http://news.linktv.org Link TV News Videos (Filtered by topics: Extradition) en-us Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:47:00 -0800 Copyright 2011 Link Media, Inc. http://news.linktv.org/videos/seized-bin-laden-spokesman-to-face-nyc-court?start=0 Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and post-September 11 mouthpiece Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is due to face a Manhattan court on charges of conspiring to kill Americans. The senior al-Qaeda member was brought to New York after Jordanian authorities turned him over to American agents.<br /> Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:47:00 -0800 http://news.linktv.org/videos/seized-bin-laden-spokesman-to-face-nyc-court Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, September 11, 2001 attacks, FBI, United States, Turkey, CIA, New York City, Extradition Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and post-September 11 mouthpiece Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is due to face a Manhattan court on charges of conspiring to kill Americans. The senior al-Qaeda member was brought to New York after Jordanian authorities turned him over to American agents. http://news.linktv.org/videos/biggest-pentagon-hacker-dodges-extradition?start=0 The British government won't ship computer geek Gary McKinnon to the US to face charges that he broke into nearly 100 Pentagon and NASA computers seeking information on UFOs. They believe extradition would place the 46-year-old hacker, who has Asperger syndrome, at an increased risk of suicide. US officials have called his stunt the biggest military hack in history. Tue, 16 Oct 2012 23:45:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/biggest-pentagon-hacker-dodges-extradition Gary McKinnon, Extradition, Asperger syndrome, NASA, Pentagon, Unidentified flying object, Geek, Theresa May, United States, London The British government won't ship computer geek Gary McKinnon to the US to face charges that he broke into nearly 100 Pentagon and NASA computers seeking information on UFOs. They believe extradition would place the 46-year-old hacker, who has Asperger syndrome, at an increased risk of suicide. US officials have called his stunt the biggest military hack in history. http://news.linktv.org/videos/uk-hacker-may-dodge-extradition-in-pentagon-charges?start=0 A British hacker fighting a ten-year battle against extradition to the US to face charges that he cracked into Pentagon computers is about to learn his fate. Government officials decide this week whether to block extradition after considering medical reports that Gary McKinnon, who has Asperger syndrome and suffers from depression, would likely face an increased risk of suicide if he's sent to America. Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:44:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/uk-hacker-may-dodge-extradition-in-pentagon-charges Gary McKinnon, Hacker (computer security), US-United Kingdom relations, Extradition, Asperger syndrome, Pentagon, Computer security, United States, United Kingdom, Al Jazeera English A British hacker fighting a ten-year battle against extradition to the US to face charges that he cracked into Pentagon computers is about to learn his fate. Government officials decide this week whether to block extradition after considering medical reports that Gary McKinnon, who has Asperger syndrome and suffers from depression, would likely face an increased risk of suicide if he's sent to America. http://news.linktv.org/videos/brought-to-justice-uk-terror-suspects-appear-in-us-court?start=0 Muslim cleric Abu Hamza has appeared in a New York court where the charges against him were formally read out. Abu Hamza is one of the five men extradited to the US after a long legal fight in Britain. He faces 11 charges, including plotting to set up an al-Qaeda training camp in the US state of Oregon. Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports from New York. Sun, 07 Oct 2012 08:28:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/brought-to-justice-uk-terror-suspects-appear-in-us-court Abu Hamza al-Masri, Extradition, Al-Qaeda, Cleric, New York, Afghan training camp, Ulama, United States, Oregon, United Kingdom Muslim cleric Abu Hamza has appeared in a New York court where the charges against him were formally read out. Abu Hamza is one of the five men extradited to the US after a long legal fight in Britain. He faces 11 charges, including plotting to set up an al-Qaeda training camp in the US state of Oregon. Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports from New York. http://news.linktv.org/videos/mosaic-news-100512?start=876 <p>Thousands of Jordanians take part in Friday protests despite king's dissolution of parliament, Israeli forces clash with worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Syrian rebels down military plane on outskirts of Damascus, and more.</p> Fri, 05 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/mosaic-news-100512 Syrian Civil War, Syria, Nuclear program of Iran, Syria-Turkey relations, Palestinians, Benjamin Netanyahu, Politics of Turkey, Sanctions against Iran, Damascus, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan The London High Court has ruled that a Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza al-Masri, and four others accused of terrorism charges, can be extradited to the United States to stand trial, rejecting the men's appeal that they would be exposed to torture and inhumane treatment in the US. The men were kept in high-security prisons as the judges delivered their verdict. http://news.linktv.org/videos/mosaic-news-090512?start=1129 <p>Violence rages across Syria as battered Aleppo loses 115 lives, mass anger erupts on Bahrain's streets after uprising leaders lose appeal, Israel's expansion policies separate Palestinian children from schools across the West Bank, and more.</p> Wed, 05 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/mosaic-news-090512 Israel, West Bank, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Human rights, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Syrian Civil War, Human rights in Bahrain, Logar Province, Avigdor Lieberman, Palestinians Presenter, Female #1 Mauritanian television announced that Nouakchott has handed over Abdullah al-Senussi, the former head of Muammar al-Qaddafi's secret services, to the Libyan authorities, without providing additional details. Al-Senussi was arrested six months ago in Mauritania, which led the authorities to repeatedly ask for his extradition so he can be prosecuted. Al-Senussi is also wanted by the International Criminal Court and France over suspicions of having committing crimes during the late Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi's rule. Reporter, Female #1 He was considered the late Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi's right hand and the keeper of his secrets. Abdullah al-Senussi, the director of the Libyan intelligence services, was captured in Mauritania for entering the country with a fake passport after leaving Libya following the downfall of the Gaddafi regime in March. Ever since, Tripoli has been requesting his extradition so he can face charges for crimes committed during the reign of the late colonel. Reporter, Female #1 Mauritanian state television announced the surprising move that Nouakchott handed Senussi over to Tripoli, without providing additional details. However, other news outlets clarified that a Libyan delegation, headed by the ministers of justice and finance, accompanied al-Senussi aboard a flight to Tripoli. In Libya, dozens of charges await al-Senoussi. The most important is the allegation that hundreds of political prisoners were executed in the Abu Salim prison in 1996; they were showered with bullets for three hours. Al-Senussi is also wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity committed during the Libyan revolution against Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi. Reporter, Female #1 In France, al-Senussi was tried in absentia for his role in the bombing of UTA flight 772 above the western desert that led to the killing of dozens of people. Al-Senussi is also believed to have knowledge or secrets about the bombing of the American Pan Am flight over Scotland in 1988, in what is known as the Lockerbie case. Reporter, Female #1 Mauritania is requesting assurances that al-Senussi will receive a fair trial, and won't be subjected to torture or abuse in accordance with international law. Wafaa Zaiyan, BBC. http://news.linktv.org/videos/ecuador-president-suicide-for-uk-to-enter-embassy-seize-assange?start=0 Ecuador's President Rafael Correa warns Britain would regret entering the Ecuadorian embassy to seize Julian Assange, while the US State Department argues the Wikileaks founder is trying to deflect attention from sexual assualt allegations in Sweden. Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:13:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/ecuador-president-suicide-for-uk-to-enter-embassy-seize-assange Julian Assange, Rafael Correa, Ecuador, Asylum, WikiLeaks, Extradition, Victoria Nuland, United Kingdom, Diplomatic immunity, Sweden Ecuador's President Rafael Correa warns Britain would regret entering the Ecuadorian embassy to seize Julian Assange, while the US State Department argues the Wikileaks founder is trying to deflect attention from sexual assualt allegations in Sweden. http://news.linktv.org/videos/raw-video-julian-assange-addresses-worlds-media?start=0 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange made his first public appearance in two months in London Sunday. In a speech from the Ecuadorian embassy, he said he had taken a "stand for justice," and called upon President Obama to end the FBI investigation against WikiLeaks. Sun, 19 Aug 2012 07:38:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/raw-video-julian-assange-addresses-worlds-media Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, Asylum, Ecuador, Embassy, Extradition, Rafael Correa, Barack Obama, Bradley Manning, Sweden WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange made his first public appearance in two months from the Ecuadorian embassy in London Sunday. In a speech, he said he had taken a "stand for justice", and called upon US President Barack Obama to end the "witch-hunt" against WikiLeaks. Ecuador granted Assange political asylum on Thursday. http://news.linktv.org/videos/raw-video-ecuador-says-assanges-fears-are-legitimate?start=0 Ecuadorean foreign minister Ricardo Patiño confirms Julian Assange has been granted political asylum. In a strongly worded statement, he says Assange could face political persecution if his extradition was allowed to go ahead. Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:53:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/raw-video-ecuador-says-assanges-fears-are-legitimate Julian Assange, Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño, Asylum, Extradition, WikiLeaks, Quito, US-Ecuador relations, Sweden, United States Ecuadorean foreign minister Ricardo Patiño confirms Julian Assange has been granted political asylum. In a strongly worded statement, he said Assange could face political persecution if his extradition was allowed to go ahead, and Sweden and the United States had failed to provided the reassurances Ecuador had sought over the case. http://news.linktv.org/videos/ecuador-grants-asylum-to-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange?start=0 Ecuador has announced it will grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange political asylum, but the practicalities of getting him from London to Quito remain in question. Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:53:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/ecuador-grants-asylum-to-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange Julian Assange, Ricardo Patiño, Ecuador, WikiLeaks, Extradition, Quito, Asylum, United Kingdom, London, Sweden Ecuador has announced it will grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange political asylum, but the practicalities of getting him from London to Quito remain in question. http://news.linktv.org/videos/uk-cannot-stop-assange-flight-to-ecuador-says-top-lawyer?start=0 A top Spanish lawyer acting for the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Britain would have to allow Assange safe passage to Ecuador should the South American country offer him asylum. Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:36:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/uk-cannot-stop-assange-flight-to-ecuador-says-top-lawyer Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, Ecuador, Asylum, Extradition, South America, Sweden, London, Embassy, Al Jazeera English A top Spanish lawyer acting for the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Britain would have to allow Assange safe passage to Ecuador should the South American country offer him asylum. Assange, who faces extradition to Sweden to face rape allegations, has been in the Ecuadorean embassy in London for six weeks now. Al Jazeera's Emma Hayward reports. http://news.linktv.org/videos/raw-video-wikileaks-julian-assange-defies-police-remaining-at-ecuador-embassy?start=0 A member of the WikiLeaks founder's defence fund says Julian Assange is refusing a police summons and will not be leaving the Ecuador embassy in London until he hears about his asylum bid. Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:54:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/raw-video-wikileaks-julian-assange-defies-police-remaining-at-ecuador-embassy Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, Ecuador, Asylum, Extradition, Telegraph.co.uk A member of the WikiLeaks founder's defence fund says Julian Assange is refusing a police summons and will not be leaving the Ecuador embassy in London until he hears about his asylum bid. http://news.linktv.org/videos/a-sympathetic-interview-a-precursor-to-asylum?start=0 Was it during this interview that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange first got the idea of claiming asylum in Ecuador? In May 2012, he interviewed Ecuador's President Correa for his series, "The World Tomorrow." During the interview, the two men clearly struck up a relationship. Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:11:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/a-sympathetic-interview-a-precursor-to-asylum Julian Assange, Rafael Correa, Ecuador, World Tomorrow, WikiLeaks, US-Ecuador relations, Asylum, Extradition, Censorship In May 2012, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange interviewed President Correa of Ecuador for his series, "The World Tomorrow." During the interview, the two men struck up a relationship. Was it during this interview that Assange first got the idea of claiming asylum from a sympathetic Ecuador? http://news.linktv.org/videos/bo-xilai-scandal-french-national-arrested-in-cambodia?start=0 In what may be a new twist to the far-reaching scandal surrounding disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai, architect Patrick Devillers -- a French national with ties to the Bo family -- has been arrested in Cambodia. Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:20:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/bo-xilai-scandal-french-national-arrested-in-cambodia Bo Xilai, Gu Kailai, France, Government of the People's Republic of China, Extradition, Cambodia, Neil Heywood, Politics of the People's Republic of China, Communist Party of China, NTDTV In what may be a new twist to the far-reaching scandal surrounding disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai, a French national has been arrested in Cambodia. The French Embassy confirmed today the arrest of Patrick Devillers, an architect with ties to the Bo family. How Devillers is involved in Bo's scandal is unclear. Cambodian police told the AFP that Devillers' arrest was done in cooperation with Chinese authorities, and that Chinese officials are demanding his handover. Devillers awaits extradition to either China or France. http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-june-21-2012?start=99 On Wednesday, 17-year-old environmental activist Brittany Trilford of Wellington, New Zealand, addressed more than a hundred heads of state at the opening plenary of the Rio+20 UN Earth Summit. Democracy Now! also hears from Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria and chair of Friends of the Earth International, and Severn Cullis-Suzuki, who became known as "the girl who silenced the world for six minutes" after she addressed delegates in Rio de Janeiro as a 12-year-old in 1992. Plus headlines, and more. Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:17:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-june-21-2012 Rio+20, Earth Summit, United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro, United Nations, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Brittany Trilford, Nnimmo Bassey, Plenary session, Julian Assange WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could learn as early as today whether his request for asylum in Ecuador has been approved. Assange spent a second night at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Wednesday after seeking refuge in a last-ditch bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning on allegations of sexual assault. Ecuador's deputy foreign minister has said a decision is expected within 24 hours. In an interview with the news network TeleSUR, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Assange has every right to seek asylum in a foreign country and rejected concerns that approving his bid would harm relations with the United States. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa: "If an asylum request affects the relationship with Great Britain, the relationship between the United States and Latin America should be very affected, because all the corrupt Ecuadorians — the bankers who bankrupted our country — asked for asylum in the United States. Journalists who defame go to the United States to ask for asylum. I think it's established in international law, and every country has the perfect right within its sovereignty to analyze the possibility of giving asylum." WikiLeaks Rep: Assange Fears Torture in U.S. Police in London have said Julian Assange could face arrest for violating the terms of his bail. Citing the case of Bradley Manning, a WikiLeaks spokesperson said Assange ultimately fears extradition to the United States. Kristinn Hrafnsson: "The big worry is an extradition to the United States. We all know what has happened to Bradley Manning there. He was held in a situation that is equal to torture. That is even — you can find in a statement by the United Nations rapporteur on torture. And so that is a true, true worry." http://news.linktv.org/videos/president-ecuador-analyzing-assange-asylum-request-in-serious-way?start=0 Ecuador's president says the WikiLeaks founder's bid for political asylum is being considered by his country: "We are analyzing Julian Assange's asylum request in a very serious and responsible way." Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:55:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/president-ecuador-analyzing-assange-asylum-request-in-serious-way Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, Ecuador, Rafael Correa, Asylum, Extradition, London, United Kingdom, Sweden, United States Julian Assange's bid for political asylum is being considered by Ecuador, after the WikiLeaks founder took refuge in the country's embassy in London. In a television interview, Ecuador's president Rafael Correa said, "We are analyzing Julian Assange's asylum request in a very serious and responsible way." http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-june-20-2012?start=1828 Sharif Abdel Kouddous reports from Egypt, where former President Hosni Mubarak is on life support, both candidates are claiming to have won last weekend's election, and the ruling military council has seized greater power. WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London and asked for asylum. And leaders from more than 100 countries are meeting today in Brazil for the start of the Rio+20 Earth Summit, the largest United Nations conference ever. Plus headlines, and more. Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:54:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-june-20-2012 Egyptian presidential election, 2012, Hosni Mubarak, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, Ahmed Shafiq, Coma, People's Assembly of Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood, Life support WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London and asked for asylum. Assange made the move Tuesday in a last-ditch bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crime accusations. Earlier today, police in London announced Assange is now subject to arrest because his decision to spend the night at the Ecuadorean embassy violated the conditions of his bail. Assange is seeking asylum because he fears extradition to Sweden may lead to his transfer to the United States where he could potentially face charges relating to Wikileaks. "In my view, it is a situation of political persecution of Julian Assange for his political activities," says Michael Ratner, a member of Assange's legal team. "It fits in the asylum application procedure under the Declaration of Human Rights." In an apparent reference to the United States, an Ecuadorean official said Assange fears being extradited "to a country where espionage and treason are punished with the death penalty." WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London and asked for asylum. Assange made the move Tuesday in a last-ditch bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crime accusations. Earlier today, police in London announced Assange is now subject to arrest because his decision to spend the night at the Ecuadorian embassy violated the conditions of his bail. Assange is seeking asylum because he fears extradition to Sweden may lead to his transfer to the United States, where he could potentially face charges relating to WikiLeaks. In an apparent reference to the United States, an Ecuadorian official said Assange fears being extradited, quote, "to a country where espionage and treason are punished with the death penalty." The Ecuadorian government says Assange can stay at the embassy for now as it reviews his request for asylum. In a statement, the Ecuadorian embassy said, quote: "As a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights, with an obligation to review all applications for asylum, we have immediately passed his application on to the relevant department in Quito." In 2010, Ecuador invited Assange to seek residency there but quickly backed away from the idea, accusing him of breaking U.S. laws. In a moment, we'll be joined by one of Julian Assange's lawyers. But first I want to turn to a recent episode of Julian Assange's TV show, The World Tomorrow, on RT, in which he interviewed Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. President Correa, why did you want us to release all the cables? Those who don't owe anything have nothing to fear. We have nothing to hide. Your WikiLeaks have made us stronger, as the main accusations made by the American embassy were due to our excessive nationalism and defense of the sovereignty of the Ecuadorian government. Indeed, we are nationalists. Indeed, we do defend the sovereignty of our country. On the other hand, WikiLeaks wrote a lot about the goals that the national media pursue, about the power groups who seek help and report to foreign embassies. We have absolutely nothing to fear. Let them publish everything they have about the Ecuadorian government. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange interviewing Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa on his show, The World Tomorrow, on RT. Well, for more on Julian Assange's decision to seek asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy and in Ecuador, we're joined by Michael Ratner, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, lawyer for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Michael, welcome to Democracy Now! Talk about this surprise move of Julian Assange. Well, I was completely surprised by it. In fact, I got a tweet from—or, no, a text message from you, Amy, that said, "Michael, Julian Assange has gone into the Ecuadorian embassy." So that really surprised me. On the other hand, if you look at what he was facing, I had—I've been really very upset and nervous for, really, since he lost the decision in the High Court of England on the 14th of June, because here's his situation. He's about to be extradited now to Sweden. Sweden does not have bail. Now, these are on allegations of sex charges—allegations, no charges—and they're to interrogate Julian Assange. But despite that, he would have been in prison in Sweden. At that point, our view is that there was a substantial chance that the U.S. would ask for his extradition to the United States. So here you have him walking the streets in London—sure, under bail conditions; going to a jail in Sweden, where he's in prison, almost an incommunicado prison; U.S. files extradition; he remains in prison; and the next thing that happens is whatever time it takes him to fight the extradition in Sweden, he's taken to the United States. There's no chance then to make political asylum application any longer. In addition, once he comes to the United States—we just hold up Bradley Manning as example one of what will happen to a underground cell, essentially abuse, torture, no ability to communicate with anybody, facing certainly good chance of a life sentence, with a possibility, of course, of one of these charges being a death penalty charge. So, he was in an impossible situation. And in my view, it was a—it is a situation of political persecution of Julian Assange for his political activities. And it does fit within the asylum—the asylum application procedure under the Declaration of Human Rights, which is what President Correa and/or at least what the embassy in London was mentioning. His choices were terrible—not that they're so great right now. I mean, now he's in the embassy in London. He's asked for political asylum. The Ecuadorians will decide whether to give him political asylum or not. Assuming they do, whatever time it takes, what happens then? He gets political asylum, how does he then leave the embassy? And that's a difficult question. He made need—the Ecuadorians could ask the British for a safe passage to get him out of London and into Ecuador. On the other hand, it's conceivable that the English could—the Britishers, the U.K., could arrest him if he tries to leave the embassy, even if it's in a diplomatic car. And while I think that might be illegal, it's taking a big chance. So now he is in the embassy and having to stay there indefinitely until the situation can resolve. But let me just say, the other situation was so terrible, in my view, the extradition to Sweden, which was really—it's not about the charges in Sweden. There's no charges. It's not about the allegations in Sweden or the interrogation. I think if the United States tomorrow said, "We will not be prosecuting WikiLeaks or Julian Assange, there will be no indictment of him, the grand jury is over," etc., etc., I don't think Julian Assange—I haven't spoken to him about this—I don't think he would have any issue about going to Sweden for interrogation on these charges. It's really—what this is about is the United States wanting to get their hands on him, put him into an underground cell with no communications, giving him life imprisonment. And, of course, people have already called for his death in the United States. And he was faced with really a terrible situation, considering—considering that he is the person who, as a publisher and