Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by vkou 1504 days ago
I'm sorry, being put on trial is a violation of your human rights?

This is exactly what I'm talking about. Everyone else has to deal with the consequences of their actions, but when the same rules are applied to Assange, it is somehow a cruel and unusual outrage, and he is a saint that we've already determined could have done no wrong.
2 comments
Sporktacular 1504 days ago
Journalists with sources that leak classified information are not unusual and they almost never go to jail for it or get hounded for it to this extent.

If the same rules were, as you say, being applied to Assange, he would have been freed a long time ago.

Hard to see where you're coming from. Trials aren't the only stage at which accused people can be released.

link
vkou 1504 days ago
He's not indicted for broadcasting classified information, he's indicted for hacking. For helping get access to classified information.

It's the difference between a journalist spending a week in the jungle with a group of partisans, and a journalist spending a week in the jungle shooting guns at convoys and blowing up rail lines with a group of partisans. The former's a journalist, the latter's a guerrilla.

If the allegations are correct, Assange is closer to the latter. If they aren't, he's closer to the former. Right now, he's doing his best to make sure we'll never know, because the latter carries serious consequences.

link
Sporktacular 1502 days ago
Wrong. Counts 9 to 17 of his indictment are for "Disclosure of Nation Defense Information". He IS indicted for broadcasting classified information.

There is also 1 count of "Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusion" which is minor compared to the 17 other indictments. It related to him trying to crack offline a password hash to let Manning log in as a different user. Which is assisting someone who does the actual collection of information.

The remaining indictments are for "Conspiracy to Receive" NDI or for obtaining it.

In other words he was embedded with the partisans and when asked to pass a box of ammo, did so. The hacking count can lead to 5 years in prison with possible parole. It's a tortured interpretation to suggest he hacked/blew up rail lines.

The rest, the REAL reason to pursue someone internationally for a decade for extraterritorial acts is for his journalistic function. To make an example. Otherwise this case would have been dropped.

https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Assa...

Have you watched Collateral Murder? To see that and think justice would be served by burying it would be like watching The Running Man and rooting for the game show host. Again, hard to understand where you're coming from.

link
dijit 1503 days ago
> being put on trial is a violation of your human rights?

Oh, certainly not. A fair trial, however, is probably impossible.

However, what I usually comment on is that there is a large enough corpus of evidence to indicate that he's being tortured.

Regardless of everything else I believe about the case: his human rights are certainly being suspended for now; if I ever talk about that then people are quick to point out that he assisted in the rise to power of Trump; as if that invalidates his human rights.

Regardless of what you believe (IE: I'm not happy about Trump either) you shouldn't be so quick to repeal peoples rights, and that's what people are doing, and that's what I'm commenting on.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160861/torturi...

I could go on-and-on about how he was hounded and character assassinated, but you wouldn't believe me because thats the very nature of character assassination.

I would like him to stand trial, but I suspect it cannot be a fair trial. Sham trials are very common, I wouldn't consider them to be an indicator that your human rights are not being eroded.

If you're interested in learning more about "unfair"/human rights abusing/unjust trials; Amnesty international has a few: https://www.amnesty.org/en/topic/unfair-trials/

link