Because earlier I posted an article where Assange predicts a "New World" because of his planned next revelations in Wikileaks, this article’s relevance is related to that posting. Things are not what they first seem to be. But if you are a regular visitor of this website, that shouldn’t surprise you.

EagleEyes

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/18/assange_detain_sweden/

Rape questions for Wikileaks man

By Chris Williams

Posted in Law, 18th November 2010 11:20 GMT

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Updated The Swedish prosecutor
leading an investigation of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is today
seeking a court order for his arrest, so she can interrogate him on
allegations of rape and molestation.

Marianne Ny indicated that efforts to question Assange on a voluntary basis have been unsuccessful.

"The reason for my request is that we need to interrogate him. So
far, we have not been able to meet with him to accomplish the
interrogations," she said in a statement.

Ny will this afternoon apply to Stockholm District Court to detain
Assange, an Australian citizen, in his absence. His current whereabouts
are unknown.

The allegations, which Assange denies, first emerged in August,
shortly after Wikileaks’ release of tens of thousands of frontline
intelligence reports from Afghanistan. The probe was quickly dropped,
but Ny reopened it in September.

The two alleged victims, reportedly Wikileaks supporters, met Assange
during a visit to Sweden over summer. He initially appeared to suggest a
Pentagon conspiracy against him, but later backpedalled [1].

At the time he was seeking a Swedish work and residency permit, but
it was denied last month by an immigration panel. Assange has since
claimed he could seek asylum in Switzerland. ®

Update

Assange’s London-based lawyer Mark Stephens has issued this statement in response:

On the morning of 21 August 2010, my client, Julian Assange,
read in the Swedish tabloid newspaper Expressen that there was a
warrant out for his arrest relating to allegations of “rape” involving
two Swedish women.

However, even the substance of the allegations, as revealed to the
press through unauthorized disclosures do not constitute what any
advanced legal system considers to be rape; as various media outlets
have reported “the basis for the rape charge” purely seems to constitute
a post-facto dispute over consensual, but unprotected sex days after
the event. Both women have declared that they had consensual sexual
relations with our client and that they continued to instigate friendly
contact well after the alleged incidents. Only after the women became
aware of each other’s relationships with Mr. Assange did they make their
allegations against him.

The warrant for his arrest was rightly withdrawn within 24 hours by
Chief prosecutor Eva Finne, who found that there was no “reason to
suspect that he has committed rape." Yet his name had already been
deliberately and unlawfully disclosed to the press by Swedish
authorities. The “rape” story was carried around the world and has
caused Mr. Assange and his organization irreparable harm.

Eva Finne’s decision to drop the “rape" investigation was reversed
after the intervention of a political figure, Claes Borgstrom, who is
now acting for the women. The case was given to a specific prosecutor,
Marianne Ny.

The only way the accused and his lawyers have been able to discover
any substantive information regarding the investigation against him has
been through the media Over the last three months, despite numerous
demands, neither Mr. Assange, nor his legal counsel has received a
single word in writing from the Swedish authorities relating to the
allegations; a clear contravention to Article 6 of the European
Convention, which states that every accused must “be informed promptly,
in a language which he understands and in detail, of the nature and
cause of the accusation against him”. The actions by the Swedish
authorities constitute a blatant and deliberate disregard for his rights
under the Convention.

We are now concerned that prosecutor Marianne Ny intends to apply for
an arrest warrant in an effort to have Mr. Assange forcibly taken to
Sweden for preliminary questioning. Despite his right to silence, my
client has repeatedly offered to be interviewed, first in Sweden, and
then in the UK (including at the Swedish Embassy), either in person or
by telephone, videoconferencing or email and he has also offered to make
a sworn statement on affidavit. All of these offers have been flatly
refused by a prosecutor who is abusing her powers by insisting that he
return to Sweden at his own expense to be subjected to another media
circus that she will orchestrate. Pursuing a warrant in this
circumstance is entirely unnecessary and disproportionate. This action
is in contravention both of European Conventions and makes a mockery of
arrangements between Sweden and the United Kingdom designed to deal with
just such situations. This behavior is not a prosecution, but a
persecution. Before leaving Sweden Mr. Assange asked to be interviewed
by the prosecution on several occasions in relation to the allegations,
staying over a month in Stockholm, at considerable expense and despite
many engagements elsewhere, in order to clear his name. Eventually the
prosecution told his Swedish lawyer Bjorn Hurtig that he was free to
leave the country, without interview, which he did.

Our client has always maintained his innocence. The allegations
against him are false and without basis. As a result of these false
allegations and bizarre legal interpretations our client now has his
name and reputation besmirched. Thousands of news articles and
3.6million web pages now contain his name and the word “rape”. Indeed,
three out of four webpages that mention Mr. Assange’s name also now
mention the word “rape” — a direct result of incompetent and malicious
behavior by Swedish government prosecutors. My client is now in the
extraordinary position that, despite his innocence, and despite never
having been charged, and despite never receiving a single piece of paper
about the allegations against him, one in ten Internet references to
the word “rape” also include his name. Every day that this flawed
investigation continues the damages to his reputation are compounded.