Will The UK Police Move In And Arrest Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange At The London Ecuador Embassy - UPDATE Julian Assange granted political asylum by Ecuador

By Kathleen

Last night scenes outside the Ecuador Embassy as police vans move in,

It has been confirmed that the UK police are threatening to move in and arrest Julian Assange who is believed to have sought refuge in the sovereign embassy of Ecuador in London. Assange who is thought to have been in the embassy for the past two months has sought asylum in Ecuador and a decision on his application is thought to be imminent. It is believed that the police will want to make their move before approval has been granted. 

At the moment the police have greatly extended their presence outside the Embassy -- there are at least five vans nearby and barricades are in place. Loading bays at Harrods have been blocked off and deliveries there have been turned away. This move has sparked condemnation from Ecuador's Foreign Minister who has stated that the UK has threatened "to assault our embassy" and that such an act  would be considered as "hostile and intolerable".

Yesterday the Wikileaks organisation leaked a copy of a letter that was received by Ecuador threatening that a law passed in 1987 would permit the UK government to authorize the removal of the sovereign rights of a building if the country occupying it is thought to be working against the interests of the United Kingdom. The removal of such rights would permit UK police forces to storm the Embassy and move in and arrest Assange.  The letter is written in Spanish and has been interpreted by a commenter at Wikileaks as follows:

 We are aware of and surprised by, the reports in the media of
last 24 hours, compared to that Ecuador would reach a decision and intends to grant asylum
Mr. Assange.
• The reports quoted official sources.
• We note that the President has not yet made a decision.
• We are concerned, should be true of. this undermines our efforts to agree a
joint text setting out the positions of both countries, allowing Mr. Assange leave
the Embassy.
• As we have stated previously, we meet our legal obligations under the
Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant and Extradition Act 2003
(Extradition Act 2003), to arrest and extradite Mr. Assange to Sweden. We remain committed
to work with you to resolve this matter amicably. But we must be absolutely
clear that this means that if you receive a request for safe passage for Mr.
Assange, after granting asylum, it will be denied, in line with our obligations
legal.
• From this perspective, and given the statements of the last 24 hours, we hope that you
are prepared to continue to carry out the current diplomatic discussions. We
believing that a solution is possible based on jointly agreed text, that would play with
to the departure of Mr. Assange of the Embassy, leading to his extradition.
• We have another meeting (video conference) scheduled for Thursday August 16. Given the
statements made yesterday in Quito, about an imminent decision, should we assume that this
meeting will be the last to agree a joint text?
• We reiterate that we consider the continued use of diplomatic facilities in this way
incompatible with the Vienna Convention and unsustainable, and that we have made clear the serious
implications for our diplomatic relations.
• They must be aware that there is a basis in the UK - Facilities Act
Diplomatic and Consular 1987 (Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987) - we
would take action to arrest Mr. Assange in existing facilities of the Embassy.
• We sincerely hope not to have to get to this point, but if you can not resolve the
issue of the presence of Mr. Assange in its facilities, this route is open to us.
• You understand the importance of the issues raised by Mr. Assange, and
public pressure in Ecuador. But anyway we have to solve the situation in the
Instead, here in the UK, in line with our legal obligations. We have endeavored to
develop a joint text, to help satisfy their concerns and needs of
presentation to the public.
• We continue to believe that a joint text and a voluntary surrender by Mr. Assange is the
best solution.

   
 The Guardian states that tensions are high between Britain and Ecuador and that the Ecuadoran Foreign Minister has stated that "We want to make it absolutely clear that we are not a British colony, and the times of the colonies are over."

Assange who has not been charged is wanted for questioning by the Swedish authorities in relation to accusations that he had sex with two Swedish women without their permission. Assange has asserted that the claims made against him have been made in order for him to be extradited to Sweden which will then extradite him to the United States where he could face charges of treason. 

Is the British Government prepared to breach international law and spark off a huge diplomatic war  in order to arrest Assange? My hope is that Julian Assange is long gone and that the British Government will be left with a huge bill and egg on its face.

RT is live blogging the event:

http://www.rt.com/news/ecuador-decides-assange-fate-813/

And a live video can be found here:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/occupynewsnetwork

As I write police are arresting streamers who do not have official press credentials. One of the streamers has just been arrested. It's getting quite ugly.

You find more excellent live blogging at the "Guardian!"

UPDATE:

A recent article published at The Guardian asserts that the UK government could be flouting International Law if it permits a raid on the Ecuador embassy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/16/julian-assange-diplomatic-status-ecuador-embassy 

Hopefully this hostile move by the UK government is simply mere posturing because if such a raid does take place then it will set a precedent that could be used by unstable regimes across the world.

