The Same Day Russia Sentences Pussy Riot, It Condemns The UK Over Julian Assange
from the there-is-no-consistency-in-national-politics dept
Someone suggested to me recently that Pussy Riot is to Russia what Julian Assange is to the US. The parallels are not exact — especially given the accusations that were leveled in Sweden against Assange are not, on their face, political (and those who insist they know what happened between Assange and the two accusers should admit they have no idea what really happened, because only those three individuals truly do). That said, it does seem clear that there is a separate factor at work in the Assange mess, and it involves significant political pressure from the US, who it has been claimed have a sealed indictment ready for Assange, who for a variety of reasons they feel will be easier to get from the Swedes than the Brits.
So it seems positively bizarre that on the very same day that Pussy Riot was sentenced to jail, Russia warned the UK against “violating fundamental diplomatic principles” in its pursuit of Assange to ship him off to Sweden. Honestly, if you had to pick one of those two cases to be sympathetic to, it seems that the Pussy Riot case is a much more clear-cut one of absolutely egregious behavior on the part of a prosecution. For Russia to complain about the treatment of Assange — on the very day that Pussy Riot was found guilty and sentenced — seems especially rich.
Both cases may involve significant levels of political tinkering against those who have embarrassed certain governments, but it’s also pretty clearly taken away any moral high ground for the countries involved in speaking out against one another.
Filed Under: diplomacy, extradition, free speech, julian assange, pussy riot, russia, uk, us
Comments on “The Same Day Russia Sentences Pussy Riot, It Condemns The UK Over Julian Assange”
Hypocrocisy does not acknowledge lines on the map – it goes where it is needed the most!
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That.
For Russia to complain about the treatment of Assange — on the very day that Pussy Riot was found guilty and sentenced — seems especially rich.
It’s not rich, it’s both a bitter irony and a sad case of hypocrisy.
That said, it does seem clear that there is a separate factor at work in the Assange mess, and it involves significant political pressure from the US, who it has been claimed have a sealed indictment ready for Assange, who for a variety of reasons they feel will be easier to get from the Swedes than the Brits.
Wow, you cite Julian Assange’s website Wikileaks as the authoritative source for there being “secret” indictment against…….. Assange. That’s a new low for your already low standards of objectivity and bias.
So at least we agree on the goofy Russian reaction to Assange while they’re packing away the Pussy Riot girls for two years. Why don’t you call your friend Alyona at Russia Today and discuss the matter? Is it because you only appear on Russian television when you have the opportunity to criticize your own government?
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*If not, * is it because…
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Wow, you cite Julian Assange’s website Wikileaks as the authoritative source for there being “secret” indictment against…….. Assange.
Flash news: Wikileaks is specialized in leaking documents. And the document is supposedly sealed. So… Your point?
And it’s quite good Mike criticizes his own country. It’s by far much more honest and fair since he is inside his country and thus has more tools and knowledge to criticize it. If you had gotten angry over him criticizing other countries you’d sound less of a troll.
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“Wow, you cite Julian Assange’s website Wikileaks as the authoritative source for there being “secret” indictment against…….. Assange.”
Flash news: Wikileaks is specialized in leaking documents. And the document is supposedly sealed. So… Your point?
My point is that it is probably totally made up by Assange to cite as a reason for Ecuadorian asylum.
Anytime the primary beneficiary of “inside” information is also the sole source of that information, it is suspect beyond belief.
And it’s quite good Mike criticizes his own country. It’s by far much more honest and fair since he is inside his country and thus has more tools and knowledge to criticize it. If you had gotten angry over him criticizing other countries you’d sound less of a troll.
Your man crush is showing.
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Everything so far that Wikileaks has published has been shown to be true, apart from (according to you) this one document that they just made up…
Hmm, who to believe…
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Everything Wikileaks has published has been shown to be true….
That statement is bullshit on its face. No complete analysis has been done. You’ve been outted Sir Lie-a-lot
Re: Re: Re:3 Re:
Fair enough, how about nothing so far that Wikileaks has published has been shown to be false? Will you blame “no complete analysis” for that too?
Re: Re: Re:3 Re:
In that case, why are the US panties in such a twist about Wikileaks? Couldn’t they just claim “It’s all a lie”? No? Then that implies a fair amount of truth (in other words, at least as much as you’ll find on a news site).
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My point is that it is probably totally made up by Assange to cite as a reason for Ecuadorian asylum.
