Lawyer: US Prosecutors Preparing Case Against Assange
No Charges Yet, But They Could Be Made Within 24 Hours
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s lawyer Baltazar Garzon today reiterated concerns that his client could be “traded” by Sweden to the United States if he is extradited to the Scandinavian nation for questioning, saying that US prosecutors have already prepared a case against him.
Though Assange has repeatedly said he would have no trouble going to Sweden, he wants assurances that he will not be immediately transferred to the US, where officials have called him a terrorist and members of Congress have demanded his execution.
Sweden has openly refused to promise not to send him on to the US if it gets ahold of Assange, while US officials have only said that there are no current charges against him. While Garzon conceded that point, he says that preparations have progressed to the point that charges could be laid on Assange within a matter of 24 hours when the US gets the sense it could acquire him.
A trial against Assange would be a difficult one, because despite harsh rhetoric it isn’t apparent that he broke any laws in passing on newsworthy documents to the media. The real question, and the one which sparked the entire asylum row with Britain and Ecuador, is whether Assange would get a trial at all in the US, or whether he would simply be detained on the president’s say-so.
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Augustbrhm
September 6th, 2012 at 2:09 am
Even since its inception america has always been a "hang them high" country with a badland laws of the old west.Has it changed?
jacksplace58
September 6th, 2012 at 3:40 am
Chances are the ma would never see the light of day again.
byrd_bahls22
September 6th, 2012 at 8:04 am
And yet, if an American is nabbed overseas, you never hear the end of it, or how "unfair" "those people" are being.
the lion
September 6th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
I can say this though the Australian Public will not countenance any conduct from the US that it deems as unfair or illegal, if one thinks back to what happenned for the two Australian Gitmo Prisoners, and the pressure put on the Australian Government and through that the US Government, it bades the US Government to carefully think how they will proceed, any look of legal impropriety and there will be a huge backlash from the Australian Public.
The backlash against Britain is I believe one of the reasons that they havent complied with the US wanting Assange, and the attempt at extradition to the US through a third party.
Execution of Assange or holding him without trial, will cause a huge strain against the US in Australia, it may even mean the loss of the new training facility in Northern Australia, It was one of the reasons that John Howard lost political power because of his allowance of an Australian Citizen to languish in Gitmo!
Johnny_Warbucks
September 6th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Too bad they don't prepare a case against Bush, Cheney, Obama and the rest of the war criminals.