Ian Clarke coming back to Ireland

SLASHDOT – On a Slashdot thread, among discussion of Mike Hawash’s plea bargain, Ian Clarke says he “decided that it is time to leave this country - it is starting to look, smell, and act as Germany did during the 1930s. I wish you Americans luck in regaining civilized justice in your broken country, if not, I hope that the EU will be accepting of political refugees from this brave but failed experiment. "

Ian’s comments upset some Slashdotters, not unlike the reaction he gets for many of his liberal postings there. The same week, anti-war activists who visited Iraq before the US invasion discovered that they could face up to 12 years in prison and $1m in fines. Treasury officials are willing to reduce the fine to $10,000 if the citizens in question agree to pay.

From Clarke’s point of view, “I don’t see it as being very likely, but the leap from arresting someone for donating to the wrong Muslim charity to pursuing Freenet developers by claiming we support child pornography does not seem that great to me.”

Ian Clarke: “I am leaving the US.” Erik Mollers: “Freenet developer Ian Clarke to leave United States” Cory Doctorow: “Ian Clarke is leaving America” Karlin Lillington: “News about Ian Clarke” CNN: “Dismayed Americans contemplate Canada” Declan McCullagh: Ex-Intel worker guilty of aiding terror” Suzanne Goldenberg – “Human shields face 12 years' jail for visiting Iraq” in The Guardian