because he knows how they hate the US.
I am not a believer in the 'If you are innocent you have nothing to fear' mantra - too many miscarriages of justice have been revealed, sometimes too late to save the life of a wrongly convicted person.

Galloway and Assange deserve each other, to my mind. no, I'm not judgmental, not even a tiny bit.......

I don't judge a book by its cover and I try not to be influenced by how a person looks. Julian Assange is Australian. Since working for Wikileaks he has lived all round the world. His work for Wikileaks has shown him just how unscrupulous governments are. He has received numerous awards including such reputable organisations such as Amnesty International.

Then Wikileaks publishes information various governments around the world would rather we didn't know. Details of massacres, toxic dumps, etc. We see how the US disregards it's own laws in the treatment of one of the whistleblowers. Next charges of sexual assault are levelled against him in Sweden.

When the head of the IMF was accused of raping a hispanic chambermaid it was somehow found there was no case to answer. Then it emerged he was known as a sexual predator with other outstanding cases against him and ...some of these were high-powered woman, not just 'mere' chambermaids.

My point is firstly, why have no other assaults come to light if he is in the habit of forcing himself on women and secondly, if he truly knows he is not guilty of these assaults then no wonder he is not going back to face charges.

There seems to be a 'hate' campaign going on here against Assange. I don't know if he is guilty as charged. I don't know if he should go back to face charges. And yes, greatnan it is naive to believe that 'if you are innocent you have nothing to fear'.

Nanadogsbody - it sounds like you are suggesting that just because Assange hasn't sexually assaulted anybody else as far as we know, he's probably not guilty. It's possible to commit a crime for the first time, and each case should be judged on its own merits.

As to your second point about him knowing he is innocent being a good reason for him not to stand trial... I can't quite understand it.

Not wanting to stand trial doesn't seem to have any bearing on whether you're guilty or not - if you're guilty you would also not want to stand trial as then you would (hopefully) be found guilty. Knowing his own innocence is not good enough. That is not how justice works.

I know this has already been posted, but I'd like to recommend this article again: www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2012/08/legal-myths-about-assange-extradition

Unfortunately the Australian government does not look out for its own people. Two Australians were tortured at Guantanmo, while the government knew and did nothing. I don't agree with every thing Assanges is said to have done but then I also don't believe everything the media publishes either. I read ages ago that he did in fact make himself available to the authorities in Sweden before he left but all was fine then. I do like the idea of Wikileaks, hopefully it will keep governments a bit more honest. They are supposed to be working for us but I get the feeling we are all just plebs to them anyway! I believe our rights are gradually being eroded!

Did I say any of that? I think not. I simply asked the questions 'what if?'