journalist, has exposed massive U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and the WikiLeaks cables. His extradition proceedings were supposed to commence next week, June 28th. Do you have any idea how long an application for political asylum, such as the one that he's filed, normally takes—I mean, for Ecuador to make a decision? I'm not sure I understood, the extradition proceedings. He was— Sorry, sending him to Sweden, the decision to— Right, the decision to go to Sweden, he would have had to be in Sweden by July 7th. So it's very soon. You can—as people in the United States know, if you apply for political asylum, those political asylum applications can take a week, or they can drag on for two, three, four, five, six, seven years. So we don't know what Ecuador will do. We do know that, from what you played on President Correa, that he was sympathetic to WikiLeaks, even though—it's interesting—some of those cables skewered some of the current government in Ecuador. And in fact, the U.S. ambassador lost his job for calling some part of the Ecuadorian police corrupt. The U.S. ambassador was kicked out. So that even though some of those skewered some part of the Correa government, President Correa was willing to say, "I believe in what WikiLeaks is doing. We need transparency, and WikiLeaks is taking a very positive step." For people who aren't following this that closely, you talked about the—an indictment against—against Assange by the United States, a grand jury, a secret grand jury. What do you understand the U.S. wants with Assange? And why wouldn't they have moved on that while he was in Britain? I mean, he wasn't walking a free man, but he was able to walk around during the day. Right. And he was home at night. So they could have gotten him any time. Right. It would have—for the U.S. to move within Britain, of course, it would have complicated matters a great deal, because then he's facing a Swedish—a Swedish prosecution, and then the U.S. comes in. So what happens to the U.S.—to the U.S. indictment? And then, of course, Julian Assange gets notice that he's been indicted in the United States, and of course it makes his situation more precarious. And in addition, he would have probably been able to remain on the streets in London, whereas the U.S., really, I think, probably understood that as soon as he gets into Sweden, he's in prison, he may—those charges may not amount—not charges, those allegations may not amount to anything once he testifies, once he gives evidence, and then they can keep him in prison with this warrant. And I also think that, if you look at the situation, Sweden versus the U.K., the U.K. can take years to get someone extradited. I mean, we know of the case—I forgot his name, but the young man who supposedly hacked into the Pentagon computer to find out about UFOs—seven, eight years on his extradition. Incredible extradition lawyers in London. It's a big country. Sweden, whatever we think of Sweden, its justice system certainly seems to have some problems, because Julian Assange would be in jail without bail. And also, it's a smaller country and just can be knocked around more by the United States. And why the U.S. wants Julian Assange? Why the U.S. would prosecute him over WikiLeaks? This is nothing to do with the sex crimes charges. No, it's nothing, but it's the ultimate issue in this case. The allegations about sex crimes, as I said, I think will be disposed of quickly. I don't think those are the issues underlying. It has—it has really— And we should say—I shouldn't say "sex crimes charges" — Right. —because he wasn't charged. He wasn't— Allegations of sex crimes that—where he would be questioned in Sweden, and possibly let go. Oh, that's very conceivable. I mean, it's very conceivable. But when you say "possibly let go," it's important to understand, he's in prison while that proceeding is going on. The minute—the minute—there would be someone in court—assuming there's an indictment of Julian Assange, there would be someone in court—when they say, "We order you released," they would file the warrant at that moment, and Julian Assange would not be able to leave the court, would be back in prison, and would be in the United States, where only his lawyers will probably be able to communicate with him. And I probably wouldn't be able to say a word about what he ever said to me. But let's look at what he's facing. The claim would be that he's being investigated for espionage, essentially for transmitting, you know, quote, "secrets" of the U.S. government, that were classified, that could harm the United States in some way. And that's the espionage indictment. That's what Bradley Manning is being looked at for, under military law. And that's what they would want to look at Julian Assange for. And there's a grand jury that's been going on really since at least 2011. We have the Stratfor emails that says that—that say that there's a sealed indictment against Julian Assange. We have recently two people who have some association with WikiLeaks being questioned again by the FBI by—around what—about Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Who is that? Zimmerman and McCarthy. One is from France, one is from Iceland. Again, questioned by the FBI about Julian Assange. This is an active investigation. We have, in Bradley Manning's case, what came out at the Article 32— The young U.S. private who is accused of releasing tens of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks. Right, and Bradley Manning is in a court-martial proceeding going on in Fort Meade. As part of that examination, as part of that court-martial proceeding, an FBI agent was asked about who else is being investigated here, and he said seven other civilians are being investigated with regard to—with regard to WikiLeaks. And who are they? He said—he didn't give the names, but he said these are — "Are these people who are managers or founders of WikiLeaks?" And he said, "Yes, they are." So we're talking about an active investigation, most probable an indictment already. This is what Julian Assange was facing: never to see the light of day again, in my view, had he gone to Sweden. And so, he's in not a great situation now, in the sense that, look at, he's sitting in an embassy in London. He has to get political asylum. And then, how does he get out of the embassy? But in response to some of these criticism, Swedish authorities have said that the European Court of Human Rights would intervene if Assange was to face the prospect of, quote, "inhuman or degrading treatment or an unfair trial" in the U.S. Well—well, first of all, wait a second, I'm not sure I understand that at all. The European Court of Human Rights only has jurisdiction over Europe. So, once he's in the United States, there's not much the European Court of Human Rights can do. In addition, the European Court of Human Rights recently came down with a major decision concerning four English Muslim men, and what they said was so negative and so outrageous, in my view, and such a denial of rights, that I would not depend on the European Court of Human Rights. They basically disregarded the fact that people spend years in solitary in the United States, that they get life sentences, that they have no way—that they have—they're in communications managements units where they can't speak to each other. And despite all of that evidence in the European Court of Human Rights, they just approved the extradition of four young—of four people from the United Kingdom. So I would not put anything on the European Court of Human Rights as positive for this case. Let's go to Julian Assange in November, after he lost his initial appeal. I have not been charged with any crime in any country. Despite this, the European arrest warrant is so restrictive that it prevents U.K. courts from considering the facts of a case, as judges have made clear here today. We will be considering our next step in the days ahead. The full judgment will be available on swedenversusassange.com. No doubt there will been many attempts made to try and spin these proceedings as they occur today, but they are merely technical. So please go to swedenversusassange.com if you want to know what's really going on in this case. Thank you. That was Julian Assange last November. Michael Ratner, your response? Well, he was talking about the restrictions on the arrest warrant and the case that actually he lost in Britain. His argument in Britain was that the Swedish prosecutor had asked for his extradition, and under the European arrest warrant, it needs to be a judge. A prosecutor has a bias, because the prosecutor wants to prosecute. And that had never really been considered by the British courts. It went all the way up to the highest court in Britain, which was a surprise, to begin with. And in the end, the highest court in Britain came down five-to-two against Julian Assange. But I think most people think—many of us think that was a political decision. What they didn't want to do was invalidate another European country's process for extraditing people under the European warrant. So he lost that case in what many people would say was a political—a political decision. And that's when he was ordered to surrender and go to Sweden—not go, he's picked up by the Swedish in Britain, he's put on an airplane, he's