Really, so you have reliable sources that confirm the documents are made up. And we should also believe that the pressure the US is putting on the UK is just because Assange has a weird haircut. Amirite mr Troll?
Your man crush is showing.
Mine? Or yours? 😉
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I’d like a double mancrush, go easy on the man!
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Yes, I have conclusive evidence. I am in possession of a confidential memo from Eric Holder stating that Assange fabricated the e-mail in question and that the U.S. will not prosecute him.
There, that seems to meet the requisite standard of evidence for Techdirtbag Nation.
Re: Re: Re:3 Re:
“There, that seems to meet the requisite standard of evidence for Techdirtbag Nation.”
No, a link to falsifiable proof would be the minimum standard, or at least a report from a reliable source who doesn’t post bullshit anonymously. You people never supply anything of the sort though, just uncited opinion masquerading as “truth”.
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The cool thing about the basis for our government is the very ability to be able to criticize our government. If you prefer a dictator, there are still one or two places you could move to…
The same day Ecuador cheers free speech, it prepares to extradite a blogger it offered asylum in 2008.
Hypocrisy and politics are not separably.
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“Separable.” Damn spell checker!
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My first reaction to Ecuador offering political asylum was to think Ecuador isn’t the best example of freedom of speech. Thanks for this info!
Let us see how things progress.
They're more worried about their own embassy
I would imagine that Russia’s true concern is with the idea of the UK authorities performing police actions inside a foreign embassy.
Re: They're more worried about their own embassy
Russia has just performed police actions inside a Turkish embassy, so why is there a concern?
Re: Re: They're more worried about their own embassy
Do as I say, not as I do.
Re: Re: They're more worried about their own embassy
AND AND AND…… what happened ?
did you forget ?
SOURCE: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/18/world/europe/russian-police-chase-pussy-riot-protester-into-turkish-space.html
The Moscow courthouse where the three women were convicted and sentenced to two years in a penal colony is just down the street from the Turkish Embassy. As protesters seethed outside the courthouse, Tatyana Romanova, a self-professed civil activist wearing a pink balaclava, scaled a lamppost used to mount security cameras and began waving a poster and calling for the release of the band members.
Riot police officers began to shinny up the pole after her, but to the crowd?s delight ? and cheers ? Ms. Romanova leapt away, grabbing a chain-link fence and climbing, almost like Spider-Man, several feet into what might best be described as Turkish airspace.
Undeterred, the police officers clambered after her and forced her down. But when everyone?s feet were back on the ground, Ms. Romanova and the Russian officers were on the embassy?s property ? Turkish territory. Embassy officials told the police officers that they had crossed out of their jurisdiction, and the officers were promptly asked to leave.
In a telephone interview, Ms. Romanova said that a woman identifying herself as an embassy official told the police to go, then took her inside, gave her a glass of water, and told her that she supported the protesters.
The Turkish Embassy could not be reached for comment on Friday evening.
After about 10 minutes, Ms. Romanova said, the official instructed her to leave the embassy quietly and ?blend in the with the crowd.? But upon exiting the building she was immediately apprehended and bundled into a police van.
Dozens of supporters awaited Ms. Romanova?s release from a central Moscow jail late Friday night. She was charged with resisting arrest and faces up to 15 days in prison.
Think you may have heard a twisted story about it.
Re: Re: Re: They're more worried about their own embassy
Hm… how is this different from what I wrote? They knowingly crossed the border and were performing the chase, which is, technically, is a perfectly legit police function.
Re: Re: Re:2 They're more worried about their own embassy
It’s not a perfectly legit police function if the police cannot legally enter AT ANY TIME WHATSOEVER the consular/embassy grounds without appropriate warrant AND permission from the consular general of said diplomatic area.
The police in the Russia/Turkish situation unknowingly entered the restricted zone and were subsequently told to leave which they did.
The UK on the other hand has stated that they can with intent and foreknowledge enter ANY consular/embassy grounds whether the sovereign state approves it or not.
Interestingly as a side note as soon as the UK enact this egregiously undiplomatic law the consul/embassy is declared void and all diplomats housed within are declared persona non gratis which means they have to leave the country post haste, though they can NOT be interfered with whilst leaving the country.
