Assange the mad!

If anyone is looking for examples that the lawyers are getting excessively rich in this country then the ongoing Assange saga must surely be a case study for future students? What should have been a simple case of extradition to answer a charge has turned into a complete media and legal circus. I have no views on whether Assange is guilty of the charges that Sweden say he needs to answer, but I find him increasingly objectionable (he was never a saint to start with) and thus it becomes harder to dispassionately defend his rights. For those who put forward the money for his bail, the old saying is relevant here, “A fool and their money are easily parted…” Personally, I just wish he would bugger off to Sweden , get it over with, stop making the lawyers rich and stop using up copious amount of UK taxpayers' money.

I find it incredible that some people are willing to buy his argument of political persecution. It appears obvious that the UK courts (and probably the EU too) do not believe him. Sweden is a country with a proud history in terms of social justice and human rights. The idea that they would knowingly front for the US and through a circuitous route get Assange extradited to the US is laughable and yet people still seem to believe it. Personally I think Assange is safer in Sweden than in the UK. If nothing else, it means the US would have to gain the consent of three governments ( Australia , UK and Sweden ) to extradite him. Of course, he is not safe from Swedish justice and that is probably his biggest fear. His complete unwillingness to clear this issue up on the basis of trumped up conspiracy theories does not imply innocence or rational thinking on his part.

So what is the Ecuadorian Government going to do now? Regardless of rumoured links between Assange and the Ecuadorian president, this is a problem no sane government would welcome. Should Ecuador agree to give Assange asylum, they would not only create a legal and logistical nightmare for themselves, they would also be publicly stating that the UK , Swedish and EU justice systems are sub-standard. This sort of message might go down well in Latin America, but is no route to winning friends on the international stage and showing that the country stands up for those who matter or deserve protection. Assange is rapidly losing friends and he is inviting Ecuador to do the same. If they refuse his asylum claim, they will probably get criticised anyway. I do not envy Ecuador having to deal with this poisoned chalice.

On a final point, I do not think much of Assange. The one good thing he did was invigorate the issue of investigative journalism which was completely failing to get to the truth behind government policies and backing this with evidence. Yet the way Assange went about this through the Wikileaks site was truly reprehensible. He exposed and thus sacrificed his sources (such as Bradley Manning) in his quest for personal glory, he just dumped a lot of classified material for the whole world to see without even filtering it properly and thus risking lives and he didn't even seek to explain the material like a proper investigative journalist is meant to. In short, he is a self centred, egotistical and irresponsible man with a truly unpleasant personality. He could have done so much better, but he has let his vanity and thirst for glory overcome him.