If you insult the prophet Mohammed in a Facebook post should Iran be able to extradite you from the USA to Iran in order to charge and punish you for committing that crime in their country?

Obviously not. Yet the USA does this routinely. It's effectively what Assange did.

Normally I think it has to be a crime in both countries. Breaking into computers is.

Assange did not break into any computers. That was Manning.

Publishing US state secrets is not a crime in any other country.

> Assange did not break into any computers.

I think that is what the trial is to decide.

No, the USA is specifically only charging him with publication of unredacted documents. They are not charging him with obtaining the secrets (that was Manning) but just with publishing them without redacting the names of US informants. At least, that's what they're claiming at the extradition; what they subsequently choose to actually charge him with once he's on US soil is a different thing.

> Expats can commit cyber crimes risk-free?

Not an expat. Julian Assange is not a US citizen, not on US ground, does not work for a US company. He can’t be committing “espionage” because he’s not inside; at most he can be committing “reporting” upon US practices.

Same question arose when EU wrote the GDPR: It was a debate at the time that a US company with no activity in EU could be trialled in EU for misdemeanor against EU laws. Apparently it can.

I think the case against Assange is a bit flimsy. But this argument doesn’t hold. If you hire a hitman and kill someone in the US, you commit a crime in the US. Even if you are not a US citizen of, have never been to the US and don’t work for a US company.

How is he not an expat of Australia?

Only Americans get to be expats, everyone else has to be immigrants.

He came to UK. He’s not an Australian expat in USA.