Britain to invade Ecuador?

[Yurtles]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/world ... &ref=world

So Ecuador announced they're going to give Julian Assange asylum and then Britain sent Ecuador a letter basically telling them that if they don't give up Julian they're going to come in and get him. All because the police want him to answer some questions. In Sweden.

Right now there's a couple van-loads of police hanging around the embassy and some policemen inside doing something. Probably at this stage asking really nicely if Julian would like to come outside because it's such a nice day.

"Disproportionate" is the word that comes to mind.

[Dean]

The topic is mildly misleading IMO

I very much doubt tacit consent was given for the embassy search, but I can't really see what other options they had.

My knowledge of the legislation used to enter the embassy is limited to what I've read in the media. Having said that, the search doesn't really seem to match the spirit of the legislation.

Edit : my post may have been premature!

[Ralph Wiggum]

I really can't foresee Britain raiding the Ecuadorian embassy...the fallout would be waayy to big and Assange isn't worth the international fallout which would follow. Withdrawing the embassy's diplomatic status is more likely though I also see that unlikely. Easiest way to grab him would be if and when he is enroute to the airport. Even diplomats have to go through customs so he is either trapped like a rat or they would have to sneak him out.

[FryzieDelta]

They should just go in and take him. It's only Ecuador, what are they gonna do about it

Wasn't he going to give some speach outside the embassy today? The could just grab him then.

[skitzor]

They should just go in and take him. It's only Ecuador, what are they gonna do about it

nothing, but the international community wouldn't be too happy. russia have already weighed in and basically told britain to be careful about what it does.

[Nekosan]

They should just go in and take him. It's only Ecuador, what are they gonna do about it

Wasn't he going to give some speach outside the embassy today? The could just grab him then.

He was on a balcony.

Breach sovereign territory of another country like that to abduct someone in their care and you open your own embassies up to the same treatment by other foreign powers, any country could then enter Britain's embassies to recapture sheltered dissidents etc and they couldn't say a damn thing.

[diamondd]

its such a ridiculous situation, he obviously needs to go to Sweden to face those charges but personally I'm happy for him to stay at the Ecuadorian embassy so the stupid fcuking American's don't get him.

[Capt.no0b]

It looks like he's going to be there for a while, unless he wants to tunnel out..

[MaddMoose]

Good work on falling for Ecuadoran propaganda. The UK never said that, it was merely stayed that they could remove diplomatic rights to the embassy but have no intention of doing so. It was the Ecuadorians that made up the story about the raid.

[Kremmen]

I don't think Sweden are really look at prosecuting him, Ecuador offered the Swedish police to come in and question in the embassy, they also offered to set up something like a web cam to ask questions, both offers where declined.

Cant recall correctly which article I read for that information, I will look for a source however

[FryzieDelta]

russia have already weighed in and basically told britain to be careful about what it does.

Russia is a dick. So are China and America, but I'm pissed off at Russia this week. They couldn't do much about Britain going into an embassy in their own country anyway beyond frowning heavily at them.

[Mekon]

Good work on falling for Ecuadoran propaganda. The UK never said that, it was merely stayed that they could remove diplomatic rights to the embassy but have no intention of doing so. It was the Ecuadorians that made up the story about the raid.

Um, dude... you might want to think about whose propaganda you're prepared to believe.

Ecuador released the letter which was sent to them from British Foreign Office (via an embassy official in Quito). It read, verbatim:

You need to be aware that there is a legal base in the UK, the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987, that would allow us to take actions in order to arrest Mr Assange in the current premises of the Embassy.

We sincerely hope that we do not reach that point, but if you are not capable of resolving this matter of Mr Assange's presence in your premises, this is an open option for us.

(...)

We need to reiterate that we consider the continued use of the diplomatic premises in this way incompatible with the Vienna Convention and unsustainable and we have made clear the serious implications that this has for our diplomatic relations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... sfeed=true

If they never had any intention of following through, why make the threat in the first place? This letter was never disowned by the British, they just downplayed it:

A spokesman said Britain had merely sought to "clarify its position", according to international law.

"Throughout this process we have drawn the Ecuadoreans' attention to relevant provisions of our law – for example, the extensive human rights safeguards in our extradition procedures, or the legal status of diplomatic premises in the UK," a spokesman said.

"We are still committed to reaching a mutually acceptable solution."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/au ... ssy-asylum

For what it's worth, the British don't actually officially recognise diplomatic asylum (in fact, it's not even considered a part of International Law), it's more prevalent in South America... although the USA has played with the concept at times.

[skitzor]

Russia is a dick. So are China and America, but I'm pissed off at Russia this week. They couldn't do much about Britain going into an embassy in their own country anyway beyond frowning heavily at them.

or they could just decide that because Britain don't follow the rules, they don't need to either. chances are Russia will, at some point, want someone in a British embassy.

the only reason countries like Britain and America can break rules they expect everyone else to follow is because they are international powers. Russia doesn't have a power problem.

its such a ridiculous situation, he obviously needs to go to Sweden to face those charges but personally I'm happy for him to stay at the Ecuadorian embassy so the stupid fcuking American's don't get him.

I think the issue is that most people don't really see this as being about the charges in Sweden. I remember hearing about something relatively official that hinted at the same thing.

[diamondd]

its such a ridiculous situation, he obviously needs to go to Sweden to face those charges but personally I'm happy for him to stay at the Ecuadorian embassy so the stupid fcuking American's don't get him.

I think the issue is that most people don't really see this as being about the charges in Sweden. I remember hearing about something relatively official that hinted at the same thing.

yeah that's my point, the only reason "they" want him out of the Ecuadorian embassy is so that the US can eventually get their hands on him and burn him at the stake. For the UK to be acting so ridiculously they must (IMO) have a big made in America rod up their arse.

what I was trying to say is that while its unfortunate he's "getting out of" facing charges in Sweden, which I believe he definitely should have to answer to, for the time being its better than being extradited to the United States for unjust reasons.

[Kremmen]

Found that link I was after

Ecuador's foreign minister says he has been told unofficially that Swedish officials have not accepted his country's offer to let them question WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at Ecuador's embassy in London.
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino says in a statement released Wednesday that Sweden declined the offer to question Assange in person or via video conference.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-08-01/assange-wikileaks-ecuador/56669276/1

Just to show honesty and fairness

Murder Suspect questioned in Serbia

Vaksalagatan. Swedish police and prosecutors are now questioning the 21-year-old man from Uppsala, which is being held in Belgrade on suspicion of murdering a 26-year-old in an apartment on Vaksalagatan Christmas.

http://www.reddit.com/r/WikiLeaks/comments/ygngg/swedish_police_and_prosecutors_traveled_to/

Sweden to Serbia 2,627.4 km
Sweden to London 1,999.5 km