HOW GREAT BRITAIN CORNERED ITSELF: FROM PINOCHET TO ASSANGE AND GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY

Great Britain and its government has put itself on the track to become a pariah of international community. Its Foreign Office has made threaths to the country of Ecuador and its authorities to invade Ecuadorean Embassy in London, Great Britain, should Ecuador grant Julian Assange's request for political asylum and fail to release Mr. Assange to British authorities, who then would extradite him to Sweden, where he is wanted for "questioning" in alleged misbehavior consisting of having unprotected consensual sex with two adult women - initially Swedish prosecutor dropped the charges, however they were reinstated as a result of an apparent pressure by a foreign power. The WikiLeaks founder is afraid that Sweden would release him to the U.S. authorities which in all probability would put him on trial for espionage (and possibly for treason, although it appears that argument for treason charges would be tenuous, at best, as Mr. Assange is not a U.S. citizen) and would have him subjected to a capital punishment. Since Great Britain, Sweden and USA have reportedly refused to give guarantees to Ecuador that Mr. Assange would not be extradited to the United States, Ecuador decided to approve Mr. Assange's request for political asylum based on a well founded fear of persecution. It is staggering how a country of Great Britain's stature could have cornered itself so unwisely... The Foreign Office threatened Ecuador that it would utilize a 1987 Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act to invade Ecuadorean Embassy and to remove Mr. Assange. However, that obscure act has been cooked up to remove squaters from foreign embassies or foreign countries' properties, whereas Mr. Assange is on the country of Ecuador's property with consent of the owners, so legally a squatter he is not. The Brits can still save their face by closing their eyes and allowing Assange to slip through... After all, it would be a piece of cake for the U.S. special forces to abduct Assange from Ecuador and have him brought to the United States for trial. Britain's invasion of the Ecuadorean Embassy would have caused more chaos in the world of diplomatic affairs than publication of the United States' diplomatic correspondence by WikiLeaks has ever caused. Let's hope that Great Britain will not shoot at its own foot and will not carry out its threats as such an unwise conduct would open the pandora's box. Invasion of the territory of Ecuadorian Embassy would cause the greatest damage to international relations ever done and, indirectly, irreparable damage to world order. Such an outcome would not further anybody's interests, including those of the United States. Great Britain claims to follow the rule of law in pursuing their plan to invade inviolable, under the Vienna Convention, territory of the Embassy of Ecuador and to extradite Julian Assange on trumped up charges of engaging in unprotected consensual sex with adult women, which charges were dropped earlier by the Swedish prosecutor; it is the same Great Britain which refused to extradite general Pinochet, former dictator of Chile, murderer and torturer of thousands of his own countrymen, when Spain demanded lawfully his extradition. Are we missing something? It appears that Great Britain was caught off handed while doing the United States' dirty work. Will the United States save now the Brits from their conundrum and declare that they are not interested in seeking extradition of Mr. Assange, neither from the Brits nor Swedes, by the same opening the door for Mr. Assange to agree to his extradition to Sweden? I guess, not. From the U.S. point of view, if they really believe that Mr. Assange endangered the lives of American operatives or soldiers, they should go after him. But why not be straightforward about it? Why cause the British and Swedish allies to lose their faces while the U.S. sits on the fence, observing the Swedes and Brits playing the charade?

Janusz Andrzejewski is a New York City based attorney, who writes on legal and other important community subjects. You can reach him on cell phone: (212) 634-4250 or through e-mail: janusz@januszandrzejewski.com