handcuffed, taken into Sweden, goes into a prison in Sweden. U.S. then, at some point, files their extradition warrant, and he, as I said, really never sees—never sees the light of day. On his show, The World Tomorrow, Julian Assange asked Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, about U.S. involvement in Latin America. Let's just go to that clip. What do Ecuadorian people think about the United States and its involvement in Latin America and in Ecuador? Well, as Evo Morales says, the only country that can be sure never to have a coup d'état is the United States, because it hasn't got a U.S. embassy. In any event, I'd like to say that one of the reasons that led to police discontent was the fact that we cut all the funding the U.S. embassy provided to the police. Before and even a year after we took office, we took a while to correct this. Before, there were whole police units, key units, fully funded by the U.S. embassy, whose officers in command were chosen by the U.S. ambassador and paid by the U.S. And so, we have increased considerably the police's pay. Michael Ratner, your response? Well, first of all, you have to remember, President Correa got rid of the U.S. military base in Ecuador. The WikiLeaks cable talked about the corruption of the police within Ecuador. And what you see President Correa says, well, they were being paid by the U.S. embassy. And, of course, his great line is that the only reason there's not a coup in the United States is there's no U.S. embassy, essentially, to plan it. So you're seeing—you're seeing a good part of this world understand the importance of what Bradley Manning allegedly did and understanding the importance of the publication by WikiLeaks of the diplomatic cables. Obviously not just in Ecuador—the secret war in Yemen, in cases that my office has been concerned with about prosecution of Rumsfeld and others in Spain—we see the U.S. interference all over. And the positive part, a strong positive of WikiLeaks, is they exposed to the world not just the war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, but incredible hypocrisy in our own State Department. Finally, any precedent for people staying in embassies for years? Not such great ones, in the sense that they've been there for a long time. I mean, the one that comes mostly to mind—of course, the Chinese guy, he only stayed in the U.S. embassy for a couple of weeks, Chen, because then you had the U.S.—every diplomat in the world say, "Well, let's deal with the Chinese and get him out of the embassy and get him into the United States." We should only have that situation where the—where people are going to the Ecuadorian embassy and—or saying to the British, "Let's get him out and get him to Ecuador." I would love that. But the precedent that I think of, Amy, is Cardinal Mindszenty. Cardinal Mindszenty—most people are too young for the Cold War—he was a Catholic prelate in Poland, opposition to the Polish government, took refuge in the U.S. embassy in Warsaw, spent 13 years in the embassy in Warsaw. So, there's precedent for very long times in the embassy. I don't—look at, I want to see Julian Assange—I want to see no prosecution in the United States. I want to see him be able to go answer questions in Sweden without having the threat of immediate extradition to the United States, to deal with that and then to walk this world as a free person, having really done an incredible service to the peoples of the world. Michael Ratner, I want to thank you for being with us, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, lawyer for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. http://news.linktv.org/videos/wikileaks-founder-seeks-refuge-in-ecuadorian-embassy?start=0 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has requested asylum in Ecuador after a UK court ruled he can be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations. Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:01:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/wikileaks-founder-seeks-refuge-in-ecuadorian-embassy Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, Asylum, Ecuador, Extradition, United Kingdom, Sweden, Sexual assault, Embassy, United States WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has requested asylum in Ecuador after a UK court ruled he can be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations. http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-30-2012?start=0 In a divided decision, Britain's Supreme Court has upheld the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden over alleged sex crimes. Assange's attorney says the ruling sets an alarming precedent for judicial independence in Europe. Wed, 30 May 2012 12:31:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-30-2012 WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, Extradition, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Appeal, Bradley Manning, Houla massacre In a divided decision, Britain's Supreme Court has upheld the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden over alleged sex crimes. Assange's attorney says the ruling sets an alarming precedent for judicial independence in Europe. With the global spotlight on the Assange case, WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning marks two years behind bars. Journalist Glenn Greenwald argues that Obama's secret "kill list" is "the most radical power a government can seize. And, after the United States and 11 other countries formally expel Syrian diplomats following a massacre of more than 100 people in the village of Houla, does this incident mark a tipping point in favor of foreign military intervention? Plus headlines, and more. http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-30-2012?start=93 In a divided decision, Britain's Supreme Court has upheld the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden over alleged sex crimes. Assange's attorney says the ruling sets an alarming precedent for judicial independence in Europe. With the global spotlight on the Assange case, WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning marks two years behind bars. Journalist Glenn Greenwald argues that Obama's secret "kill list" is "the most radical power a government can seize. And, after the United States and 11 other countries formally expel Syrian diplomats following a massacre of more than 100 people in the village of Houla, does this incident mark a tipping point in favor of foreign military intervention? Plus headlines, and more.<br /> Wed, 30 May 2012 12:31:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-30-2012 WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, Extradition, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Appeal, Bradley Manning, Houla massacre Britain's Supreme Court has upheld the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden after a more than year-long legal fight. Swedish authorities want to question Assange over accusations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. He has been under house arrest in Britain since December 2010. Assange's lawyers had argued that the Swedish public prosecutor did not have the legal authority to issue the arrest warrant, but earlier today the British judges sided with Sweden in a 5-to-2 decision. Assange's supporters have voiced fears he will wind up in the hands of the United States should he be deported to Sweden. He has been given 14 days to leave Britain and return to Sweden. http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-30-2012?start=567 In a divided decision, Britain's Supreme Court has upheld the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden over alleged sex crimes. Assange's attorney says the ruling sets an alarming precedent for judicial independence in Europe. With the global spotlight on the Assange case, WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning marks two years behind bars. Journalist Glenn Greenwald argues that Obama's secret "kill list" is "the most radical power a government can seize. And, after the United States and 11 other countries formally expel Syrian diplomats following a massacre of more than 100 people in the village of Houla, does this incident mark a tipping point in favor of foreign military intervention? Plus headlines, and more.