Julian Assange is more of an outlaw than even Donald J. Trump when it comes to gaming the law. The manifest absurdity is that Assange has been able to avoid extradition – from a prison in the United Kingdom – based on the claim that he might be treated unfairly in a prison in the United States. But, if the UK can’t extradite a person accused of espionage against the US, its closest and most trusted ally, then the very concept of extradition is utterly meaningless.
Anyway, at long last, his days now appear numbered.
A British court ruled on Friday that Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges that could result in decades of jail time, reversing a lower-court decision in the long-running case against the embattled WikiLeaks founder.
(The New York Times December 10, 2021)
As it happens, I’ve been commenting on this saga from the outset in commentaries like “WikiLeaks More US Secrets,” November 29, 2010, “Hey Media, Wikileaker Assange Is Still a Self-Promoting, Bail-Jumping Rape Suspect!” August 29, 2016, and “UK Arrests Wikileaker Julian Assange (for Extradition to US) … Finally!” April 11, 2019.
Remarkably, though, an excerpt from a commentary I wrote nearly 10 years ago says all that needs to be said about this latest development. It’s from “Ecuador Grants Wikileaker Julian Assange Asylum … in London?” August 20, 2012:
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Such is the nature of groupthink among Western commentators that you’d be hard-pressed to find any who oppose, as I do, Ecuador’s decision to grant Julian Assange asylum. The nature of his alleged sexual offenses [against two Swedish women] warrants prosecution. …
To be fair, Assange maintains that he does not fear criminal prosecution in Sweden. He fears that, if extradited, Sweden will promptly extradite him to the United States to face the death penalty for publishing a treasure trove of classified government documents on his infamous site, WikiLeaks.
But I hasten to clarify that, if extradited, tried, and convicted under the Espionage Act, Assange would be sentenced to prison, not death. After all, the United States stopped executing people for espionage decades ago. It’s also instructive that prosecutors have already declared they will not be seeking the death penalty against Bradley Manning, the US soldier who stole those classified documents for Assange.
This is why the only issue here is whether Ecuador – in the person of its wannabe-Chávez president, Rafael Correa – can be allowed to frustrate Britain’s obligation under international law to extradite Assange to Sweden to face charges for crimes he allegedly committed there. I say no. …
I am stupefied that so many Western commentators are standing in solidarity with Assange. Not least because they are doing so at the expense of his alleged victims who have been waiting for years for this narcissistic, self-righteous crusader to be brought to justice. …
In the meantime, the world is being treated to a Mexican standoff. There’s no way Ecuador can sneak him out of the embassy, let alone the country; therefore, Assange could be inside for a very long time. …
That said, if Assange were exposing government corruption or activities that betray the public trust, I would be his most ardent supporter. But he’s leading a foolhardy and untenable crusade for ‘complete transparency’ in diplomatic relations. Instead of winning converts, this will only ensure that diplomats will be even more secretive in their dealings to avoid even the remotest possibility of being ‘exposed.’…
But it’s truly mind-boggling that his supporters do not even seem concerned that Assange’s cult-like mission has ruined the careers and endangered the lives of scores of innocent diplomats.
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Of course, since then, Assange has made a mockery of the Swedish legal system by forcing prosecutors there to simply give up – justice for his rape victims be damned. But he has to know he’ll die awaiting extradition in a UK prison before US prosecutors give up …
Related Commentaries:
UK Arrests Wikileaker…