I mean, it's possible that he's lost his mind during the 7 years of imprisonment without trial.
Technically he's not being held against his will. But the reality is he can't leave.
Of course he can. He can walk out the door right now.
He chooses not to leave because he doesn't want to deal with the consequences of what he has done. You may not agree with that but it's an undeniable fact.
Yours is the weirdest argument imaginable, he's forced to stay in the embassy or he'll be arrested. That is exactly how essentially all western prisons work, some of them might throw minor obstacles on the way to prevent you from walking out but it's rarely that hard.
He has not had a trial, so he neither belongs in prison nor doesn't belong in a prison. He needs to have a trial first.
Do you use the same argument for people that jump bail? "He's on the run because if he wasn't on the run he would be arrested and face trial, therefore he has no choice in the matter?" Because that's the argument you're making, and it's a ridiculous one.
The British government has already kept him confided for 7 years, what good would a trial serve at this point?
>Do you use the same argument for people that jump bail? Because that's the argument you're making, and it's a ridiculous one.
In practice this "ridiculous" argument is probably the very reason why the punishments for jumping bail tend to be quite low, no?
Assange is in a diplomatic embassy. He can walk out. He may not even be arrested, detained or extradited. In fact nobody knows what will happen.
Ah yes, all those cops have spent years outside the embassy just for fun.
>Police said in a statement there is an active warrant for Assange’s arrest and that the police are “obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the Embassy.”
Either the Police are being dishonest or you are.
What? Is there any reasonable source claiming that's remotely possible?
Penalties have gone pretty sideways in the US when it comes to being associated with terrorism, and what qualifies as terrorism extremely broad and nebulous.
Who says the UK will be an EU country if/when it gets around to extraditing him? I mean, the bail jumping charges should give them some leeway on timing.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4378830-Excerpts-Fro...
On 30 August, Assange was questioned by the Stockholm police
On 1 September 2010, Överåklagare Marianne Ny decided to resume the preliminary investigation.
On 27 September 2010 assange left the country, now a month after he had been at the police.
On 18 November 2010, Marianne Ny ordered the detention.
Now that sound like a person running from their crime. Its the most slow motion running of any reported case to reach the news. I also must applaud the Swedish legal system for effective and swift action, in particular for reaching a conclusion three months after the initial investigation when no new facts had been established. If only the prosecutor had reached the decision from the beginning, rather than wait until the accused leave the country, wait a bit longer and then order the detention.
Did I mention rape cases are about the second highest prioritized crime in Sweden, next after murder? There were no murder spree between 20 August 2010 and 18 November 2010.
Oh, and his victims, of course.
He will be arrested if he leaves. How is that particularly different from say HMP Prescoed?