Pardons on Assange - and Snowden - being blocked!
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange prepares to speak from the balcony [Feb.5?] of the Ecuadorian embassy, where he's lived since 2012.
Court won't drop Julian Assange rape investigation
CBS: STOCKHOLM -- A Swedish appeals court on Friday upheld a detention order for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, dismissing the latest attempt by the 45-year-old Australian to make prosecutors drop a rape investigation from 2010.
The decision by the Svea Court of Appeal means that the arrest warrant stands for the 45-year-old computer hacker, who has avoided extradition to Sweden by seeking shelter at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012.
Assange, who denies the rape allegation, has challenged the detention order several times. He says he fears he will be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges if he leaves the embassy.
His Swedish defense lawyer, Per Samuelson, said he would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange fears if he returns to Stockholm he will be extradited to the US to face charges over secret documents leaked by his organisation (AFP Photo/Niklas Halle'n)
Earlier posts:
Assange's long stand-off with Swedish justice
Assange's mental, physical health deteriorating under embassy confinement - medical records
Swedish court upholds arrest warrant for Julian Assange
Swedish court to rule on Julian Assange extradition - CNET
Julian Assange Says Lengthy Embassy Stay Has Sharpened His Perspective On The World
As far as Assange being pardoned by Barack Obama, at the same time he has been releasing inherently incriminating emails against Hillary Clinton, and has consistently warned that more is coming...
Assange says, ‘Wikileaks to release batch of Clinton emails next week’
... well, maybe the threat of future releases could be a good bargaining chip for Assange, much to the loss of our Democracy... But, if there is no bargaining here, then I don't see how Obama would possibly pardon him - (UNLESS Obama is part of some other Agenda beyond the election of Clinton, which is not entirely impossible). So, it seems perhaps a tad fair and naive that Assange is now annoucing this:
Julian Assange says he'll turn himself in if Obama pardons Chelsea Manning
I don't trust Obama for a minute. But I don't know everything that is going on. I find it curious that all this stuff is developing during the 2016 election cycle, and providing good diversion material.
As you probably do know, the following has developed regarding fellow whistle-blower, Chelsea Manning, which could not have occurred without the approval of Obama, who has taken a pro-LGBT stance, which pales in comparison to his stance on Hillary, the banks, TPP, TSA, NSA, et al...
Army agrees to give Chelsea Manning gender reassignment surgery
Less than a week after Chelsea Manning launched a hunger strike to protest abuse behind bars, the U.S. Army promised her gender dysphoria treatment. With that promise, Manning could become the first transgender prisoner to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
According to a statement issued by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Tuesday, the military conceded to letting her have the surgery, which was prescribed by a psychologist in April. Manning, the former soldier turned WikiLeaks whistleblower, received a 35-year prison sentence in 2013, the same year she came out as a trans woman. Nevertheless, she’s been locked up in men’s prison and denied care that’s considered “medically necessary and recommended,” said the ACLU, which filed a lawsuit on Manning’s behalf in 2014.
Rights Groups Launch Campaign For Snowden Pardon...
NEW YORK: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union launched a campaign Wednesday to push President Barack Obama to pardon Edward Snowden, the fugitive intelligence whistleblower living in Russia.
High-profile lawyers and celebrities including writer Joyce Carol Oates and actor Martin Sheen have already signed the campaign’s main prod, a petition at pardonsnowden.org that urges Obama to grant Snowden clemency before the president leaves office in January.
But the White House quickly said it had no intention of pardoning Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency who released thousands of classified documents in 2013 revealing the vast US surveillance put in place after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest disputed that Snowden was a whistleblower and said he would enjoy legal due process at a trial in the United States, where he faces up to 30 years in prison for espionage and theft of state secrets.
QUOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:
Bernie Sanders: “The interests of justice would be best served if our government granted Snowden some form of clemency.”
Peter Gabriel: Snowden’s revelations “shocked the world and made it very clear why we need to have some way to look over those who look over us.”
Oliver Stone: “We hope that Mr. Obama has a stroke of lightning and he sees the way.”
Anthony Romero, (ACLU): ...despite the White House’s “not very positive reaction” initially, “we think it will change with the public’s response” to the campaign.
JILL STEIN: Pardon Edward Snowden, now
If elected president I will immediately pardon Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and John Kiriakou for their important work in exposing the massive, systematic violation of our constitutional rights. I would invite them to the White House to publicly acknowledge their heroism, and create a role for them in the Stein-Baraka Green party administration to help us create a modern framework that protects personal privacy while still conducting effective investigations where warranted.
The American people have a right to privacy. My hope is that Obama uses his power to pardon Snowden now. The debate he began must be continued so we find a resolution that protects the freedom of press, association, religion and speech as well as the privacy of people in the United States and around the world.
@Snowden: Give That Man a Medal, Not a "Pardon"
Edward Snowden shouldn't NEED a pardon. He performed a public service of inestimable value by exposing the crimes, the criminals, and the techniques of the largest espionage ring in human history: A conspiracy directed at the very public expected to pay the gigantic tab the conspirators run up.
House urges Obama not to pardon Snowden, claims he is ‘not a whistleblower’
Edward Snowden hits out at critical report into his activities
Edward Snowden has dismissed a report by the House of Representatives intelligence committee that heavily criticised his activities.
THE MOVIE: Oliver Stone's cautionary 'Snowden' will leave you paranoid: A restrained Joseph Gordon-Levitt anchors Stone's bold biopic, which sometimes seems like a long public service announcement about privacy.
Alleged hacker Lauri Love to be extradited to US
Lauri Love, 31, who has Asperger's syndrome, is accused of hacking into the FBI, the US central bank and the country's missile defence agency.
Mr Love, from Stradishall, Suffolk, has previously said he feared he would die in a US prison if he was extradited.
A judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court made the extradition ruling.
ILLINOIS: Rochelle Being Sued By Two Former Employees...
Fischer contends her firing for those actions violated the Illinois Whistleblower Act, which prohibits retaliation in such circumstances.