Julian Assange Loses Appeal, Still Isn't Going to Sweden Anytime Soon

Image for article titled Julian Assange Loses Appeal, Still Isn&#39;t Going to Sweden Anytime Soon

Britain's Supreme Court has finally approved Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for allegedly molesting and raping two women. Assange has been trying to prevent exactly that since 2010 — he claims the sex was consensual, but that he won't get a fair trial in Sweden — and still won't take "Just fucking go to Sweden, already" for an answer: his lawyers are claiming the ruling is based on evidence that wasn't properly argued, and the justices granted them two weeks to argue their case.


This is the first time the Supreme Court has agreed to consider an emergency challenge to one of its rulings, according to the Guardian. And even if the justices aren't swayed by whatever Assange's lawyers come up with, Assange could always buy some more time by appealing to the European Court of Human Rights. Experts say it's doubtful that would stop him from being sent to Sweden for long — but it also seems doubtful that he'll ever admit defeat and willingly go to the country to defend himself against his sexual assault charges. Assange doesn't seem too concerned about the whole thing — he wasn't even in court when the ruling was announced. (He was not legally required to be there, and according to a lawyer, he was stuck in traffic. Still, how very Lohan of him.)

Assange continues to claim that the charges are a ruse to further extradite him to the U.S., where he'll be punished for his Wikileaks disclosures. Is that a conspiracy theory, or is it the truth? Only time will tell — maybe, if the courts stop letting him run out the clock.

Julian Assange loses appeal against extradition [Guardian]
Wikileaks chief Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden, British court rules [AP]



The guy most definitely hasn't conducted himself well in his sex life. But this decision has much broader implications for people *like* Assange and websites *like* Wikileaks. I find it hard to do myself, but we shouldn't lose sight of what is happening just under the surface of this case. If he gets extradited to the US, he's unlikely to ever leave. He's being chased for being *that* guy, the guy who embarrasses nations with their own words and actions, and I just don't like it.