<br /> Wed, 30 May 2012 12:31:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-30-2012 WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, Extradition, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Appeal, Bradley Manning, Houla massacre Britain's Supreme Court has upheld the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden to face questioning over alleged sex crimes. Assange's lawyers had argued that the Swedish public prosecutor did not have the legal authority to issue the arrest warrant, but the British justices disagreed in a 5-to-2 decision. Assange's attorneys will have 14 days to file a new appeal. We get reaction from Salon.com blogger and constitutional law attorney Glenn Greenwald. Britain's Supreme Court has upheld the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden to face questioning over alleged sex crimes. Swedish authorities want to question Assange over accusations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. Assange has been under house arrest in Britain since December 2010. Assange's lawyers had argued the Swedish public prosecutor did not have the legal authority to issue the arrest warrant. Earlier this morning, the British Supreme Court handed down a split decision. Five judges supported extradition, two judges opposed it. Nicholas Phillips, the president of the Supreme Court, said the decision came down to the definition of "judicial authority" under the terms of the European Extradition Treaty. The point of law is simply, what do the words "judicial authority" mean? Mr. Assange has argued that they mean a court or judge. Sweden's request has been issued by a public prosecutor who is not a court or judge, so Mr. Assange's argument is that request is invalid and he doesn't have to go back to Sweden. The point of law is simple to state, but it has not been simple to resolve. Indeed, we have only reached our decision by a majority of 5-2. There was discussion in parliament about the words judicial authority when the bill which became the Extradition Act was being debated. The bill used the words "judicial authority" because those words were in the Framework Decision and the act was designed to give effect to the framework decision. It is clear that some members of parliament believe that the words "judicial authority" in the Framework Decision meant a court or a judge. Indeed, one minister specifically stated to a parliamentary committee that this was the case. But he was mistaken. Judicial authority is the English translation of the French words "autorité judicial." The Framework decision in both English and French, so it's necessary to have regard also to what the French phrase means. The French phrase has a wider meaning than the English phrase. In French, the words "judicial authority" can be used of a public prosecutor. For these reasons, the majority has concluded that the Swedish public prosecutor was a judicial authority within the meaning of both the Framework Decision and the Extradition Act. It follows that the request for Mr. Assange's extradition has been lawfully made and his appeal against extradition is accordingly dismissed. Nicholas Phillips, president of the British Supreme court. Moments later, Dinah Rose, an attorney for Julian Assange, addressed the court. There is one matter which causes us considerable concern on our initial reading of the decision, and that is that it would appear that a majority of the members of this court have decided the point either principally or solely on the basis of the interpretation of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a point with respect which was not argued during the appeal, and which we were given no opportunity to address. Now, obviously, this court will have in mind its recent decision in [a previous case] holding that Article 6 applies to extradition proceedings in the United kingdom. We are therefore currently considering our position on whether or not it will be necessary, with great regret, to make an application to this court that this matter should be reopened so we have an opportunity to argue this point. In response to the legal concerns raised, the Supreme Court gave Assange a stay of 14 days on the extradition order so that the ruling could be challenged. To talk more about the case, we're joined by two guests, Helena Kennedy is joining us from Oxford in England. She's a British attorney on the legal team representing Julian Assange. She will be joining us in a minute. And joining us by Democracy Now videostream, Glenn Greenwald, blogger for Salon.com, constitutional lawyer as well. He has been closely following the WikiLeaks story. Glenn, can you respond to the decision of the British High Court that Julian Assange will be extradited to Sweden? I think it's difficult to have expected any other outcome. Remember Julian Assange is one of the people most hated by Western governments because of the transparency that he brought, and typically, unfortunately, judicial branches in the United States and in the United Kingdom do the opposite of what they're intended to do, which is they protect institutional power and help to punish and deprive the rights of those who are most scorned. And so, I would have been most shocked had the court ruled in favor of Assange, even though as the two dissenting judges on the high court pointed out, the argument of Sweden and those advocating extradition is directly and anathetical to what the statute says. No one thinks that a prosecutor is a judicial authority. He has not been charged with a crime, and therefore, there is no court or judge seeking his extradition. It's purely a prosecutor. But the law in these cases typically is not what governs. What governs are political considerations and the views of the party. And so absence of some unexpected event—-highly unexpected event—-at some point in the near future, it is likely he will be extradited to Sweden. And apparently, Glenn, of course, the punishment that he is likely to face in Sweden, even if is charged, is much less than what he is likely to face if he is extradited to the U.S. where the punishment he faces for possible espionage and conspiracy charges will be much greater. Can you say a little about that? I think there's two issues of concern with being extradited to Sweden. One is that, although we don't think about Sweden this way, it is none the less the case that they have a very oppressive — I would even say borderline barbaric system — of pretrial detention where when somebody is charged with a crime, they are almost — especially in Assange's case where he's not a Swedish citizen — automatically, more or less, consigned to prison, not released on bail, even though he's proven over the course of the last two years that his appearances can be secured. And not only would he likely be imprisoned pending trial, but he would be imprisoned under very oppressive conditions, where he could be held incommunicato, denied all contact or communication with the outside world. The hearings , pretrial hearings in Sweden, are not public. They are entirely private. The media, the public has no idea what takes place within these hearings. And given how sensitive this case is, the idea that judicial decisions in Sweden will be made privately and secretly is very alarming. But, I think the broader concern is the one you just raised, which is clearly in the U.S. efforts underway, not just to investigate but to convene a grand jury, and there are reports that he had already been indicted with a sealed indictment. There are certainly efforts by the U.S. government to do so, and the real concern is that Sweden, which in the past has demonstrated subservience to the United States with rendition and other things, will hand him over without much of a fight and he will face life in prison under espionage statutes for doing nothing more than what newspapers do every day, which is publishing classified information in the public interest. Can you talk about the significance of Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, going to Sweden? It is the first time in a very long time that a U.S. Secretary of State is going to Sweden. First, it was announced the high court would be making its decision today, Glenn. Then, Sweden tweeted out that Hillary Clinton would be coming there on Sunday. Right. I mean, one of the causes for concern is that there has been a flurry of activity recently with FBI agents harassing people who are alleged to have communication or contact or association with WikiLeaks. A French citizen and an Icelandic citizen both in the past couple of weeks have been very aggressively accosted by FBI agents on foreign soil. And now you have what looks to be high-level meetings between the State Department, Secretary of State, and Swedish officials. There really is not much of a secret that the Obama administration is busting at the seams to punish Assange. Remember, this is an administration that has more aggressively than any prior president has punished people who are government employees who have been whistleblowers, and yet here is a someone who is not a government employee, has no duty to safeguard classified information, and yet it looks very much like the U.S. government is eager to get their hands on Julian Assange. That has been the concern all along going to Sweden. He has never been worried about facing these charges. He feels very confident that he will be ultimately vindicated, that there is nothing to them. I have no opinion one way or the other on that. He has always been willing to face these accusations. The issue has always been because he is not charged, there has been this extraordinary and unusual effort to get him onto Swedish soil. The fear has always been that is just a pretext for turning him over to the United States, something that Britain would have a very hard time doing for a variety of reasons, but that Sweden, as they have proven, can be coerced and bullied and pressured into doing it fairly easily. Once he's in the grip of the U.S., it is really hard to imagine how he will ever secure his freedom or liberty again, given what the U.S. has demonstrated it is willing to do in terms of flouting conventions of justice and other things when it comes to people accused of harming national security. Why is that though Glenn? Can you explain why would Sweden be more amenable to extradition