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Ecuador would like Julian Assange out of their embassy by the sounds of it.

What now then?

Sorry to be dumb but why won't he leave the embassy now that Sweden have decided they aren't pursuing him any more.

Breaching court bail isn't going to get him a life sentence is it. He could hand himself in on Monday and walk out of court on tuesday.
 
cyril_smear said:
Breaching court bail isn't going to get him a life sentence is it. He could hand himself in on Monday and walk out of court on tuesday.
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Even if he only has to walk through a court building, the whole 'threat of extradition' narrative they've been leaning on all along can still apply. They probably want him to be able to walk without going through any sort of process that temporarily impinges on his physical liberty at all. Good luck with that.
 
I read that skipping bail has a maximum possible sentence of one year in prison. Not saying he would get that in practice. Guess it depends if the judge or magistrate wants to make an example of him really to stop anyone else trying the embassy thing.
 
moochedit said:
I read that skipping bail has a maximum possible sentence of one year in prison. Not saying he would get that in practice. Guess it depends if the judge or magistrate wants to make an example of him really to stop anyone else trying the embassy thing.
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There is quite clear case law where sentences of a maximum of a few weeks are to be expected. A one year sentence could be appealed and the appeal would more than likely win. There aren't that many aggravating factors in the case apart from him being an arse. You can't sentence the bail offence with regards to the substantive but have to take account of his behaviour whilst in breach and his reasons for breach. The fact he is in breach to avoid the substantive goes against him but is not as significant as if he had continued offending, for example. I would be extremely surprised if he got more than a couple of weeks - and even that could well be suspended. Or he could be handed unpaid work.

https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/web_Fail_to_Surrender_to_Bail.pdf goes into some depth
 
kenny g said:
. Or he could be handed unpaid work.
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I remember reading a long piece of journalism by a guy who, iirc, had been hired to write a biog of Assange, but gave up the contract after discovering what a cunt he is. Part of that was about how lazy and entitled he is, expecting everybody to cater for him and clean up round him, in the mansion of the courtier he was staying in at the time. I think he would have an absolute horror at doing unpaid work - in fact the whole Embassy jaunt might be more about avoiding 28 days of cleaning graffiti off a wall rather than a lifetime in max security.
 
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Wilf said:
I remember reading a long piece of journalism by a guy who, iirc, had been hired to write a biog of Assange, but gave up the contract after discovering what a cunt he is. Part of that was about how lazy and entitled he is, expecting everybody to cater for him and clean up round him, in the mansion of the courtier he was staying in at the time. I think he would have an absolute horror at doing unpaid work - in fact the whole Embassy jaunt might be more about avoiding 28 days of cleaning graffiti off a wall rather than a lifetime in max security.
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Good call. Think I read that too: LRB · Andrew O’Hagan · Ghosting: Julian Assange
 
gosub said:
Judge refuses to withdraw Julian Assange arrest warrant
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So this was a follow up to last weeks ruling, same judge.

Here is the full ruling and a few choice quotes.

https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/assange-ruling-2-feb2018.pdf

The position now is that the Swedish proceedings are at an end. If Mr Assange surrenders to the section 7 warrant, this court would consider whether a prosecution for failing to surrender should be launched. The Crown Prosecution Service which has a right to invite the court to consider proceedings could do so. If the United States initiates extradition proceedings, Mr Assange would have the ability to raise any bars to the extradition and challenge the proceedings just as he did with the Swedish proceedings.
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The impression I have, and this may well be dispelled if and when Mr Assange finally appears in court, is that he is a man who wants to impose his terms on the course of justice, whether the course of justice is in this jurisdiction or in Sweden. He appears to consider himself above the normal rules of law and wants justice only if it goes in his favour. As long as the court process is going his way, he is willing to be bailed conditionally but as soon as the Supreme Court rules against him, he no longer wants to participate on the court’s terms but on his terms.
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He'll probably try on all that free man of the land nonsense if he ever turns up in court.

And he is bound to try and claim his years in the embassy are "time served". :facepalm::D
 
moochedit said:
And he is bound to try and claim his years in the embassy are "time served". :facepalm::D
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Stuff like that is already in the latest judgement. Quoting from the document was not that easy so I only did a few, but there was loads of stuff in there about the UN thing too.
 
elbows said:
Stuff like that is already in the latest judgement. Quoting from the document was not that easy so I only did a few, but there was loads of stuff in there about the UN thing too.
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Maybe i'm reading too much into it, but this bit below to me implies she thinks he needs a sentence at the higher end of the scale. I think the sentancing guide further up said max 3 months from a magistrates court or a year from crown court.

