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United Kingdom Politics

Ecuador Grants Citizenship To WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange (cbsnews.com) 252

hcs_$reboot writes: Ecuador has granted citizenship to Julian Assange, who has been holed up inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London for over five years. Quito, Ecuador, has said naturalization should provide Assange with another layer of protection. However, naturalization appeared to do little to help the Australian-born WikiLeaks founder's case, with the British foreign ministry stressing that the only way to resolve the issue was for "Assange to leave the embassy to face justice." Earlier on Thursday, Britain said that it had refused a request by Ecuador to grant Assange diplomatic status, which would have granted him special legal immunity and the right to safe passage under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
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Ecuador Grants Citizenship To WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

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  • by Mal-2 ( 675116 ) on Friday January 12, 2018 @05:05AM (#55913643) Homepage Journal

    Couldn't Ecuador officially employ him as an ambassador, now that he is a citizen? If the UK doesn't like his role as an ambassador, they can always kick him out of the country.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Friday January 12, 2018 @05:11AM (#55913649) Homepage Journal

      They already asked for him to be recognised as an ambassador, and the UK rejected their request.

    • by Rei ( 128717 ) on Friday January 12, 2018 @05:30AM (#55913687) Homepage

      Where does this notion come from that a nation can "force" another nation to grant a particular individual diplomatic status? Diplomatic status is requested by the sending state, and then the nation in question either approves or denies their request.

      The exact same thing applies to asylum. You can say whatever you want about a person "having asylum". Nobody else has to listen to your declaration. Some states have treaties mutually recognizing each other's asylum cases, but the vast majority do not.

      And it's a damn good thing that international law works like this.

      • Where does this notion come from that a nation can "force" another nation to grant a particular individual diplomatic status?

        Perhaps you're unaware of the history of the untied states? The charges issued by sweden authorities was because of the strong arming of the US to punish economically or otherwise sweden so the swedes said yes master to washington and we got total propaganda hit piece against assange via false charges. Anyone who has any understanding of american history understood exactly what was going on, Assange stuck his neck out against the empire, that's a big no no the american upper class.

        Anyone who has any under

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion
          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by BlueStrat ( 756137 )

            Just to be clear, this is 100% speculation, and is probably mostly incorrect.

            That's curious, because that's how an informed person would describe the legal attacks against Assange since Wikileaks dared publish evidence that the US Government routinely, knowingly, and blatantly violates the US Constitution, their Oaths of Office, the civil rights of it's own citizens while literally stopping and robbing them at gunpoint of any substantial money or property they may happen to have legally acquired and own in their possession as they travel our roads like the "highwaymen" of old..

            It's

          • Just to be clear, this is 100% speculation, and is probably mostly incorrect.

            Sorry to tell you your brain doesn't see nor live in reality, your brain does not literally reason the way you think it does, see the science:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ [youtube.com]

          • Just to be clear, this is 100% speculation, and is probably mostly incorrect. There's no advantage at all to the US in involving Sweden in this. The extradition treaty the UK has (not to mention the political relationship between the two) is far stronger,

            True, but to extradite him from the UK he'd have to be accused of an actual crime.

            To extradite him from Sweden he only has to be in custody for "questioning".

    • You can be an ambassador if you want. Granting diplomatic status to an ambassador is still up to the other country. They could kick out the resulting Ecuadorian ambassador, but they could also arrest him. The only thing that will prevent this is a desire not to increase diplomatic tensions between countries.

      • by AHuxley ( 892839 )
        The UK could declare a diplomat Persona non grata. That person keeps all their diplomatic protection on the way out of the UK.
        Arresting any other nations embassy staff after been declared Persona non grata as they are leaving is not something the UK would want to.
        A legal precedent for arresting any diplomat is not acceptable within the diplomatic community.
        The Persona non grata allows a person to exit the nation with diplomatic protection as they are been recalled.
        If not the prisons in the UK, USA and
        • The UK could declare a diplomat Persona non grata. That person keeps all their diplomatic protection on the way out of the UK.

          This presupposes that diplomatic immunity has been extended to the person in the first place.

          In Assange's case, this has not been done. The request to grant him such status was denied.

          You cannot keep what you never had.

    • All they need is a really big Diplomatic Pouch with some air holes poked in it...
      stick a letter in Julian's pocket and he's official mail.
      • by Mal-2 ( 675116 )

        Omit the air holes, and he can fill the pouch with hot air and float himself out.

