US diplomatic cables to be dropped by wikileaks; US doing pre-emptive damage control

**aurik** · 2010-12-01 13:30

You can never be too sure with BG folks.

**aurik** · 2010-12-01 13:31

Well I'd have to say, extrajudicial assassination should be a great way to bolster our rep in NKorea.

**Max™** · 2010-12-01 13:34

You say that as if there are anyone except americans on the interwebs!

**Kuya** · 2010-12-01 18:27

The rape thing is quite unusual:

Swedish prosecutors today ramped up their pursuit of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by authorizing Interpol to issue a so-called Red Notice, which asks foreign governments to arrest and extradite Assange to Sweden.

The prosecutors say he is wanted for questioning about accusations of sex crimes made against him by two women; he has not been charged with a crime. But the real peril here for Assange -- whose whereabouts are unknown -- is that if he ends up in the hands of Swedish authorities, the chances that he will be extradited to the United States rise significantly.

Finally, while it sometimes gets lost in the coverage, the Times today has a concise explanation of the accusations against Assange:

According to accounts the women gave to the police and friends, they each had consensual sexual encounters with Mr. Assange that became nonconsensual. One woman said that Mr. Assange had ignored her appeals to stop after a condom broke. The other woman said that she and Mr. Assange had begun a sexual encounter using a condom, but that Mr. Assange did not comply with her appeals to stop when it was no longer in use. Mr. Assange has questioned the veracity of those accounts.

That Sweden has turned to Interpol and a Red Notice to pursue Assange over these charges -- and at this tense moment -- is remarkable. A quick look through Interpol's press release archives shows the use of Red Notices against those suspected of genocide, war crimes and terrorism.

Red notices often used in cases of genocide... issued in a case of suspected rape...?

http://www.salon.com/news/wikileaks/..._legal_dangers

**archibaldcrane** · 2010-12-01 18:44

Originally Posted by Zealot

There has got to be some intense U.S. pressure on Sweden to bring him in.

If only there was a way to look at diplomatic cables....

**Azull** · 2010-12-01 18:45

Its just an international arrest warrant. Its not really any different then a normal us arrest warrent which can be for anything from Failure to Yeild traffic violation to Murder.

**Kuya** · 2010-12-01 18:54

You're right, a red notice just means an international warrant. The article made it seem that a red notice is something used for serious crimes, unless international arrest warrants are not often used over rape allegations.

**archibaldcrane** · 2010-12-01 18:54

Originally Posted by Azull

international arrest warrant

lol

he is wanted for questioning...he has not been charged with a crime

Demosthenes11 · 2010-12-01 19:00

well, it is kinda weird both accusations are more or less the same...

**archibaldcrane** · 2010-12-01 19:01

Originally Posted by Demosthenes11

well, it is kinda weird both accusations are more or less the same...

He's an international baller, he doesn't like condoms obv.

**MF Perm tha Fineass** · 2010-12-01 19:15

I'm finding it hard to believe Sweden is taking this consensual condom accusation this far on their own when Roethlisberger can rape a woman in the bathroom of a crowded bar.

Demosthenes11 · 2010-12-01 19:17

you can prove this accusation wrong in about 5 minutes. Have this women ever spoken to each other? yes? bullshit

**Correction** · 2010-12-01 19:53

The witch hunt continues:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40455720

NEW YORK — Amazon.com Inc. forced WikiLeaks to stop using the U.S. company's computers to distribute embarrassing State Department communications and other documents, WikiLeaks said Wednesday.

The ouster came after congressional staff questioned Amazon about its relationship with WikiLeaks, said Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut.

WikiLeaks confirmed it hours after The Associated Press reported that Amazon's servers had stopped hosting WikiLeaks' site. The site was unavailable for several hours before it moved back to its previous Swedish host, Bahnhof AB.

WikiLeaks released a trove of sensitive diplomatic documents on Sunday. Just before the release, its website came under an Internet-based attack that made it unavailable for hours at a time.

WikiLeaks reacted by moving the website from computers in Sweden to those of Amazon Web Services. Amazon has vast banks of computers that can be rented on a self-service basis to meet surges in traffic.

But that move exposed WikiLeaks to legal and political pressure.

"WikiLeaks servers at Amazon ousted. Free speech the land of the free--fine our $ are now spent to employ people in Europe," the organization said Wednesday in a posting on the Twitter messaging service.

"If Amazon are so uncomfortable with the first amendment, they should get out of the business of selling books," WikiLeaks said in another tweet.

Seattle-based Amazon.com would not comment on its relationship with WikiLeaks.

"The company's decision to cut off WikiLeaks now is the right decision and should set the standard for other companies WikiLeaks is using to distribute its illegally seized material," Lieberman said in a statement. He added that he would have further questions for Amazon about the affair.

As an organization, WikiLeaks has no firm geographic base, but founder Julian Assange sought to establish residency in Sweden to take advantage of laws protecting those who funnel information to the media. However, authorities rejected his application for a residency permit.

Swedish police are now seeking to arrest Australian-born Assange based on allegations of sexual assault stemming from his stay in the country. Assange has denied the charges.

On Wednesday, Swedish police issued an international arrest warrant, though they haven't filed formal charges. Assange's whereabouts are unknown.

**Kuya** · 2010-12-01 20:01

USG is piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissed

**aurik** · 2010-12-01 20:25

They're looking a bit impotent really.

**archibaldcrane** · 2010-12-01 20:26

Wikileaks needs to drop their banking bombshells already - it will definitely help them get back in the good graces with the Wal-Mart crowd.

**Azull** · 2010-12-01 20:31

Originally Posted by archibaldcrane

lol

You dont have to be charged with anything to have an arrest warrant issued. There just needs to be probable cause.

**aurik** · 2010-12-01 20:37

Thank you for your US perspective on European and International law.

**Shuvo** · 2010-12-01 22:03

Finally the site is back up since they arrested the DDOS guy.

Interesting, the US ambassador seems to regard Canadians with disdain:
http://cablegate.wikileaks.org/cable...TTAWA1258.html

And rofl the title chomper startled me when I saw this one:
http://cablegate.wikileaks.org/cable...MADRID154.html

"SPAIN DETAILS ITS STRATEGY TO COMBAT THE RUSSIAN..."
Shuvo >> WHAT?
"The Spanish Strategy to Combat the Russian Mafia"
Shuvo >> Oh.

Pity I'm at work now can't spend too much time on this stuff. I wanna read every single document they drop D:

**Xajii** · 2010-12-01 22:24

God tbis is retarded. How easy is it to pay someone off to say they were raped?

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Thread: US diplomatic cables to be dropped by wikileaks; US doing pre-emptive damage control

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