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Rock? Hard place?
Thursday 16th August 2012 | Osh
The latest development in the seemingly-never-ending Julian Assange saga is that he’s been granted asylum in Ecuador.
So, that means he can just hop on a plane to Ecuador and spend the rest of his days sunning himself in peace and quiet, safe from those pesky Swedes and their annoying desire to investigate crimes against their citizens. Problem solved, right?
Wrong. Assange may be safe in Ecuador, but it’s getting there that’s the problem. The second he steps outside the embassy building he can, and will, be arrested by UK police, and sent to Sweden to be questioned. This means he’s essentially imprisoned himself in this embassy building, as Stavvers sums up excellently in this blog: http://stavvers.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/julian-assange-has-imprisoned-himself-indefinitely-without-trial/
What Assange really fears, though, is being sent to the US to deal with that whole Wikileaks malarkey. It’s depressing that the consequences of sharing emails and computer files are scarier than those for the sexual assault and rape of women, but there you have it! Watch this space for what happens next, he can’t stay in there forever…
Fun Fact #1: In 1984 there was an attempt to smuggle a Nigerian man from the UK in a so-called "diplomatic bag" protected from inspection. The bag was in fact a large crate - and customs officers successfully intercepted it at the airport.
Fun Fact #2: A number of taxi firms have already fallen for the trick of coming to collect Assange at the embassy, haha! http://www.lbc.co.uk/minicab-companies-fall-for-assange-taxi-hoax-58635
Áine Ryan (lover of fun facts)
@AineSays