    • Couldn't Ecuador officially employ him as an ambassador, now that he is a citizen? If the UK doesn't like his role as an ambassador, they can always kick him out of the country.

      Diplomatic immunity requires PRIOR agreements between the two countries which includes entry permission and provisions for exiting the agreement that specify the conditions and time frames for notice by the host country wishing to end the agreement. One country cannot unalterably make someone an ambassador and demand they be afforded immunity by a host country any more than the host country can exit the diplomatic immunity agreement without giving the required notice.

      So Ecuador can make this guy a diploma

  • and so maybe recoup cost of the free bed & board that they have been giving him for a few years.

  • Interesting (Score:4, Interesting)

    by cshark ( 673578 ) on Friday January 12, 2018 @06:21AM (#55913813)

    What they need to do, I think, is sneak him out with some sort of large diplomatic package, which would grant him safe passage to Ecuador.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Uh, they grounded President Evo Morales' plane in Austria because they thought maybe he'd have Snowden in his baggage. International law means nothing to the U.S. and its lapdogs.

    • Diplomatic vehicles are considered part of the embassy and thus part of that country. An embassy car can take him straight to the tarmac, park right next to the steps to the plane where he can step out on to the steps and then enter the plane and never leave embassy ground.
      • Yes but there's no such thing as a diplomatic plane. As soon as he steps out of the car he is subject to UK law even if he steps directly onto the plane.

    • As pointed out a few years ago in the news a diplomatic package is not allowed to be opened without suspicion but it is not free from scanning. If they thermally image the package, sniff him out or otherwise they would have grounds for inspection.

      To say nothing of putting it through an Xray machine VERY SLOWLY.

      • As pointed out a few years ago in the news a diplomatic package is not allowed to be opened without suspicion but it is not free from scanning. If they thermally image the package, sniff him out or otherwise they would have grounds for inspection.

        To say nothing of putting it through an Xray machine VERY SLOWLY.

        There's also the "without suspicion" part. If Ecuador sends a diplomatic package that is suspiciously Assange-sized with suspicious air holes and a suspicious "Fragile, do not break Assange" label, the UK can still stop it and open it. They'd be risking a diplomatic incident if they're wrong, but if they're right, then Ecuador has caused the incident, and could see their diplomats get kicked out of the country or other penalties.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12, 2018 @07:03AM (#55913951)

    The women in Sweden have repeatedly said that no rape was commited, and that they were shocked when people higher up in the police turned it into a manhunt and rape case.

    • Please support your claim.
      • by higuita ( 129722 )

        http://www.abc.net.au/news/201... [abc.net.au]

        Actually in sweden sex without a condom without direct agreement between the two is "rape" and they all agree that there was no condom was used... even better, "rape" charged are public, even if the girls do not want to file charges, the police can still file the charge anyway... so the police used that as the rape charge. The girls clearly said several times it was not a rape (in the common meaning of the word), both agreed in the sex. what parts disagree is if they request

        • That does not support his claim and instead shows he is wrong. Thank you.
          • by higuita ( 129722 )

            Notice that when the case started, Assange and the 2 girls did went to the police for questioning and the case was closed and he was clear to leave the country... some week later it was reopen and they tried to capture him instead of call him again to questioning. Even the girls where surprised about the case reopen. That was what trigger the alarm about something strange with the sudden case reopen

  • There has to be a legion (a la Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) who has the London sewers mapped out like the back of their hand who could sneak him away.

  • simple...Human DoS! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by higuita ( 129722 ) on Friday January 12, 2018 @11:25AM (#55915209) Homepage

    Just ask only for everyone to dress exactly the same way, cut the air the same way and look as much as possible as him... then everyone goes to the Ecuador embassy and leave all at same time. Do this several times, but only once of then Assange MAY really leave the embassy

    The police could not track so many people and after several attempts, they will give up or agree in a valid solution... or he MAY leave in one of the attempts

    Better yet, ask everyone to use a burka, that will be easier to hide as everyone is the same, be either men, women, white, ginger, black, asian, etc ... it may also requires women police (i do not really know how someone with burka is identified by a police)

  • Say for six months to a couple years. Could even have the people be volunteers. They could play it up and down as to make them look like they are in disguise and then leave the country. Then at sometime randomly chosen by Julian in the two years he could sneak out as one of them. Not even the embassy staff would know. He could try for a plane, boat or a cargo container.

    No matter what I truly hope he make it somewhere he will not be persecuted.

  • Is it the problem to add a fenced patch of land to the embassy? Even prisoners have got the right to walk at the fresh air.

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