It will make me laugh if Assange is actually declared a Diplomat since then they would have to allow him to leave too. Oh and some wags have stated that only the UK can declare him to be an approved diplomat, this is true except. If another country approves him for diplomatic status (ie: Brazil, Argentina -just to piss the British govt off) then he is classified under diplomatic treaties to be inviolate as well and can and must freely between both countries (ie: Ecuador.. which is the Consular in Britian and say Argentina). Convoluted? yes… ethical? maybe.. the stuff of spy novels and thrillers yet to be. absolutely 😉
“the Pussy Riot case is a much more clear-cut one of absolutely egregious behavior on the part of a prosecution”
This is true. Damn church leaders should just shut up and let every group with a gripe use their facilities to bitch and moan, disrupting their services, because, well, it’s somehow good.
Now I understand why you seem to like piracy, because you even get the simple stories back-assward.
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The problem with the prosecution of that case is not that it’s somehow okay for punks to get into church and go all creative, it’s that how this specific case was blown out of proportion by the court system which used religious norms of 14th century (read the case materials, really) to prosecute behavior in 21st. On top of that a mostly secular country (at least I thought it was before this case) has allowed one particular religion to drive a civil case (it isn’t even criminal offense) into what amounts to inquisition at its worst.
Of course, if you are simply trolling for comments, you should ignore all of the above and just keep trolling 🙂
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The cult in question is Pro-Putin.
Pussy Riot made a political statement against Putin.
Fuck all to do with the cult really.
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Hey, it could have been worse. They could have all ended up dead from eating “bad food” or their plane could have “crashed”.
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The Russian legal system sucks, but let’s be honest – using 21st century rules, it’s still sacrilegious to do what they did, plain and simple. It’s an affront to any church goer, it disturbs the peace and sanctity of the church, it’s just plain wrong.
They doubled down by using that horrid act to razz Putin. That may be popular with some, but it’s a sure way to get yourself some truly unwanted attention. Combine an illegal act with this sort of snub, and well, 2 years in jail seems short.
They made some classical errors.
Is the Russian court system to blame? Probably in part. But they needed a bad act to work from, and the band seems proud to have given it to them.
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Where I live, we vote in churches, why can’t we protest in them as well?
the majority of governments today, even those in so called first world, democratic countries, are doing more and more to restrict everything that the people can do and say, whilst increasing the powers to invade the privacy of the people. there seems to be no such thing any more as ‘a decent place to live’, just some places are slightly less restrictive and frightening than others. this has been instigated by the US and they have spread their fears and ‘way of life’ by whatever means they can (threats etc) to as many countries as possible. ironic really when Burma, after having such harsh restrictions for so long is now lifting them. strange how we are going down the road they are trying to get off of!
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Someday those in charge will get exactly what is coming to them.
Corporatarialism
I have a rather clumsy cartoon about the events of last week.
No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
Both are equally guilty of suppressing and controlling the people they claim to represent.
ANY negative publicity on the ruling oligarchy will be destroyed via defamation.
Anyone speaking a truth, that the ruling class don’t want to be spoken, will be jailed.
Has anyone seen the “”news”” coverage of Assange’s press conference ?
What a shambles of, defamation of character and lies… unbelievable, anything but news.
▣ They don’t mention that Assange said he WOULD GO to Sweden IF they told him he would not be extradited to the U.S.A.
▣ Nothing said about the fact that the U.K or Sweden would NOT assure that Assange will not be extradited to the U.S.A.
▣ Skim over and use misleading language to hide the fact that the Swedish authorities ONLY want to question Assange about allegations.
▣ Not a whisper about why the Swedish prosecutor/judge won’t question Assange in the U.K.
What they talk about is… irrelevant shit that no one cares about.
omfg… they were criticizing his hair cut.
Re: No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
Skim over and use misleading language to hide the fact that the Swedish authorities ONLY want to question Assange about allegations.
There’s a European arrest warrant out on him for rape and other crimes. Sweden is the ones who sought it.
Re: Re: No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
Yep, and he’s precisely running from that political persecution. And as far as I know they want to QUESTION him regarding the accusations, something he agreed to do from the UK and Sweden has refused. So.. your point?
Re: Re: Re: No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
Point is that is an a-r-r-e-s-t warrant.
Re: Re: No Assange fan BUT.......
Not been charged for any offense.
European arrest warrant. ( for questioning about allegations ) same controversial warrant that MP’s want abolished.
Fair enough…(under law) If there is proof he is guilty, lock him up.
Assure him that he will not be extradited to USA from Sweden.
Simple really. (hasn’t happened, won’t happen, cant happen)
also…..
