THURSDAY 19 JUNE 2014
1500 HRS
EMBASSY OF SWEDEN
11 MONTAGU PLACE
LONDON
W1H 2AL
A delegation from Veterans For Peace UK visited the Swedish embassy today to voice grave concerns arising from the ongoing situation of Wikileaks Editor Mr Julian Assange.
Veterans For Peace UK recognise Wikileaks as an organisation that reveals to the public the true nature of war. Mr Assange has published the Afghan War Diaries, The Iraq War Logs, Cablegate and The Collateral Murder video. As a result of his fearless action he faces persecution from the United States of America.
To protect Mr Assange from political persecution and human rights violations Ecuador has granted Mr Assange political asylum. He has now been inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London for two years. Mr Assange cannot leave the embassy at present because he will be arrested by the Metropolitan Police and extradited to Sweden. Swedish authorities have refused to guarantee not to extradite Mr Assange to the United States of America.
We want to know why it is that the relevant Swedish authority refuses to guarantee not to extradite Mr Assange to the the United States of America where he would face political persecution and human rights violations.
We think it is unacceptable that the British public are picking up the bill to surround the Ecuadorian Embassy with police officers in order to facilitate the Swedish extradition request. It has been estimated that the cost of this operation is over £6 million and rising daily.
We propose that the relevant Swedish authority guarantees not to extradite Mr Assange to the United States of America or that the Swedish extradition demand is dropped.
In the meantime it is only right that Sweden covers the full cost of the police operation outside the Embassy of Ecuador.
We wait for a response…
Ben Griffin
Coordinator, VFP UK
Veterans For Peace UK 
Well done VFP-UK for not forgetting someone who will no doubt take his place in history along side such greats as MLK, Ghandi, Chomsky et al.
As for the convicted war criminal Tony Blair (See KLWCC findings on the ‘Bush Gang’ – “guilty of crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and genocide as a result of initiating the Iraq War in 2003, and in the course of maintaining the subsequent occupation”), every day that individual remains at large brings only shame upon the ordinary folk of this country.
Finally it is also worth remembering (Re: the Swedish situation) that the allegations against Assange were initially thrown out by the Swedish Authorities, only to be resurrected in rather suspicious circumstances. Also Assange himself has offered, on a number of occasions, to meet with Swedish Officials at neutral venue to undergo questioning.
I’d love to know a lot more about Tony Blair’s collusion with the USA.
Does anyone have a link to the video of him coming off an aircraft during a visit to the USA (?) where he looked like he had been caught lying or in flagrante delicto?
It’s nice to find that there are people who think the same way I do.
What a pity there are so few of us. We should get together and ask for criminal proceedingas against that… creature. I can’t call him a man.
I see in today’s Guardian that the cost of police siege of Assange is £6 Mn. This is ongoing, as Mr Assange is unlikely to “give himself up” at an early stage. A sheer disgrace and insult to this country that the State can find this money to accede to US pressure ( we all know that’s what it is) at a time when “we are all in this together”, “this” being the load of crap which the financial wizards of the West have put our country in.No doubt some policemen are happy enough for a cushy job at the Embassy and, perhaps overtime.However, I would suggest that, if the Home Secretary really wants to save public money, she should get G4 or another set of privateers to take over the duties of Assange’s guards.
Totally agree with UK VFP that it is time for the British government to stop using the people’s money to surround Mr. Assange and to threaten him with arrest. He has revealed to the people the cost of war and its consequences. There is no way that Julian Assange would ever get a “fair” trial in the U.S. This is a man as with Chelsea Manning who has exposed to us the perfidy of our governments. Julian Assange ought to be praised as a hero and embraced by people, globally, as a person who has supported and defended human rights for all.