Seeking asylum to escape the asylum?!

In a move that takes his peripatetic life to yet another level, WikiLeaks head honcho Julian Assange has now stated that he is "ready for life in Ecuador". If you haven't been keeping up with his antics this might seem a truly surprising move, but of course it is all do with his potential extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges. So his most recent move was to stroll into the Ecuadorian embassy in London and ask for asylum: the crux of the argument being that if he is extradited to Sweden, he could then be extradited to the US on WikiLeaks-related charges that could carry the death penalty. Hence he appears to have found some support from the Ecuadorian authorities, presumably due to the fact that in the US the situation has got more to do with politics, than truly criminal behavior. Of course, I don't expect that anyone thinks he would ever be sentenced to face the death penalty, but it's all part and parcel of the usual spin that Assange seems to place on almost everything. Thus, the reason he does not want to go to Sweden to face those charges is not that he fears any incarceration resulting from them, it's that he's afraid the big, bad US can try to get at him. 

I don't think that the US itself knows whether it can legitimately issue criminal charges against him, for the huge leak of diplomatic cables that Assange spearheaded in 2010, via the WikiLeaks website. For sure, some people would love to do so, but it's a very delicate matter not least given the public and media attention that any pursuit of Assange will surely stir up. Freedom of "speech" (even if it's typeset on a website) itself will be on trial. Assange is such an enigmatic and polarizing persona that you can't help feeling that he's secretly quite happy with all of the legal problems that shadow him, because it keeps the subject of WikiLeaks eternally uppermost in people's minds. Ditto the name Julian Assange! As elusive as he has been, he seems to be content that his name pops up on people's computer screens on an almost weekly basis, in some kind of new twist on viral marketing of one's brand and product. It seems that he probably fits into the "talk about me, good or bad it doesn't matter, as lomg as y'all are talking about me!" category of self-promoter.

The irony in this whole story, to me, is that Julian Assange stands up and stands out as someone insisting on freedom across the board, with access to any and all information being legitimate, and breaking down the barriers between what we know, and what governments and authorities don't want us to know. An open society where we are more equal, and where information is disseminated at lightning speed around the globe, with almost nothing being off limits. However, in contrast to what it is that he fights for, he actually seems to live a very isolated and lonely life, with no place called home. Additionally, more than ever, he is holed up in this hideout or that one, always on the run, even when no one might be chasing him. The price for his desire to open the world up has led to that same world closing in on him, with fewer and fewer places to feel that precious freedom he cares about so much. As much as many of us might admire what he stands for and what he has done, not so many of us are envious of his life, I imagine. But as always with Assange, there is no sign of an epilogue just yet; he has more to come and you can be sure we will continue to see and hear him for many years to come. I have a feeling that he wouldn't have it any other way! - Kevin Mc