UPDATE 2: Assange granted political asylum
 

In a statement just released by the Ecuador Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino,  he once again makes the claim that any move by the UK to storm the embassy would be regarded as a threat. After careful consideration Ecuador has decided to grant political asylum to Julian Assange in order to protect him from the possibility that he could be extradited to the US. Patino states that Australia has not adequately protected Assange who is struggling for freedom of speech around the world. Ecuador will not allow the discussion between the UK and Ecuador to be mired by intimidation. Government law should not be allowed to deny individuals the right to asylum. Political asylum should be a right for all.

Patino confirms that Ecuador will grant political asylum to Julian Assange.

This information came from reuters livestream and RT.com:

http://www.rt.com/news/ecuador-decides-assange-fate-813/

+++

UPDATE 3 (by Patrick):

This whole kerfuffle at the Ecuadoran embassy in London was not caused by the fact that an Australian citizen did not like to use condoms while having sex in Sweden or did not use them properly (read the details of the allegations against Julian Assange). This is utter nonsense. Julian Assange has not even been charged with any crimes, and one easy solution would be to grant him safe passage to Sweden in order to be questioned by the Swedish prosecutors without the fear of being extradited to the USA - which UK foreign secretary William Hague refused, as well as the Swedish prosecutors.

No, Britain is willing to cause a major diplomatic crisis because Julian Assange is the founder of Wikileaks - and never has an organization upset governments all over the world like Wikileaks did during the recent years. Yes, Wikileaks is a threat - but not for freedom or democracy, but for governments who do not want their dirty wars, their corruption and their shady dealings and secrets exposed - and it is a threat for corporation who indulge in shady dealings as well.

Therefore it was just consequential that Wikileaks also exposed what would probably the biggest US secret concerning Julian Assange at this moment: That there is a sealed indictment in the USA against Julian Assange.

This revelation was made possible at the beginning of this year through the "Stratfor-emails" which Anonymous gave to Wikileaks. See for example this report by Rolling Stone from February 28, 2012 - and who blurted the big secret out? Well, you are allowed to take just one guess! ;-)

Of course was our new "friend" Fred Burton, Stratfor's Vice-President, who indeed is extremely well connected, as many emails prove which I have read - and who again could not keep his mouth shut. Just in case you had not seen our previous reports: We were given exclusive access to the whole pile of the Stratfor-emails and reported about it here, here and here.

Here is Fred Burton's email message which revealed the big secret:

"Not for Pub --

We have a sealed indictment on Assange.

Pls protect"

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

A short while before he wrote this email, Fred Burton had more thoughts about Julian Assange in jail - or how to get him indicted:

"Will take weeks for extradition, unless he waves the process. DOJ (Holder) won't seek prosecution on their own, but look for the GOP (Congress) to press for criminal prosecution. Be easy to indict. I would pursue Conspiracy and Political Terrorism charges and declassify the death of a source someone which I could link to Wiki."

"One other point is this. Ferreting out his confederates is also key. Find out what other disgruntled rogues inside the tent or outside. Pile on. Move him from country to country to face various charges for the next 25 years. But, seize everything he and his family own, to include every person linked to Wiki."

Wikileaks is a controversial organization, but also a very important one. It is the messenger, and the more inconvenient the messages, the greater the hatred. In this world, there are many ugly secrets which are just waiting to be exposed. Wikileaks is an invaluable tool. Please take the time to watch this excellent documentary:

Please visit our friend Phil Munger at "Progressive Alaska" for the Australian documentary about Julian Assange: "Sex, Lies and Julian Assange" - another excellent, must-see documentary.

Video: President Obama Announces That Osama Bin Laden Has Been Killed: Sarah Palin Fails to Credit Obama. Weekly roundup, April 24-May 1, 2011

IMPORTANT UPDATE BY KATHLEEN

Firefighters in New York cheer the announcement that Osama Bin laden has been killed

hat tip to Azure Ghost

Osama Bin Laden was killed earlier today. Shortly after taking office President Obama made it known to his intelligence staff that capturing or killing Bin laden was a priority for his administration. Last August he received information that Bin Laden was hiding in a compound in Pakistan.

Finally this week there was enough information for President Obama to signal a strike against the compound which was made today. It was undertaken by a small group of operatives (CIA?). Bin laden was killed in the attack on the compound and his body taken in custody. No Americans were killed in the operation but I have no information yet if any citizens were killed, although President Obama did say that they tried to avoid any civilian deaths.

Crowds are now gathering outside the White House and they are supportive of President Obama and joyful that Bin Laden has been killed. I'm concerned about the likely ensuing retaliation even if I believe that the death of Bin Laden was an inevitable and just one.

Sarah Palin on hearing the news of Bin Laden's death twittered her congratulations to the American men and women in uniform but neglected to honor the Commander in Chief for getting the job done. Huge mistake on her behalf but not entirely unexpected. I suppose that Palin still has hopes that Julian Assange will be hunted down in much the same way and that his death will resurrect her ailing poll figures.