to the U.S. and not the U.K., which is a very close ally of the U.S.? For one thing, just a matter of basic international relations it is much easier for a country like the U.S. to pressure and coerce smaller countries than it is larger countries. I think there would be a big outcry — [NO AUDIO] Glenn, you were finishing up saying? ...and where Sweden is a small country, much more susceptible to that pressure — and again they've demonstrated in the past to be willing — the U.N. Commission found they actually violated international law and prohibitions on oppressive treatment in the way that they allowed CIA agents to basically abduct Egyptian nationals on their soil and render them to Egypt. So, I think there's a real concern when you add on to that the secrecy behind these pre-trial proceedings that there's a much higher risk that Sweden will be complicit in turning over Assange to the United States. http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-30-2012?start=1318 In a divided decision, Britain's Supreme Court has upheld the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden over alleged sex crimes. Assange's attorney says the ruling sets an alarming precedent for judicial independence in Europe. With the global spotlight on the Assange case, WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning marks two years behind bars. Journalist Glenn Greenwald argues that Obama's secret "kill list" is "the most radical power a government can seize. And, after the United States and 11 other countries formally expel Syrian diplomats following a massacre of more than 100 people in the village of Houla, does this incident mark a tipping point in favor of foreign military intervention? Plus headlines, and more.<br /> Wed, 30 May 2012 12:31:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-30-2012 WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, Extradition, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Appeal, Bradley Manning, Houla massacre Helena Kennedy, a member of Julian Assange's legal team and a prominent British civil liberties attorney, joins us from London to discuss the court ruling upholding Assange's extradition to Sweden. "The idea of a prosecutor demanding someone is brought by force to their country in order to be questioned — and [not] a judge or court — is alarming because we believe in judicial independence," Kennedy says. "[Assange] is concerned [that] once he is on Swedish soil, he becomes much more vulnerable to the intentions of the U.S. to have him extradited to stand trial on much more worrying charges." We are joined in Britain by one of the attorneys for Julian Assange, Helena Kennedy. When the judge announced the Supreme Court's decision to uphold Assange's extradition, he invoked the 1957 European Convention on extradition. I want to ask Helena Kennedy about the significance of that Convention and why it was put into effect. We're going to just go to a clip of the ruling first. This is Lord Nicholas Phillips, President of the Supreme Court in Britain. The Swedish public prosecutor has requested the extradition of Mr. Assange on charges of serious sexual offenses. That request has raised a point of law of general public importance. It is not a point in respect of which the particular facts of Mr. Assange's case have any relevance. This summary is about that point of law. It used to be the case this country would not extradite a person to another European country until a court here had considered the evidence against that person. The court would not approve extradition unless the evidence justified his being subjected to a criminal trial. All that changed in 2001 when we gave effect to the 1957 European Convention on extradition. That's Lord Nicholas Phillips, President of the Supreme Court in Britain, explaining the decision to extradite Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, to Sweden. Helena Kennedy, you're one of the members of Julian Assange's legal team. Can you respond to the decision that was just handed down hours before this broadcast? Well, I'm a consultant to the team, and extradition is one of the areas of law that I have some practice and knowledge of. It is right that it is comparatively recently that we have become much more closely involved in legal arrangements with the rest of Europe about the handing over of persons sought for questioning or for proceeding on to criminal trial. On a much more sort of familiar basis so that we do it with little examination of evidence and the idea is that we respect the legal systems of these other countries to be just and fair, even if they're different from ours. The problem about that is, or course, in other parts of Europe we don't have a common law system. In fact, the American system is much closer to the British system, and there's a civil law system, where the whole arrangements are rather different. And so, one of the concerns that was raised in this case was that a really important point of law, which was about this request having been made by prosecutor who wanted to question Assange. There is still an issue as to whether he would ever be charged. There is no doubt that if the old processes had been relied upon, the evidence would not have been enough to justify a prosecution here in Britain. But they were invoking the new arrangement. The new arrangement in this last decade or so has been that a Euro warrant can be issued and that it does not involve a close examination of evidence, and the request had been made by a judicial authority. That's how it has always been presented and that's how it was introduced into law in Britain. Two of the judges, interestingly, did not go along with this decision. It was a 5-2 majority decision. But another two of the five say that had parliament known the judicial authority might mean a prosecutor and not a judge, it may be that the arrangement would not have been accepted by parliament. But now that it has been and has been going on for the last years, this practice should be accepted as one that is respectful of other jurisdictions. Now, the concern that we all had, and I think that any democrat in Britain would have, is that the idea of a prosecutor demanding that someone is brought by force to their country in order to be questioned, and that that is not a decision being made by a judge or a court, is alarming to us because we believe in judicial independence. We believe that the state sometimes does things that have to be called into question, or certainly have oversight by an independent judge, and that hasn't happened here. And so, that is why this was a very important issue and went all the way to our Supreme court, and the court has, by a majority, come down saying that really they have to be respectful of the fact and other systems, this is what happens; that a prosecutor can make these decisions without judicial oversight. Well, I think that has left a lot of us feeling very unhappy about the arrangement we've entered into and as to whether it really complies with our respect for the rule of law and independence of the judiciary to overview what decisions are made by prosecutors, because it is not a happy situation that prosecutors can decide who they're going to have brought by warrant and by force back for questioning without any judicial intervention. Helena Kennedy, isn't it relevant at all that Julian Assange hasn't in fact been charged with any offense in Sweden yet? Doesn't that have any bearing on the European arrest warrant? Well, the European arrest warrant says that you can be arrested in order to be questioned, but it is interesting that Assange volunteered to be questioned here at the Swedish Embassy or at Scotland Yard. He didn't see why that it was required that he should go all the way to Sweden. And of course, what he suspects and is concerned about is that as soon as he sets foot on Swedish soil, that he becomes much more vulnerable to the perhaps intentions of the U.S. to have him extradited from there to the United States to stand trial on much more worrying charges, from his perspective, because he would face the sort of American sentences that go along with espionage. While Julian Assange didn't address the news media after today's Supreme Court decision, the news reports said he was caught in heavy traffic. I want to play for you what he said in November after he lost his initial appeal. JULIAN ASSANGE: I have not been charged with any crime in any country. Despite this, the European arrest warrants is so restrictive that it prevents U.K. courts from considering the facts of a case, as judges have made clear here today. We will be considering our next step in the days ahead. The full judgment will be available on swedenversusassange.com. No doubt, throw the many attempts made to try and spin these proceedings as they occurred today, but they are merely technical. So, please go to swedenversusassange.com if you really want to know what's going on in this case. That was Julian Assange, not this time, but in November after he lost his initial appeal. Speaking to us from Oxford, England is Helena Kennedy. She is a consultant to Assange's legal team. I'd like you to respond to that and also the decision of the judges when raised by his attorney Dinah Rose, that they allow her to argue on this point that she said that she