Assange

How embarrassing is it that it's Britain who eventually exercised an arrest warrant, put Julian Assange up before the beak and then banged him up for a week pending rendition extradition to Sweden? Very.

But, I have to say, it's almost as irritating that people are screaming about his being denied bail. Of course he was denied bail. Of course he was and is a flight risk. His legal team have already stated their belief that Assange's return to Sweden would inexorably lead to Assange being handed over to US authorities, and that eventuality is unlikely to be healthy for him.

Not that, at this moment, I think Mr Assange's story is going to end well in any case. I will be faintly surprised if he leaves my country alive: which is less a comment about my natural cynicism, and more a comment about the state of my country.

Charlie Stross has an excellent overview here.

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Julian Assange arrest: How the extradition process works (guardian.co.uk)
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