The Promethean torment of Julian Assange continues with UK judges now deeming he can be extradited to the USA, which will lead to lengthy appeals and a longer stay at Belmarsh Prison where he has been since 2019. His travails started in 2010 with allegations of rape and molestation in Sweden, leading to him seeking asylum in the London Ecuadorian Embassy in 2012 where he stayed for seven years until they kicked him out. That cost the Metropolitan police around £12 million to guard the embassy.
His lawyers argue that extradition to the US where he could face 175 years in a maximum security prison could endanger his health and he has already reportedly suffered a mini-stroke recently.
Whatever you think of Assange – and I don’t think much of his morals, decency or careless disregard in some of what he published – he did expose uncomfortable truths and official crimes and cover-ups which would otherwise have stayed hidden. Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, said “Virtually no one responsible for alleged US war crimes committed in the course of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars has been held accountable, let alone prosecuted, and yet a publisher who exposed such crimes is potentially facing a lifetime in jail.”
No public interest defence is permissible under the Espionage Act.
Assange was born 3 July 1971 3pm (biography) Townsville, Australia with an 8th house Cancer Sun in a rebellious, revolutionary square to Uranus. He’s also got a mutinous-about-authority- father-figures Mars in Aquarius in his 4th. His angry, headstrong Mars is further emphasised/afflicted by being on the focal point of a wide-ish Yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Mercury – no surprises he channelled his rage into widespread communication. Plus an emotionally intense Venus in wayward Gemini square Pluto. And a head-in-the-clouds Jupiter Neptune conjunction in an unrealistic can-be-paranoid opposition to Saturn. His judgement isn’t too sound.
As he launched his high-risk wikileaks information flood in 2010 tr Pluto was conjunct his Solar Arc Jupiter for a burst of supreme confidence. Then the ceiling fell in as tr Saturn was conjunct his Solar Arc Midheaven with both conjunct his Pluto for a dead halt. And his over hopeful natal Jupiter Neptune had its enthusiasm well and truly dented as tr Pluto then moved across his Solar Arc Neptune and opposition his Solar Arc Pluto in the years that followed. That exemplifies Jupiter Neptune’s ‘false happiness’ streak with the fantasy-bubble bursting as cold reality breaks through.
When he had his mini stroke earlier this year tr Saturn was square his Scorpio Moon and tr Pluto was in an intense and exasperated opposition to his Mercury.
He’ll stay bullish at times through 2022/23 with tr Pluto square his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint but that runs alongside high levels of nervous strain and mental confusion and nothing much that looks remotely cheering thereafter.
Relocating his chart to London is bad news with Mars in the 8th, a hidden 12th house Sun and a domestically-trapped and unsettled Pluto Uranus in the 4th. If he’d not been so arrogant he’d have skipped off somewhere safer.
I agree. He is being punished for making powerful people “uncomfortable”.
Where I particularly struggle with Assange are these constant claims of being under pressure and stress; which now seems to have resulted in a stroke. It all sounds very much like the difficulties most people experience under Pluto transits and which fall away when you stop fighting the universe (which is really about letting go of your own ego limitations).
This is not to say he should simply give in and accept extradition, but it’s about acceptance that his actions have put him in this place; whereas his expressions of fear infers he doesn’t believe he has any questions to answer in all of this. Being straightforward and stop trying to outwit others all the time, or at least to enjoy the game, would reduce his stress levels enormously but he seems to want to win and avoid losing at all costs.
My eyes is always drawn to that 12th Scorpio moon but also the 8th Cancer moon/mercury which don’t seem to have dealt with his difficult childhood but instead fuel his paranoia and distrust of authority, which of course are acted out by the Mars in Aqua. Which itself is on the IC/4th and may suggest violence or anger at home.
The waters have got muddied but I’m not sure I’d budge far from what I wrote in the post in personal comments. As far as wiki reports the statute of limitations expired on all three of the less serious sexual allegations. The open investigation of “lesser degree rape” was suspended because of his voluntary disappearance into the Ecuadorian Embassy. In 2019 the Swedish prosecutor discontinued her investigation, saying that the evidence was not strong enough. She added that although she was confident in the complainant, “the evidence has weakened considerably due to the long period of time that has elapsed”.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/feb/05/wikileaks-collaboration-distrust-legal-threats
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2010/12/julian_assange_picks_a_media.html
https://newrepublic.com/article/87443/wikileaks-guantanamo-new-york-times-journalism
Is it just a coincidence that shortly after the UK agreed to the extradition of Julian Assange that it was announced that Anne Sacoolas is now to be tried by an English court for the killing of Harry Dunn?
Saw this and wondered similar. Albeit she gets to stay in the U.S. and be tried over video.
