Assange Will Likely Lose Asylum Bid, Go to Jail, Lawyers Say
By Erik Larson - Jun 20, 2012 1:04 PM ET
... Ecuador will seek to protect its relationship with Britain and the European Union by rejecting Assange’s bid, said Peter Watson, a lawyer with Allen & Overy LLP in London who isn’t involved in the case. Assange will then be arrested, lose the bail money put up by his supporters and be jailed until he’s extradited to Sweden on rape claims, Watson said.
“Seeking political asylum following an open, public trial and an appeal to the highest court in the land is essentially saying the U.K. court system stinks,” Watson said. “That would be a very difficult position for Ecuador, because of the ramifications on its international relationships, not just with the U.K., but with Europe and the U.S” ...
“My guess is they won’t follow through with it,” Dan Hyde, a lawyer at Cubism Law in London, said in an interview about Ecuador’s forthcoming decision. “But even if they did, I don’t see how, pragmatically, he is going leave this country -- he doesn’t have diplomatic immunity” ...
“How long can he be holed up in there?” Hyde said. “He can’t stay there forever” ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-20/assange-will-likely-lose-asylum-bid-go-to-jail-lawyers-say.html