Like the alleged sexual offenses are not suspiciously timed or anything.
a case that had been dropped due to lack of evidence before being re-opened by the Swedish Director of Prosecution.
Or that the US don’t want him and have never used sexual smears in the past.
Re: Re: No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
Julian Assange remains UNCHARGED with any crime beyond breaking his bail conditions when he entered the Ecuador Embassy seeking asylum.
You had best read up to get your facts straight…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assange_v_Swedish_Prosecution_Authority
“On 18 November 2010, prosecutor Marianne Ny asked the local district court for a warrant for the arrest of Assange in order for him to be interviewed by the prosecutor”
“Assange has not yet been formally charged with any offence; the prosecutor said that, in accordance with the Swedish legal system, formal charges will be laid only after extradition and a second round of questioning.”
Re: Re: No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
First off, the rape is alleged: the Swedish justice system always holds people in custody for a pre-prosecution interview.
Secondly, the EAW is solely for the sex crimes.
Thirdly, I’m certain that Assange should be jailed for contempt of court (for breaching bail conditions).
Fourthly, it is as this point that the pre-prosecution interview can easily be conducted via video-conference and recorded as evidence for both sides.
Finally, hypocrisy isn’t just the sole province of governments. I’m fairly sure that Assange is a hypocrite in the area of free information.
Re: No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
“They don’t mention that Assange said he WOULD GO to Sweden IF they told him he would not be extradited to the U.S.A.”
Assange was willing to go only if they would suspend a fair bit of Swedish law, and all the treaties, agreements, and such they have signed since being a nation.
He would return only if they would basically agree to ignore what they have signed up to accept.
Further, it’s a bit of a misdirection here. The US could easily indict and extradite him from the UK. The “going to Sweden puts him at risk” argument is weak. He is at risk in any country with an extradition treaty with the US.
Assange is playing a bit of the boogieman card here. He’s acting like he is worried about something that hasn’t yet happened, and could happen almost anywhere, and using that as an excuse for possibly being a sexual delinquent.
Re: Re: No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
“and using that as an excuse for possibly being a sexual delinquent.”
Ah yes, sex without a condom makes one a sexual delinquent.
Show of hands for anyone here who has ever had sexual relations without proper use of a condom?
[raises hand] Oh snap, I’m a sexual delinquent.
Re: Re: Re: No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
In Sweden, it comes under sexual asaault law, but it is not considered rape, legally speaking.
The reason for the aforementioned pre-prosecution interview is to ascertain what actually went on. It’s actually a really interesting case, revolving around the use of a condom – e.g. if both consented, provided a condom was used, and Assange then took the condom off and penetrated the alleger, then that’s sexual assault in Swedish terms.
Re: Re: Re:2 No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
There is also a charge of rape. Read the details of the European arrest warrant before nominating Assange as Man Of The Year.
Re: Re: Re:3 No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
I’m not. I’m saying he’s done stupid shit. But the Swedish claim is two counts of sexual assault. That’s it. That’s what this whole thing is about. Why a rape charge would be included is beyond me, and should be down tot he Swedish prosecutor after their due process is followed.
Assange should be jailed for his crimes…where they were commited. As of the present time, that’s contempt of court in the UK alone.
Re: Re: Re:4 No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
But the Swedish claim is two counts of sexual assault.
Look again. It is two counts of sexual assault, one of coercion and one of rape.
Re: Re: No wonder Old Media is dying -- lol -- will piss on their grave
The US could easily indict and extract him via the UK but they won’t because that makes it obvious thats what they wanted all along…they’ve dug themselves into a hole and can’t think of a way to get out of it and save face.
Well, Ecuador granting Asylum to him is hypocritical in the first place. Granting Asylum to Assange has nothing to do with it being the ‘right’ thing to do, and everything to do with muddying the water. It’s all about dragging the US’s name through the mud, or really, more about headlining the fact that we’re dragging our own name through the mud. This entire situation has cost us any chance of having the moral highground over anything less than genocide.
Honestly, even if there is zero truth to the US wanting to get Assange, this entire situation has done more to set back human rights than anything else I can think of. The US and UK are pretty big on enforcing human rights, or at least claim to be, but have both lost all credibility.
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I think there is proof that the U.K and U.S are not “big on human rights”. Is that not part of what Assange told the world ?
As for “” having the moral highground over anything less than genocide. “”
That’s gone too.
100,000+ dead innocent PEOPLE, from one country alone, in the last 10 years, killed by American politicians actions.