Many twitter users are predicting that Bin Laden's death under the watch of President Obama will finally end any ideas that Sarah Palin has entertained about running during the 2012 presidency race. However, I still believe that she is narcissistic enough to run, although I don't suppose that she could continue to use the line " Obama hanging around with terrorists" in the next campaign.

The Guardian delivers a good moment by moment account including the following at 2.50am by Sarah Palin from her facebook which it says is both churlish and in character for her because she refuses to give credit to President Obama:

Americans tonight are united in celebration and gratitude. God bless all the brave men and women in our military and our intelligence services who contributed to carrying out the successful mission to bring bin Laden to justice and who laid the groundwork over the years to make this victory possible. It's a testament to the hard work and dedication of these brave Americans who relentlessly hunted down our enemy.

++++++++++++++++++

By BlueberryT

Monday, April 25, 2011

Politico Jumps Into the Fray

Politico reports that “anti-Palin bloggers,” including Patrick and PoliticalGates, have gotten under Palin’s skin, but haven’t succeeded in exposing Palin. While continuing to lend credence to those who claim to have discredited Babygate, Ken Vogel’s article reports that additional revelations are likely in the spate of books to be released in the coming months. Vogel acknowledges a number of revelations about Palin that came from the bloggers. Patrick adds to the list, which is pretty damn impressive, if you ask me! It’s certainly more impressive than anything that has come from the MSM. In fact, Kathleen and Patrick have been instrumental to the progress that has been made in exposing Sarah Palin’s fake pregnancy, including the discovery of the “Nail in Coffin” and other key photos and writing many outstanding posts laying out the facts about Babygate and Palin’s numerous other scandals. They have also worked tirelessly behind the scenes. The list of their scoops is really impressive – I certainly hope that the MSM will give credit where credit is long overdue.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Interview with Professor Brad Scharlott, and More “Debunkers”

A major breakthrough occurred with the release of Professor Scharlott’s paper questioning whether a “spiral of silence” occurred in regard to Sarah Palin’s story of the birth of Trig. This post highlights a recent radio interview of Scharlott by Peter Collins, in which they delve pretty deeply into the discrepancies in Palin’s story (or, more to the point, stories). Collins was well prepared and the interview is very engaging. Then, Patrick points out: “If you always wondered how dissenters are being silenced and "consent is manufactured", now you can watch it in real-time!” The “spiral of silence” continues to evolve before our very eyes, as “liberal” pundits fall over themselves to label those who question Palin’s story as the lunatic fringe, and absolve Palin of any need or responsibility to produce documentary evidence to support her implausible tale. Even those of us who have seen this in action before were taken aback by Jason Linkins’ ignorant and insulting tweets (he aptly labels himself “dceiver”).

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Megan Carpentier’s Fact-Free Approach to Journalism

Patrick’s post illustrates how the article written by Megan Carpentier for The Guardian is “mindless ranting,” devoid of any basis in fact. She is so excited about being able to write an article with words like “misogyny” and “vagina” that she neglected to see if it made any sense. It does not. Jason Easley of Politicususa points this out quite effectively in a new post. Patrick also highlights Carpentier’s childish and dismissive tone toward Kim Chatman, whose honesty and courage is not within the range of Carpentier’s apparently narrow life experience. Patrick also reveals some of the behind-the-scenes work that he has done, including this email exchange last year with The Guardian highlighting much of the work that he and others did at Palingates. I want to give a special tip of the hat to TurtleTears and other PoliticalGates readers who posted on The Guardian and here about their personal experiences fighting for women’s rights -- thank you for all you’ve done! I hope Ms. Carpentier learns a little humility in the face of what women like you have accomplished.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

PoliticalGates' Kathleen Baker in The Guardian

I would like to offer a toast to our Kathleen, whose outstanding rebuttal of Megan Carpentier’s hit piece appeared in The Guardian this week. What a breakthrough! This is a thoughtful, calm and well-reasoned piece that succinctly covers the major themes of Babygate and reminds readers that asking these questions is entirely appropriate, given Palin’s nomination as VP and her continuing efforts to exert influence and gain power in America. Kathleen’s piece makes excellent use of many links to educate readers about all the work that has been done by PoliticalGates and others to expose Sarah Palin. A deep bow to Kathleen Baker for all the work she has done since the fall of 2008, and for having the courage to identify herself to advance this work.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Ennealogic Teaches Carpentier how to use Occam’s Razor

Ennealogic proves that “logic” is rightly part of her name, schooling Ms. Carpentier about how to actually USE Occam’s Razor, rather than just spouting clever but vacuous statements about it. Was Sarah Palin pregnant in 2008, or did she perpetrate a hoax? Ennealogic lays out the verifiable facts applicable to those two possibilities. The evaluation and conclusion are so clear and transparent that they should be publicized far and wide. This is not a close call – the evidence of a hoax is overwhelming. I certainly hope that so-called journalists of the ilk of Ms. Carpentier will take heed of how easily manipulated they have been by “skilled liar” Sarah Palin. It is time for the media to stop enabling her lies.