If found guilty the court will have the sentencing options available to it including that of committal to the Crown Court if the court finds its sentencing options to be too limited.
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Dan U said:
The UN stuff in the document was particulary amusing
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One of the reasons I try to find time to read source documents is that journalists bringing us the story often only pick out a few headline jokes, and there is plenty more comedy to be found in the source material :D

Having said that I've probably not actually read that many judgements in full. But if there is one thing I had already learnt before Assange demonstrates it again here, its that judges tend to take a rather dim view of anything that could be seen to be diminishing the judge and the entire justice system that they are a part of. It is a matter, burb burb burb, of grave concern, that the public faith in this system could be diminished by the cowardly shenanigans of Mr Assange, should he be allowed to bugger orf without facing the robes.
 
moochedit said:
Maybe i'm reading too much into it, but this bit below to me implies she thinks he needs a sentence at the higher end of the scale. I think the sentancing guide further up said max 3 months from a magistrates court or a year from crown court.
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Yes. Read the judgement in full and it couldn't be clearer. Substantial porridge awaits...
58. I have found above that Mr Assange’s failure to surrender has impeded the course of
justice and has led finally to the case being dropped as it cannot be continued unless
he returned to Sweden. I find Mr Assange’s failure is a determined attempt to avoid
the order of the court, an order which was considered by the Supreme Court in this
jurisdiction.
10
59. When considering the public interest I have regard to the consequences of his failure
to appear, one of which is the drain on resources that policing Mr Assange’s choice
has caused. I have regard too to the losses incurred by his sureties. I must look at the
impact on public confidence in the criminal justice system if Mr Assange is allowed
to avoid a warrant for his arrest by staying out of reach of the police for years in
conditions which are nothing like a prison. The failure to surrender was deliberate
and occurred after the defendant had been able to challenge the original order all the
way to the Supreme Court.
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I liked this quote from the judge's ruling:
The impression I have, and this may well be dispelled if and when Mr Assange finally appears in court, is that he is a man who wants to impose his terms on the course of justice, whether the course of justice is in this jurisdiction or in Sweden. He appears to consider himself above the normal rules of law and wants justice only if it goes in his favour. As long as the court process is going his way, he is willing to be bailed conditionally but as soon as the Supreme Court rules against him, he no longer wants to participate on the court’s terms but on his terms.
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Justice is meant to be universally applied, but Assange seems to think he can pick & choose. It's notable that he's no stranger to the use of legal mechanisms when he wants to get his own way, but blithely disregards other legal processes that every single other member of society is expected to observe. And what kind of precedent would it set if he was allowed to get away with his shenanigans? If one person can dodge the legal system by hiding out in an embassy for a while, it would become open season - all embassies from countries without extradition treaties would be lining up to offer protection from the law to the highest bidder.

I understand why he doesn't want to be extradited to the US, and on that score I'm on his side. But there are legitimate ways of fighting extradition - that chap in the recent hacking case won his appeal against being extradited to the states, which shows it's entirely possible if the defendant has a good enough argument.
 
I don't even get how trying to get his bail jumping charges dropped helps his oft stated fear of a one way rendition class trip to ADX Florence. Say he got rid of those charges and left the embassy heading for Heathrow the US could issue an extradition order and have him picked up before he got to Hounslow on the Piccadilly line.
 
DownwardDog said:
I don't even get how trying to get his bail jumping charges dropped helps his oft stated fear of a one way rendition class trip to ADX Florence. Say he got rid of those charges and left the embassy heading for Heathrow the US could issue an extradition order and have him picked up before he got to Hounslow on the Piccadilly line.
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If he had half a brain he'd have found a compromise solution whilst Obama was in power, now that Trump's on the throne he's massively screwed. I imagine Trump will happily countenance water boarding at Guantanamo...:eek:
 
twentythreedom said:
The Ecuadorians must be fucking sick of him. Wtf happens now? He can't stay there forever.
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I hear he's cooked up a plan with the kindly old embassy coffin-maker: The next time an embassy employee dies, Assange gets smuggled out in the coffin and his accomplice will come along that night to dig him out of the grave.
 
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