Assange - Sweden's Guarantees.

Time for clarity

Ed Geraghty made the following statement regarding the developments surrounding Julian Assange's ongoing fight to avoid his surrender by the UK to Sweden:

"The current situation regarding Julian Assange in the UK seems to have reached a very strange stalemate. We are in a position where none of the parties involved, including Ecuador and the UK, appear to be willing to back down. The UK is still very much focused on honouring its obligations to Sweden whilst apparently not working hard enough to find avenues that might defuse the situation. It is beyond incomprehensible that between the UK, Sweden, Ecuador, Australia and the US no one has found a reasonable way to deal with the allegations that Julian Assange faces; choosing instead to bog themselves down in games of political brinkmanship."

"The allegations against Assange need to be taken seriously and recent comments made by Respect MP George Galloway, making light of them were at best unhelpful. Of course, the situation needs to be looked at in the context of Wikileaks and the US' intentions, however, these allegations need to be dealt with. If anything, the failure of Sweden, the UK and the US to deal with the wider implications of this case, whether intentionally or otherwise, are making it impossible for these allegations to be dealt with."

"Statements from Sweden today suggest that they may be working toward finding a solution to the deadlock, but so far the assurances that we have seen have been lacking and likely will not satisfy Assange's supporters. Stronger assurances from Sweden are required to resolve what has become an increasingly messy situation."

"The only certainty is that the saga unfurling at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London will only distract the world from the work of Wikileaks and other organisations. Intentional or otherwise, the end result is bad for all of us. Perhaps it is time to focus again on exposing governments rather than on a single individual."

Ed Geraghty
Foreign Policy Spokesperson
Pirate Party UK
@tuoniPPUK

campaigns@pirateparty.org.uk

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