So — it seems that Julian has been again granted bail and will be free today if the paperwork can be processed in time. At press time, the House of Commons was in an emergency session trying to approve the Paperwork Delay Act of 2010.
I’m reading that bail is £200K with an additional £40K in assurities. He will be under ‘mansion arrest’, and have a diversity of other requirements, like reporting to the principal’s office every day. His diet will be restricted to Swedish meatballs and Swedish fish. On Fridays he will be allowed to have fish and finger pie. Assange will also be required to leave one arm, one leg and his frontal lobe with Her Majesty’s court.
Anna Ardin has been hired on as entertainment for £1,500 a day, fulfilling her longstanding desire to… Okay just kidding about that part. Attorney General Eric Holder was seen earlier today at the exclusive Repeat Performance store in Washington, DC, purchasing Capezios.
Seriously though. Here’s how the political commentator Xymphora summed it up in her blog this morning:
How does a British judge say, in the most polite way possible, ‘Fuck you, Sweden’?:
“The history of the way it [the case] has been dealt with by the Swedish prosecutors would give Mr Assange some basis that he might be acquitted following a trial.”
Meanwhile, the Vancouver Sun is reporting that Sweden has denied that it’s the entity that opposed Assange’s bail. In the UK court, Sweden is being represented in the extradition process by the British government. Its own attorneys do not appear. Here’s how the Sun reported it —
There was confusion over whether Britain or Sweden had been behind the bid to deny him bail. A spokeswoman for Sweden’s prosecution authority said the case was in British hands.
Britain’s Director of Public Prosecutions told BBC radio that prosecutors had been acting as the agents for the Swedish government but declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
The Irish news site BreakingNews.ie reported today:
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed this morning that it made the call to appeal against bail but would not comment on whether Sweden had any input in the decision.
A spokeswoman said: “It is standard practice on all extradition cases that decisions regarding bail are taken by the domestic prosecuting authority.
“It would not be practical for prosecutors in a foreign jurisdiction, who are neither present in court when decisions are made, nor familiar with the domestic laws concerning bail, to make such decisions.”
But Assange’s lawyer Mark Stephens called the decision “highly irregular” and said British prosecutors had asked City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court for time to consult with Swedish authorities after bail was granted on December 14.
He said: “The question we have to ask is if they weren’t talking to the Swedes, who were they talking to?
“It’s highly irregular because, as (director of public prosecutions) Keir Starmer said on Radio 4 this morning, the CPS are supposed to act as the agents of the Swedish authorities and they appear to be acting without the knowledge of their director or the Swedes.
“It remains opaque and unclear as to who actually gave the order to oppose bail.”
A full extradition hearing is expected in early February, after two eclipses and with Mercury direct — a good thing.
Below is a bit from Russian Television.
Thanks E2, very funny!
I too wanted to insert some comic relief earlier this week but didn’t get around to it. In the spirit of the festive season, here’s a little “Jabba”wockey!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWqthNlzoEI
On the theory that now would be an excellent time for a laugh, go to http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/amazon-provides-a-dose-of-humor/?ref=personaltechemail&nl=technology&emc=cta2
and prepare to laugh until you cry at comic product reviews on Amazon.com
Nothing like laughter to release fear.
I am rapidly approaching Assange saturation unfortunatley.
The Guardian has been running a constant Twitter update for 4 hours in the Lead spot on their website on the possibility of paperwork not being completed…
Assange being granted bail, thats news
Assange finally being released a few minutes ago, thats news
And on the question of if Swedish or British parties were responsible for appealing against bail ( and appeals cost money as do court costs), my money is on the Swedes…. the Crown prosecution Service is broke, Legal Aid is broke, the UK is profoundly broke – now thats news.
Hilariously synchronistic that as the bus goes by in the background of the blond reporter in the video (reporting from Westminster) it shows an advert for Gulliver’s Travels. From wikipedia: Possibly one of the reasons for the book’s classic status is that it can be seen as many things to many different people. Broadly, the book has three themes:
* a satirical view of the state of European government, and of petty differences between religions.
* an inquiry into whether men are inherently corrupt or whether they become corrupted.
* a restatement of the older “ancients versus moderns” controversy previously addressed by Swift in The Battle of the Books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulliver%27s_Travels#Major_themes.
The show opens on Boxing Day in UK.
Thank you, Eric and the other members of the Planet Waves news staff. Wonderful piece.
Yes, the proceedings are irregular. The confinement illegal. The bail is excessive. There are STILL no legitimate charges against Mr. Assange. The concealment of just who the adversarial party (or parties) is/are is just another transparently absurd abuse and miscarrage of justice. This is NOT okay. One continues to be astonished at those who are in denial of these facts, excusing and enabling this despotic behavior. It has been implied by some that Ms. Ardin has prostituted herself. Perhaps she has. Even if she has, she is not the real whore of this situation.
All sorts of legal shenagians being stirred up by the legal complexities of this case. It would appear that the Swedes may have used the wrong arrest warrant to get Assange in the first place…. Judge granting bail seemed to imply that he thought that Assange was likely to be acquitted in Sweden anyway…
The US Dept. of Justice is working to indict Assange for co-conspiracy in Espionage.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/world/16wiki.html?_r=2&hp
However, I believe that according to other reports over the past days, espionage is considered to be a ‘political’crime and therefore not extraditable from the UK or Sweden under current treaties….