Democracy Now interviews Wikileaks lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, in London. Robinson notes that the issuance of a ‘red notice’ in this circumstance is highly irregular. As to US threats to charge Assange with violating the espionage act, “…WikiLeaks ought to be entitled to the First Amendment protections for free speech. And any prosecution under the Espionage Act would call into question those protections.”
Calls for his assassination “…are absolutely outrageous and, indeed, illegal. I think that the prosecuting authorities ought to consider prosecuting these individuals for incitement to violence. ”
The authorities certainly know how to contact him via his lawyers. And I must, I’m sorry, correct you, that he is not in hiding, evading any Interpol arrest warrant. He has genuine concerns for his personal safety as a result of numerous very public calls for his assassination. And he’s obviously incredibly busy with the WikiLeaks current works and the attacks on their systems. So, any suggestion that he is evading Interpol arrest warrants is incorrect.
In our view, the Interpol arrest warrant, there are serious issues with it, on the grounds of due process concerns arising in the Swedish proceedings, and also, indeed, for the need for it, given our client’s voluntary offers of cooperation that were rejected by the Swedish prosecuting authorities.
UPDATED: Julian Assange is expected to be arrested today or early next week
An extradition warrant is expected to be passed to the Metropolitan Police today or early next week.
They have apparently known for over a month where Australian-born Mr Assange, who is in hiding in south-east England, is staying.
He supplied the force with his contact details upon arrival in Britain in October, said his London-based lawyer.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1334899/Scotland-Yard-arrest-wanted-WikiLeaks-boss-today.html#ixzz17287WVNz
