Efforts to deport are very un-British (From York Press)

Efforts to deport are very un-British

8:02am Thursday 23rd August 2012 in Letters

AS THE late John Mortimer once wrote, “I never believe anything the Government says until it has been officially denied”.

I have no doubt that the extraordinary efforts to have Julian Assange extradited have little to do with alleged sexual offences, but everything to do with putting him in a position where the Americans can get him for divulging embarrassing information through Wikileaks.

The Swedish authorities say they just want to talk to him at present. They can do that in the embassy of the Democratic Republic of Ecuador, can’t they? And isn’t Sweden the pornography capital of the world with perhaps the most relaxed attitude to sexual matters? The allegations against Assange are not for terrorist activity or capital murder and no formal charges have been laid; so why are the British and Swedish governments so desperate to deport him to Scandinavia that there would be a threat of storming an embassy building? It is out of proportion to the alleged offences. This is very un-British and makes us look bad in the eyes of the world, especially in Latin America where we need all the support we can muster over the disputed Falkland Islands.

Matthew Laverack, Lord Mayor’s Walk, York.