Why did Assange skip bail seven years ago? To avoid being extradited to Sweden, supposedly to be questioned by police but really to be extradited to the United States, which intended to punish him harshly. But the U.S. kept its actions pretty much under wraps, although a U.S. diplomat did speak up to interfere in the sex case against Assange, making clear the U.S. wanted Swedish prosecutors to pursue sex charges. (It turns out that the more serious sex charge is unprovable -- no semen, no DNA, which should have been on the condom he was reputed to have deliberately split.)
Now we find he is facing extradition on a bogus terrorism charge, with the high probability of draconian Espionage Act charges added once he arrives in the U.S.
What does this show? It shows that he acted in a responsible way when he protected himself from harsh U.S. vengeance by skipping bail and taking refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy. There is a phrase lawyers sometimes use when a client does something illegal when there is seemingly no choice: "The only game in town." What else could he have done?
Hence, in light of these mitigating circumstances, 50 weeks in jail is outrageously unfair. Assange, when he fled authorities, was a publisher facing terrible retribution for publishing official secrets, something that the British government forbids but that the American government may not meddle in despite its determination to do so.
Assange's personality is irrelevant. Whether or not he is a narcissist has nothing to do with anything. Of course the system wants to demonize him ad hominem. That's because its case is so weak. The strategy is to undermine him so severely that it can get away with behaving unjustly toward one of the tribunes of the people.
Now we find he is facing extradition on a bogus terrorism charge, with the high probability of draconian Espionage Act charges added once he arrives in the U.S.
What does this show? It shows that he acted in a responsible way when he protected himself from harsh U.S. vengeance by skipping bail and taking refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy. There is a phrase lawyers sometimes use when a client does something illegal when there is seemingly no choice: "The only game in town." What else could he have done?
Hence, in light of these mitigating circumstances, 50 weeks in jail is outrageously unfair. Assange, when he fled authorities, was a publisher facing terrible retribution for publishing official secrets, something that the British government forbids but that the American government may not meddle in despite its determination to do so.
Assange's personality is irrelevant. Whether or not he is a narcissist has nothing to do with anything. Of course the system wants to demonize him ad hominem. That's because its case is so weak. The strategy is to undermine him so severely that it can get away with behaving unjustly toward one of the tribunes of the people.
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