UnNews:Assange consented to be extradited, says British Home Secretary

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10 September 2012

Theresa May squares off with guards while holed up in 10 Downing Street.

LONDON, Great Britain - Striking back against charges of kidnapping filed by Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange after his surprise overnight extradition to Sweden last month, British Home Secretary Theresa May took part a series of interviews today denying Assange's claims and stating that he consented to be extradited.

"I find it regrettable that what was a friendly and mutually agreed to extradition is now being twisted and used to smear my character," said May in an interview with Sky News. "He had already had relations with our legal system a number of times before this event, without complaint. Julian had no accusations and no one had any intention of going to the police and so forth. That's how I expected things to remain until I heard the news in the Telegraph."

According to a leaked transcript of Assange's statement to the police, he had on repeated occasions insisted to the British government that he only consented to be extradited to Sweden under very specific conditions, and had been frustrated by the British government's reluctance to agree to them. He argues that he went to sleep in the Ecuadorian embassy, only to wake up being handcuffed and bundled off to Sweden against his will.

May's legal defense team strongly disputes this allegation, arguing that Assange was only "half-asleep" during the raid, wherein they say he consented to be extradited. They point out that he did not fight the armed guards taking him to Sweden (stating only, "You better not take me to America") and even said goodbye to the British forces as they left him in Swedish custody. The notion that Assange was in shock and still trying to come to terms with what happened after the event was dismissed as ridiculous. They also pointed out that the United Kingdom has made enemies in its time on the international stage and that the timing of Assange's statements is more than suspicious.

"The honey trap has been sprung - dark forces are clearly at work here," suggested Lord High Chancellor Kenneth Clarke. "Iran has made no secret of its threats against Britain - read between the lines".

Supporters of the Home Secretary were quick to dig up links between Assange and Ahmadinejad, including the warm welcome the Iranian leader received from the leader of Ecuador, a country Assange sought refuge from, as well as an al-Jazeera interview where Assange criticizes countries for walking out on an Ahmadinejad speech. A website titled "justice4may.org" sprang up practically overnight to push the claim that Assange is a secret Iranian agent as well as to prove that he is lying about what happened and that the real plot is to punish the UK for its legal actions against Iran.

The transcript of Assange's allegations additionally claims major violations of law short of kidnapping, including a swat officer pinning down an Ecuadorian guard so he couldn't move while another pried open the front door against the resistance of the embassy staff; continually trying to enter the building against the will of the ambassador; and an incident involving the breaking down of the door to Assange's room. While Assange alleges that this was done deliberately, May's attorneys argue that the swat team doesn't remember a broken door, that if there even was a broken door it was simply broken due to it being defective, and furthermore that the evidence offered by Assange makes it "obvious" that Assange knocked down the door himself to try to frame them.

While Assange himself has remained largely silent on the issue, the Home Secretary's supporters in the UK have been quite vocal in their defense of her and their attacks on Assange.

Assange (middle), seen here smiling with Swedish guards, is evidenced as proof that he consented to be extradited.

"What the UK is accused of is only bad police etiquette," said Welsh MP Peter Hain. "He claims that he woke up to the British cuffing him. This is something which can happen, you know... when you interact with the legal system of a country, make it clear that you're willing to leave for Sweden under some set of terms, then fall asleep, you're already in the deported-to-Sweden game with them." He added, "I mean, not everyone needs to be asked prior to each deportation."

Meanwhile, a loose-knit group of British hackers known as "The Nameless Blokes" has stepped up its online assaults on the websites of Assange and his friends. Asked for comment, TNB member "VirginCola" stated that the denial of service attacks and hacking will continue until freedom of speech and the rule of law are restored.

While the International Court of Justice is seeking to take May into custody in The Hague for questioning, a new complication has arisen. Arguing that the ICJ move was simply a plot by Iran to get her into Iranian custody (a claim widely believed by her supporters), last week May sought and was granted asylum from the British government on human rights grounds.

"What May is charged of would not be illegal deportation in 90 to 95 percent of the planet," said UK Prime Minister David Cameron. He joined May's attorneys in hailing a recently leaked photo of Assange smiling while in custody as irrefutable proof that he consented to the extradition.

"People need to stop making a big deal out of this," he added. "It's not like she's accused of raping someone or anything."