Assange on surrendering himself to the US: “I’m not an idiot”

Julian Assange continues to clarify his remarks on his misunderstood ‘quid-pro-quo’ where he stated that he would accept extradition to the US in exchange for former President Obama granting clemency to Bradley/Chelsea Manning.

Now, Assange has stated that he is willing to engage with the US Department of Justice to see if a meaningful, safe and just agreement of some kind can be reached. But crucially, Assange is not going to throw his life to the dogs.

Assange said the following in an interview with Australia’s Channel 10,

“It’s better to engage with the US case, have a discussion with the DoJ, what are you doing with this case, are you going to keep it going, am I going to have to stay in the embassy forever, or is there some way that you guys can drop it, or can we look at under what circumstances I would be extradited to the United States”.

Assange continued,

“Saying I’m willing to accept extradition doesn’t mean I’m saying that I’m willing to be a complete idiot and throw all my lawyers away and so on”.

Indeed, I personally wouldn’t want Assange to be an idiot and walk out of the Embassy into a cloud of mystery or worse violence.

Julian Assange is an asset to world peace. Wikileaks’ publications have done more to change the world than any revelations from many publishers in modern history. On the whole, by exposing corruption and deceit in the name of war, the revelations have helped change hearts and minds, which has changed the world for the better.

Assange should not make any rash decisions unless and until he is confident that he will be safe and treated justly.

The ideal situation would be for Trump’s Department of Justice to allow him safe passage to a safe country willing to grant him asylum. Ecuador is the obvious option though one shouldn’t discount Venezuela or Russia.

The sad saga of Assange’s captivity in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London is far from over.