mr president this oral question is not about the guilt or innocence of mr assange in the rape accusations against him in sweden
it is about the procedures of the european arrest warrant and whether it is being misused for political purposes
the european arrest warrant allows any european citizen to be judicially surrendered without a court being allowed to consider the evidence against them and with almost no power to refuse surrender
the european arrest warrant has tremendous potential for abuse and for use against political dissidents
is the assange case about the crimes allegedly committed in sweden or is it about the desire of the united states of america to extradite him from a compliant european country
discussing the procedures is key to understanding this case and deciding if the european arrest warrant is being misused and abused
we need to have a full debate in this house from all sides of the political spectrum
please vote in favour
