Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
Sweden is not some tin-pot dictatorship with a corrupt legal system. It has a respected judiciary which is why we have no issue with their extradition request in the first place.
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Actually, the official reason why we have no issue with the extradition request is the European Arrest Warrant, which is just about as awful in its own way as the lopsided extradition arrangements that exist between the UK and the USA.
Some commentators have suggested that the best defence Assange could mount would be to raise a writ of Habeas Corpus in the British courts - it being a principle enshrined in English law for centuries yet not in many Continental systems of justice. Under English law, you can't be detained except for a very short period of time unless sufficient evidence exists to charge you with a crime. In many continental systems you can be detained while investigations leading to a possible charge at some future date are carried out. For all its liberal trustworthiness, from what I can tell, this appears to be the system that operates in Sweden.
Having said all that, Assange's extradition has been ruled lawful under the laws and procedures currently in force. This, and the fact that Sweden is not a tinpot state, and also does have a respected judiciary, are all reasons why we should be confident that he will be fairly treated there.