Will Julian Assange be Extradited?

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange now finds himself in a London jail under constant surveillance as the once elusive Australian, famous for his relentless disclosures of American secrets, was arrested by British authorities on Tuesday morning on charges of rape from a Swedish warrant.

However, there are conflicting reports about the exact details of that warrant and why the charges are being described as “rape.”  FOX News contributor Judge Andrew Napolitano claimed on Tuesday that the warrant documents say nothing about rape and only describe “consensual sex” in which a condom broke.  That raises a key question: Will Assange be extradited to Sweden by British authorities?  Some legal experts, Assange’s attorney included, suggest that won’t be the case since the specific charges filed against the hacker may not constitute actual “rape” or are not considered a violation of the law in England.

Reports Afua Hirsch in The Guardian:

Swedish criminal law experts said this morning that little was known about the allegations Assange is facing in the country, in line with legal requirements to protect anonymity and preserve confidentiality for sex crimes.

The activation of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) by UK police suggests Assange has been formally charged by Swedish prosecutors and could face a period of detention upon his return.

Assange’s legal team is determined to fight his extradition on grounds including the failure of authorities to provide details of the warrant issued by Sweden. They will also claim human rights reasons, including the arguments that the WikiLeaks founder may be unfairly deprived of his liberty in Sweden and that he risks not facing a fair trial.

In the meantime, Assange is threatening to unleash what is being described as a “poison pill” or a mountain of new devastating documents disclosing an embarrassing bevy of American secrets in the event he is either extradited or his life is put in danger.  Many national security experts agree that there are multiple advantages and risks for both Assange and the United States:  Assange could find sanctuary in England as extradition becomes a tough proposition, while the U.S. and its allies can keep an eye on the Wikileaks founder and possibly prevent new disclosures.   However, the risk is if Britain decides to extradite as part of a larger deal with not only Sweden, but the United States; the U.S. risks Assange unleashing his “poison pill” option.

Both parties appear to be buying time as the U.S. also seeks to prosecute Assange under the 100-year old Espionage Act. That is proving problematic since Assange is an Australian citizen.  And, media and ethics experts worry that prosecution could open up a new can of worms over First Amendment rights and the freedom of the press to disclose important, yeat sensitive government information.

In another development, reports the BBC:

A group called Anonymous has hit sites that have refused to do business with the controversial whistle-blowing site with a series of distributed denial-of-service attacks. It mirrors similar attacks aimed at the Wikileaks site. Targets include the Swiss bank that froze founder Julian Assange’s assets and PayPal which has stopped processing donations to Wikileaks. Anonymous is a loose-knit group of hacktivists, with links to the notorious message board 4chan.

Charles D. Ellison, Managing Editor for Politic365.com, Washington Correspondent for The Philadelphia Tribune and a weekly political analyst providing insight on WDAS-FM (Philadelphia), WVON-AM (Chicago) and KSRO-AM (Sonoma County, CA). He is author of the critically-acclaimed urban political thriller TANTRUM. More information can be found at http://www.cdellison.com

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