hadn't gotten a chance to argue on, the decision that they had made that he can stay for another two weeks. What are the avenues that Assange has right now? What came up in court was the Vienna Convention was invoked by the judge's to say that, basically, the words — the French words — are the words which they looked at which is "judicial authority"–"autorité judicial," and that that has been translated into judicial authority which we the British common law listeners took to be a judge and a court and certainly that is what the British Parliament thought. Whereas, in fact, to Europeans who have a different system, it would be interpreted as being a prosecutor, and therefore in endorsing the Vienna Convention on extradition, then we committed ourselves to the French interpretation. So, I think, I know, that Dinah wants to be able to have a look at that and to see whether that is a proper interpretation, because she didn't have the opportunity of dealing with it; it wasn't raised by the other side at the original hearing. Now, I've spoken to Julian Assange since the — he is caught in traffic — and I spoke to him since his hearing of the judgment. We will all look at what this means and whether we think it is likely to make any difference. It is very rare for the Supreme Court to give an opportunity to revisit an argument. The last time I remember it was in the Pinochet case. But certainly one will have a look at this. But, it is — the sense one is getting is that even in this court, there was argument as to whether this is an acceptable thing within the common law tradition that you just hand somebody over on the say so over prosecutor, and there was definite unease in two of the judges. The sole woman we have and another judge both took a different position and therefore didn't go along with the majority. So there's serious argument that there should be on this — and may actually have to be revisited by parliament in the fulness of time, but It might not be good for Assange because the decision is going to be as it stands at the moment. So, it's a matter of serious concern. I listened to Glenn talking about the implications of this if he's returned to Sweden. Glenn Greenwald is right. Sweden does not let people out on bail. It is very, very rare that they would allow anybody, particularly someone who is a foreign national, to be in any position other than in custody and in secure custody. So, it means that he will be returning there, and even if a decision is made which is favorable to Assange in Sweden, one just wonders if he's going to be slapped with a warrant from the United States wanting him to be extradited to the U.S. And that has to be a matter of concern for us and for those who are advising him legally. If the legal team has to seek recourse with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which is apparently the last court of appeal, what is the likely outcome of that? Is it possible that the European Court could stay his extradition? You have to understand that the European Court isn't quite like a last court of appeal. It is an avenue that is open. If it's an issue which the European Court would think was a matter that needed to be resolved because it had implications for lots of other countries. It is very rare for a case like this on this kind of point to go to European court. But, obviously, we will take a look at that and we will put that argument in writing to the European court, and they can either say yea or nay and that will determine whether there is any further avenue left to us. So we're getting to the situation where there's going to be — the options are narrowing by the day, and so I think that we will probably have to make decisions over the next 48 hours as to what happens next. Finally, Helena Kennedy, you said you spoke to Julian Assange. He is caught in traffic. Usually does make a statement after a decision is handed down. What was his response to the high court ruling that he should be extradited to Sweden? Well, in many ways, Julian of course is skeptical about any kind of judicial decision making in this field, and he's very aware that Britain, of course, is part of Europe and has made agreements and has found a sort of modalities and arrangements for our different systems to work together. So there is a general unwillingness not to respond to a call from another country for somebody to be taken there on a warrant. So, it is right that this has political — with a small p — implications, if not even with a big P. But, I think that he was actually heartened that there was so much argument, clearly, between the judges and that two of the judges came to the view that this was not right that a prosecutor could call for somebody to be just handed over for questioning. And was also heartened by the fact that two of the judges who remained, who went along with the judgement, still had reservations about whether parliament would have agreed with this, but basically, ended up going with the majority decision on the basis it had been in practice now for a number of years and it was now inbedded. So, that is how they came to that majority opinion. So, he has been heartened by the fact that in many ways it points to just how complicated this whole issue is. Helena Kennedy, I want to thank you for being with us, joining us from Oxford, England. She is a consultant to the Assange legal team. http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-22-2012?start=2806 As NATO concludes its largest-ever summit in Chicago, Democracy Now! hosts a debate on whether the trans-Atlantic military alliance should exist at all. An attorney representing one of the activists detained on terror charges in Chicago says the group were victims of police entrapment. And Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson fights extradition from Germany to Costa Rica over decade-old charges. Plus headlines, and more.<br /> Tue, 22 May 2012 09:47:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/democracy-now-may-22-2012 NATO summit, NATO, Chicago, Afghanistan War, Barack Obama, ISAF, Afghanistan, Afghan National Army, Pakistan, United States Captain Paul Watson, founder of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, has been released on bail in Germany following his arrest for possible extradition to Costa Rica on decade-old charges stemming from a confrontation with shark fin poachers. Sea Shepherd continues to maintain that Watson's arrest was politically motivated and is calling on its supporters to come together in a day of action on Wednesday when the Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla visits Germany. Watson joins us from Frankfurt. “We've never injured anybody,” Watson says. “The most powerful weapon in the world as far as I'm concerned is the camera, so we go into battle armed with cameras...Right now 19 million sharks a year are being destroyed to feed the shark fin industry in Asia. And that means the fins are cut off of these animals and they're thrown back into the ocean, and this is what we filmed off of Guatemala and this is what we intervened against — a highly illegal operation.” http://news.linktv.org/videos/mosaic-news-041312?start=33 <p>Pakistan demands immediate end to US drone strikes, thousands of Egyptians rally against Mubarak-era candidates, opposition tests Syria's ceasefire with peaceful protests, and more.</p> Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/mosaic-news-041312 Friday prayers, Nuclear program of Iran, Pakistan, Iran, P5+1, Israel, Saif al-Islam, Drone attacks in Pakistan, Mohammed VI of Morocco, 2011-2012 Jordanian Protests Presenter, Male #1 International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo sent the court's judges a letter asking to refer Libya to the UN Security Council over its failure to extradite Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi. In addition, Ocampo asked the ICC judges to reject an appeal filed by Libya requesting more time to transfer Saif-al Islam to the Netherlands. Libya wants to try Saif al-Islam on its territory rather than extradite him to the ICC. An arrest warrant was issued against him last June over his involvement in the murder of protestors during the uprising that toppled his father, Muammar al-Gaddafi. http://news.linktv.org/videos/mladic-extradition-appeal-rejected-hague-transfer-imminent?start=0 Serbia's war crimes court has rejected Ratko Mladic's appeal against extradition to The Hague to face genocide charges for the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys. Tue, 31 May 2011 09:10:00 -0700 http://news.linktv.org/videos/mladic-extradition-appeal-rejected-hague-transfer-imminent Ratko Mladić, War Crime, Serbia, Appeal, Extradition, The Hague, Siege of Sarajevo, Srebrenica, Muslim, Belgrade Serbia's war crimes court has rejected Ratko Mladic's appeal against extradition to The Hague to face genocide charges. The court in Belgrade took just a few hours to reach a decision after receiving the appeal documents earlier today. The Hague tribunal has indicted Mladic for genocide in the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the massacre of 8,00 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995. Serbia's Chief War Crimes Prosecutor, Vladimir Vukcevic, announced the decision: "the appeal has been rejected and the extradition can go ahead."