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Comment by mcv | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, I remember. A disgrace on several levels. I really wish a European country would have had the spine to give Snowden asylum.

Not the same issue as Assange of course, unless, as Assange claims, this too is the long arm of the US secretly trying to get whistleblowers extradited. I'm not sure that's the case here, though; I think the Swedish rape allegations have merit, and unlike Snowden, I don't think Assange has broken any US laws for which he can be extradited; he's just doing journalist work. Sloppily and with grandstanding megalomania, perhaps, but that's not illegal and thus no basis for extradition.

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> I don't think Assange has broken any US laws for which he can be extradited

There is a sealed indictment of Assange in US district court that was inadvertently leaked when some documents were improperly redacted. [1]

There were later reports based on chat logs that Assange solicited or participated in hacking attempts to obtain email documents during the 2016 political campaign.[2]

Active solicitation of or participation in illegal hacking is a crime in US law and there is no exception for 'journalists'.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/us/politics/julian-assang...

[2] https://emma.best/2018/11/15/sealed-files-show-assange-and-w...

> I think the Swedish rape allegations have merit

I'm no expert in Swedish law, I trust their legal system, and the legal system in the UK to respond to the demands of the EAW

> and unlike Snowden, I don't think Assange has broken any US laws for which he can be extradited;

If he could, the U.S. could have just as easily extradited him from the UK

If i recall correctly Assange's troubles with US started after this leak "Collateral murder" :

https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org

The Swedish rape allegations were an obvious sham and have already been dropped years ago. Usually when this happens the case is just dropped, yet the UK really pressed in arresting Assange for "failing to appear in court", which is most countries is a minor thing (the accused is not punished for lying in court or missing court dates). I think it's obvious that any excuse will do for extraditing him to the US, to make an example of him. But so much time has passed and the case is so public now that I at least hope the UK will save face and free him instead of extraditing him.

It's extra interesting now because the US is now led by a government that is alleged to have illegal foreign help during the election campaign, notably through Wikileaks. I don't think the current president would want Assange extradited.

Weren’t the rape allegations dropped because the statute of limitations finally expired?

Sorry if I didn’t use the right terminology.

The statute of limitations has run out on some of the minor charges, but not the more serious one. While Sweden has closed the case and dropped the international arrest warrant, if he returns to Sweden before August 2020 he can still be questioned and charged on the remaining allegation.

have already been dropped years ago

They dropped the investigation and the arrest warrant, not the charges. The investigation can still be reopened and he can still be questioned and charged if he returns to Sweden before the statutes of limitations run out.

Agreed. Its just more proof, (as if we needed it) that the UK is just a little puppet for the US. The police standing outside that embassy were justified on the Swedish extradition request, which has since been withdrawn. All of a sudden now a US extradition request has appeared. We should all take responsibility for this frankly, in my opinion, atrocity this man is a part of our community, the hacker community, this is not only an attack on press freedoms, but the hacker community too.

We need to be more vigilent, more aware, stronger and never forget.

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