And how would he get from the Ecuadorian embassy in London to Russia?

“Oops, he slipped through our fingers and got away to Russia” is arguably one of the better possible outcomes for the present US Administration if Ecuador boots him, at least if that happens before Mueller closes up shop.

It's not a good outcome for a UK government that has to justify letting him slip through their fingers having previously spent an absolute fortune on policing.

The UK government seems to have recognized he sunk cost fallacy as a fallacy when they stopped the 24×7 “grab Assange if he leaves” watch.

Presuming Ecuador doesn't telegraph the timing of the ejection, I don't think there's a whole lot to justify that the UK government hasn't already clearly accepted the risk of needing to justify.

I'm not 100% sure on how diplomatic immunity works here, but couldn't Russia send a diplomat in an official vehicle to the Ecuadorian embassy to pick Assange up? I think official vehicles get the same diplomatic protections of an embassy, so as long as he enters and exits the car inside embassy walls, he should be ok, right? Or does diplomatic immunity end entirely at the embassy walls?

The Russian diplomat would have immunity, the car is not a magic “immunity” force bubble for the occupants. Unless they grind him up and stick his remains in a diplomatic pouch, he’s gettable outside of an embassy. Diplomatic immunity doesn’t mean the police can’t pull you over and search you, it just means the diplomats in question can’t face criminal penalties as a result of what’s found.

Is there a limitation to what counts as a "diplomatic pouch"? According to the Wikipedia article, even shipping containers have been used before [0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_bag#Noteworthy_ship...

"... the car is not a magic “immunity” force bubble ..."

No, but a diplomatic packet is.

Just saying.

It's the other way around. Diplomatic vehicles do provide the same protection as an embassy. A diplomatic bag, however, does not cover people, so if he was found to be inside one he could be arrested.

Nope. They couldn't.

Care to elaborate here?

Doesn't the US have people waiting outside the embassy 24/7 to snatch him if he ever tries to leave? Could have sworn I read that once.

The UK used to have a 24x7 watch, but they got bored and left.

Was just recently in London and walked past! I didn't see anyone just parked there, but im sure they were being more covert.

Probably in a body bag at that point.

There's no way the ruling class lets Assange even step a foot out of the embassy without immediately taking him into custody.

a mass protest could cause enough distraction, but that would take a lot of organizing, and we all know how good the left is at organizing.

Please keep unsubstantive comments and political flamebait off HN.

Dang this is for you since I can't reply directly.

There is substance to what they said- mass protest can create distraction.

And saying that left is good at organizing is no kind of flamebait.

Can you clarify what you're talking about?

Taking right-vs.-left potshots in a throwaway remark is just way too low quality to meet the bar here.

The GP comment "probably in a body bag" was almost as bad. We're trying for more thoughtful comments here.

>The GP comment "probably in a body bag" was almost as bad. We're trying for more thoughtful comments here.

It's just the truth. A lot of people/governments/entities want him dead. It wasn't meant to incite any kind of violence, just pointing out that he's a major target.

Wait what was the potshot here? Was it the tone? "We all know"? Maybe but only very little. If you're going to get this triggered over smallest things than why not ban political topics altogether?

> And how would he get from the Ecuadorian embassy in London to Russia?

Easy! They fly 15 specialists over on a day-trip, equipped with some good music and a bone saw, and every part of him will be in Moscow the same evening.

Perhaps he will shack up with Snowden and they can both live it large in a government apartment while having their movements tracked until they don't serve the needs of Putin's establishment. At which time they will be traded to the Americans for some behind-the-scenes consideration.

They definitely will not. Assagne is an important lesson for anyone considering becoming a voluntary pawn of statecraft operations: the CIA coined the term “terminate with extreme prejudice“ for a reason. These agencies are not known for their loyalty to assets. Once the mission (Trump’s election, in this case) has been completed, you are a liability to be disposed of. Assagne let this go to his head and apparently thought he was an invaluable partner, rather than a loose end.