kaled - 11:52 am on Dec 20, 2010 (gmt 0)

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Assange and Wikileaks typically publish evidence purported to be relevant to ongoing criminal investigations. Furthermore, in most countries, leaking such information most definitely is a criminal offence.

It said having been given access to the official papers, it had a duty to present a "brief summary" of the sex allegations against Mr Assange, together with his response.

If that's accurate it may be unprecedented. Since when are newspapers given access to "official papers" in matters such as these? I would have thought that if true, it would be grounds to throw out the extradition request on the basis of not being able to gurantee a fair trial.

That said, if I was in Assange's position, I would go back to Sweden and say, "Ok let's get on with it." Frankly it's the only way otherwise, even if he wins the extradition case in this country, it could follow him everywhere he goes. Nor would I fight an extradition to the US if one was sought - where will the government find a jury ready to convict him, answer - nowhere.

The US Government would simply end up putting a magnifying glass over their own incompetence - are they really dumb enough to do that knowing that they are almost certain to loose a) in front of a jury and b) in front of a judge by virtue of constitutional arguments related to the rights of a free press. And even if they did win, it would go to appeal and appeal and it would just never end. And then, even if the US Government won all those appeals, they would be handing a big stick to countries like China and Burma that regularly lock up their political opponents. Again, is the US Government really dumb enough to do that? If I was Assange I would say, "Go ahead, make my day."

In fact, I think I would just try entering the country. When asked what the purpose of my visit was, I would say, "To make your Government look stupid" - there's no way they would let me in so there's no way they could later make an extradition request - they really would look super-dumb!

Kaled.