Hoping Marjorie will find a birth date for Sarcoolas once she is in the court system. She was about 42 when it all occurred so I suspect it’s a Uranus half-return thing going on. Would be good to see a write-up on the astrology of that case on its own merits but also in relation to the Assange extradition.
Anne Sacoolas has a date of birth on internet of 1 December 1977.
His morals seem to be about not asking for consent the next morning after she had been willing the night before. While this is acceptable in Sweden, it should be remembered that the woman never said no. And while I don’t make it a rule to comment on such things, if the Swedes don’t want to prosecute him, and they are the ones with the law, that no other country has, then why should we use it to oersecute him? It isn’t as far as I know in our law books.
And while I can believe that someone might be too afraid to refuse sexual advances, in this particular case her own people don’t find in her favour. Again I ask why arexwe willing to go the full mile to extradite this man to the USA, unless it is to curry diplomatic and political favours. Hardly about justice!
His dodgy morals go back to being a computer hacker as a teenager. If he’d been a working class boy, breaking into houses and or vandalising subways – no-one would think twice about labelling him as a ‘wrong un’. But because it’s white collar crime, it’s not considered problematic.
The Swedes wanted to prosecute him which is why he holed up in the Colombian Embassy until the Swedes gave up or the time limitations expired. The Colombians kicked him out of the embasssy for smearing excrement on the wall. Who knows the truth in these matters. Assange is as dishonest as the governments he hacks. It’s quite possible the Colombians made up the story about the excrement to get rid of him (although I’ve not heard it); while Assange claimed the Swedes only wanted to prosecute him under pressure from the U.S.
Hello. Would you please see how his chart meshes with Russia and China?
I find it so interesting that he never exposed/leaked any information about those countries since there’s no shortage of malfeasance occurring within those nations. And would you please look at Amal Clooney’s chart with Julian’s? She had represented him.
Speaking of Russia, has there been an Edward Snowden article? Curious if he lives out his entire life overseas.
Thank you.
I don’t seek an argument with you, Marjorie, but to be accurate:
-The rape allegations were dropped because “the evidence was not strong enough to form the basis of an indictment”, said Sweden’s Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (NYTimes, 25 Nov 2019)
-With regard to putting dissidents at risk: “To date, no evidence of deaths or injuries precipitated by WikiLeaks’ disclosures has emerged and Lewis, the lawyer representing the U.S. government in Assange’s extradition hearing, said that while Washington believes that many of its informants who were outed by WikiLeaks later “disappeared” it can’t yet prove the assertion” (USA Today, 28 Feb 2020).
Morals of those who committed the grotesque war crimes against Iraqis and Afghans – of which there does exist evidence, thanks to Wikileaks and Chelsea Manning – are therefore much more questionable.
I will not bother you with my posts again, thanks for your reply and your astrological knowledge.
I am glad the posters here see the value of whistleblowers whose sacrifices benefit the rest of us by revealing the amoral actions of governments. But when you say you “don’t think much of (Assange’s) morals, decency or careless disregard in some of what he published” – may I respectfully ask, wouldn’t any whistleblower lack morals, by that characterization? Or is it just the ones who reveal the wrongdoings of Hilary Clinton and other political figures who are in “acceptable” camps?
His rape and sexual harassment charges do raise questionmarks over his morals and decency to put it mildly. And as I understand it, he released unredacted documents which put Afghan and Iraq dissidents at risk.
Whistleblowers are usually oddballs but for example the tobacco industry tale-teller didn’t put anyone else at risk and as far as I know wasn’t up on sexual abuse charges.
Thanks Marjorie. If he had reported in precisely the same manner, but about China or Russia, he would have a Nobel Prize by now and be a wealthy chat show darling. US war crimes cannot be reported and if they are, the journalist is destroyed to discourage any whistle blowers in future. I dont like the bloke much either but that’s not the point I don’t think.
Assange’s Mars in Aquarius is at the focal point of a yod inconjuct Pluto in Virgo sextile mercury in cancer. That is a significant influence.
Thanks. Have added.
What is the standard orb for Yods?
I see the sextile for 24 degrees Mercury
to 27degrees Pluto, but was surprised
21 degrees Mars “qualifies” as a Yod and not simply inconjunct Merc.
All that a long way of saying : somewhere I heard Yods employ a 2degree orb
“Whatever you think of Assange – and I don’t think much of his morals, decency or careless disregard in some of what he published – he did bring to light uncomfortable truths and expose official crimes and cover-ups which would not otherwise have exposed.”
That is exactly how I feel about him.
When I was thinking about all this a few years ago, I came to the conclusion that this is how the universe operates. You need people like Assange to do this stuff the rest of us wouldn’t.
I would ‘t associate or trust the guy myself but he’s done the rest of us a favour. Whistleblowers never get any rewards so you have to have some kind of screw loose or naivety to be willing to do it.