The U.S government lost credibility by their OWN ACTIONS.
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The UK isn’t big on human rights…they never explained how Dr. David Kelly blew the whistle on the “sexed up” documents that brought the UK into the war with Iraq, but he “somehow” managed to siphon off 6 pints of his own blood, hide it, then wander many miles from home before deciding to just spontaneously die in the corner of a field the farmer was leaving fallow for a few years.
THEN he managed to take an overdose of various pills AFTER he was dead (second autopsy shows the pills were taken post-mortem)
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They also never explained how 4 young soldiers in the Coldstream guards, decided to commit suicide by shooting themselves in the BACK of the head with a rifle (contortionists?) then after blowing the back of their own heads off, cleaned the rifles and put them away again.
Russia, US and China bickering about who is the bad guy LoL
ps: I am talking about the governments.
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I know, it’s hilarious watching everyone finger each other in Bad Guy Roulette!
Political corruption
There are several questions that are quite concerning in this Julian Assange case.
1. When have we EVER heard extradition being used for simple questioning? Clearly extradition should only be used for serious crimes when look at the huge resources wasted here just to ask him some bloody questions.
2. For this reason EU law allows people the option to be remotely questioned. So then why is it that the Swedish authority has constantly denied remote questioning and even refuse to offer an explanation why?
3. If the Swedish authority is wanting answers to questions, the very nature of the arrest warrant, then why do they constantly refuse to ask Mr Assange these questions? It would be logical from the answers given if there is a case for him to answer to or if it should be dropped. Then at least they could issue an arrest warrant for an actual crime.
4. Due to valid concerns about Julian’s extradition to the United States for this journalist and publisher to be falsely charged under Espionage Law (and like Bradley Manning to be kept in isolation 23 hours a day for over a year and stripped naked in front of others) then why does the Swedish Authority constantly refuse to offer any reassurance that Julian Assange would not be subject to secondary extradition? One promise and Ecuador would allow his extradition.
5. Why does the United States have an indictment already prepared to change Julian and why does the FBI keep a 42,135 page file on him? These are known and provable facts.
These seems only one answer here. The only missing piece is that in the UK Julian cannot be extradited to the USA for Wikileaks releasing the US Diplomatic cables but in Sweden they can.
Then we need to ask what is the role of the two women involved in this?
Well thanks to Wikileaks we now know about the secret War the US was having, how there was state sponsored human rights abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how Obama has directly blocked the former Bush administration being investigated and charged with War Crimes.
Re: Political corruption
“” in the UK Julian cannot be extradited to the USA for Wikileaks releasing the US Diplomatic cables but in Sweden they can””
Because of... vio.....
Australia is part of the Commonwealth.
Re: Political corruption
“The only missing piece is that in the UK Julian cannot be extradited to the USA for Wikileaks releasing the US Diplomatic cables but in Sweden they can.”
I have no idea how you arrived at that conclusion. Would you care to elaborate?
The only notable difference in the cases is that Assange, by the extension of Wikileaks, is providing a shortcut to confidential US files. Something that the Russians have always liked.
I suspect that the whole Pussy Riot thing is a minor event in Russia, given that Putin has been accused of:
Financing the radation poisoning of people in the UK
Murder of journalists such as Anna Politkovskaya
Assassination of Olaf Palme (Swedish Prime Minister)
Assasination of President of Chechnya Akhmad Kadyrov
As well as continuing information that ‘Putin’s Palace’ has been used to hold Putin’s enemies for torture and ‘disposal’
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It’s a massive PR disaster.
Pussy Riot is a symbol of public rage towards Putin.
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To be fair, I’ll bet Putin’s been accused of everything except:
1) Being the Doctor from Doctor Who; and
2) Being next in line for the British throne.
Why not charge Pussy Riot for trespassing? There was no destruction of property. People are offended in a public space and expect the government to step up and defend their ever-so delicate faith based sensibilities.
The Pussy Riot issue is not a diplomatic issue.
It is a Civil Rights issue.
Big Surprise /s
I’m not remotely surprised by Russia’s hypocrisy, given that they have a history of it. Stalin during WWII, anyone?
@ AdamBv1
Saw your avatar with Kyle Hyde. I LOVE those games!
@ AdamBv1
Saw your avatar with Kyle Hyde. I LOVE those games!
You’re right Jeff; a clear cut case of “do as I say, not as I do”!