Hacker News Reader

How likely is this to be some kind of bait'n'switch? Scenario: Swedish diplomats enter negotiations – raising delusive hope in Assange and everyone in the Embassy – with the intention to never follow with any feasible agreement in order to make Assange give up so he can deal with his health issues.

View on HN

Negotiations haven been ongoing since last year, and according to the Swedish prosecution office the last request to interview Assange in the Embassy was sent in March this year (the third such request by their count).

It seems to me that it's the Swedish police that agreed to talk to Assange in the embassy. Not Swedish diplomats.

And to expound on that, the foreign minister is not allowed to influence the police in Sweden ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministerstyre ). Although there have been cases where this has happened (IIRC the US cable leaks revealed there was ministerial interference in the Pirate Bay case)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com