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The Wright Perspective℠
Social Commentary from the C-Suite to Main Street℠
A Blog by Gary Wright II
WikiLeaks.org founder Julian Assange may be extradited to Sweden
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
Today at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in London, Judge Howard Riddell ruled that Britain can extradite WikiLeaks.org founder Julian Assange to Sweden for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct. Assange has not yet been charged with a crime, and he is officially only "wanted for questioning." The decision will be appealed within 7 days by his attorneys who are fighting the extradition on both procedural and human-rights reasons.
If Assange is extradited from Britain to Sweden, his supporters worry that he might eventually be handed over to the United States. Swedish prosecutor Clare Montgomery has dismissed that claim and said there are protections against that sort of violation. She stated that the European Court of Human Rights would intervene if Assange has an unfair trial, or if he were to face inhuman or degrading treatment.
Read the entire ruling here: Sweden vs Assange
In an interview with Aftonbladet Julian Assange said, "The freedom to communicate knowledge is, to me, the most important freedom. It is the freedom on which all other freedoms and rights depend. Concepts such as the right to representation, freedom from arbitary detention or torture all need to be voiced and evidence for them made clear. This can only be done effectively if the central freedom - the right to communicate is strong. In fighting for this freedom, we fight for all freedoms."
Best regards,
-- Gary Wright II
I've written several blog entries on this topic. To read more, visit our page devoted to PFC Bradley Manning .