At this point the official Swedish position is that they want to question Assange. In the light of that questioning they may or may not decide that criminal charges should be levied against him.

This questioning could perfectly well have been carried out by the Swedish authorities while Assange was on British soil. They could perfectly well be carried out now in the Ecuiadorian embassy. There are legal precedents where the Swedish authoroities have questioned potential defendants on foreign soil while determining whether there are grounds for charging them. However they have declined to do so in this case.

It is not irrational to suspect that this insistance that the questioning can only be carried out in Sweden is an indication that the purpose is to get Assange into a situation where he can be dealt with for other purposes, such as cooperating with the US authorities.

It is true that in common with other civilised countries Sweden would seek a guarantee that the death penalty would not be imposed - however it is very questionable whether any such guarantee would have any legal force withn the United States - and by the time any trial would take place, God knows what kind of regime might be in power in the USA.

Moereover, even short of the death penalty, the range of illegal, quasi-legal and legal forms of abuse which the US authorities have used against those who are seen as its enemies is terrifying enough that no sane person would choose to risk it.

The fact that the word "treason" is being used by the United Sates, includng by Hilary Clinton in respect of Assange seems to indicate some kind of belief that the USA is above the law. It is of course completely impossible for anybody to commmit "treason" against a foreign country to which they owe no loyalty. It would be like committing adultery against someone you were not married to.

The fact that the UK government appears to have been on the verge of an unrecedented breach of international law and treaty obligations by invading a forign embassy is an indication that this kind of disregard of law is catching.