Brief: The Assange Case

The plot of the Julian Assange affair is a complex one, it involves many countries and different alliances. Assange is an Australian who lives in the United Kingdom. He was the head of Wikileaks, an organisation that embarrassed many nations by releasing diplomatic cables and other sensitive information, most of the information was related to the United States which infuriated the government. Previously he was accused to sexually assaulting two women in Sweden, the charges had been dropped but since Wikileaks and Assange became famous the two women have taken them up. This has led to many people believing that they only did so under pressure from American authorities. Since Assange currently resides in London he must be extradited to Sweden so the police can question him, he has been fighting extradition for months but has been unsuccessful in doing so. Eventually he broke police bail and asked for asylum from Ecuador and took residence in their London Embassy. The primary reason that Mr Assange does not wish to go to Sweden is not because of the charges, it is because of the fear that he will then be extradited to the United States.

I find this last point the weirdest as he currently lives in America's closest ally: the United Kingdom, so why going to Sweden would put him more at risk I don't understand.

It is a very complex case as it involves five nations and four continents. Although he has been granted political asylum by Ecuador, the British government have told police that if he leaves the embassy to go to the airport that they must arrest him. The issue is not looking likely to disappear any time soon, Assange was only granted asylum last Saturday and the British government refuses to back down. No doubt Argentina will support Ecuador.