In the middle of this week, President Obama authorized the release of his long-form birth certificate. We call upon Sarah Palin to authorize the state of Alaska to publicly release Trig’s birth certificate and the medical records pertaining to his birth for examination and authentication by unbiased observers. Since she claims she did this (but no one actually saw it), what is the problem?

Please support PoliticalGates first appeal for funds!

BfromC: The term "gadfly" (Ancient Greek: μυω̃ψ, myops)[1] was used by Plato in the Apology[2] to describe Socrates' relationship of uncomfortable goad to the Athenian political scene, which he compared to a slow and dimwitted horse. During his defense when on trial for his life, Socrates, according to Plato's writings, pointed out that dissent, like the gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high. "If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me," because his role was that of a gadfly, "to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."

Kathleenpoliticalgates: That which seemingly makes one weak only makes one more determined.

KatieAnnieOakley: Have you ever googled "Steve Quinn AP and PALIN?" If he hadn't already been sleeping with her close aide Ivy Frye, you'd think he wanted to be in bed in Palin! SOooo many fawning articles... my eyes couldn't take it. He KNEW they were artificially pumping-up her approval / poll numbers - so I guess that's why he wrote about them so much? And THIS GUY is Justin's SOURCE? Laughable. Utterly laughable...

Pinhead: The conservative right are trying to do what they always do: create a false equivalency. The reason we have seen an uptick in outrageous Obama birtherism assertions… is because they are trying to negotiate a "tradeoff" of sorts, a sort of quid pro quo message that is saying--if we let go of the Obama birther issue, the left must drop the Trig fake pregnancy issue. The reason they care so much about the Trig matter is not so much that they are trying to protect Palin and spare her the embarrassment--far from it--they don't care if she twists in the wind at this point. They are done with her. They are trying to spare the right-wing GOP and McCain and his people from the embarrassing truth of having selected a true, delusional nutcase as his running mate. But one thing has nothing to do with the other. They are trying to create a false premise that if the Obama birthers are crazy then the Trig Truthers must be too. And nothing could be further from the Truth.

SondraT: When will these journalists wake up and realize that in order to understand the mind of a sociopath you have to think like a sociopath?

Another from BfromC: Message to Linkins and fellow fools -- McGinnis and Dunn have each spent well over a year researching their books on Sarah Palin, with much time spent in Alaska. McGinniss even lived next door for a while. Both of these acclaimed authors have doubts about Palin's birth story and have asked questions. That is what investigative writers do.

You listen to a couple of guys who call themselves journalists, who happen to have unusual connections to the Palin administration, who "believe the bump" and you throw your critical thinking skills in the drink. Good luck with that decision in the future.

Beaglemom: the misogyny accusation really stuns me, since most of the people who comment about the unlikelihood that Sarah Palin is Trig's biological mother are women… My experience is that most women who see the photos and hear the "wild ride" story generally react with a "that never happened"…For me, one of the "gotcha" moments was in the Elan Frank video when Sarah smacked the square pillow covering her front. No pregnant woman smacks her unborn baby. She caresses the baby, rubbing him/her gently. Sarah was whacking a foam pillow form! How juvenile - and we're supposed to accept it, hook, line and sinker - because she said she was pregnant.

maelewis: People are easily fooled, especially when they don't ask questions.

Becominggrace: All truth passes through 3 stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. - Arthur Schopenhauer

TruGal: Ms. Carpentier, I LOVE. I love the truth. It's lying and liars I hate.

TurtleTears had a wonderful long comment on Thursday; here is part: Questioning Sarah Palin™'s Reckless Ride is not misogynistic. Telling rape victims they must pay with their own money to have the crime of rape against their bodies investigated is misogynistic. Denying health care to women and children who are poor or struggling is misogynistic. Telling women who have been brutally raped and find themselves pregnant as a result, that they must be forced to carry the fetus to term is misogynistic. No, Megan, I am not a misogynist, and I have the record to prove it. Sarah Palin™ does not. Your article is more than inaccurate, it is as mean spirited as Sarah herself.

Forever Anonymous and crystalwolfakacaligrl linked to a good piece in the LA Times.

Patrick found this on Mother Jones fact-checking Sarah – LOL!

Cheeriogirl and others linked to this brilliant post by Sarah Jones on politicususa.

The Last Word: Patrick – PoliticalGates: I never wanted to be "famous." I am just an anonymous blogger. I write posts which I hope have an influence on the course of events, and which hopefully are also entertaining and inspire other people to do similar things. The internet is a great tool, citizens can have a real impact.