Politics WikiLeaks founder suspected of rape

[Belisar]

http://www.thelocal.se/28496/20100821/

A warrant has been put out for the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is wanted on suspicion of rape.

Prosecutor Marie Häljebo Kjellstrand confirmed that a warrant was issued on Friday evening and that the grade of suspicion -- probable cause -- was strong enough to ensure that the 39-year-old Australian could be detained upon his arrest, newspaper Expressen reports.

A source close to the case told the newspaper that two women in their twenties went to the police in Stockholm on Friday to speak about their recent encounters with Assange.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority released a statement on Saturday morning in which it revealed that the warrant was based on “one report of rape and one report of molestation. A warrant has been issued for the person's arrest since there is a risk that he could hamper the investigation.”

Assange spent time with one of the women at an apartment in Södermalm in Stockholm on Saturday night, while he met the other women in the nearby town of Enköping, according to Expressen. The prosecution authority said Assange was suspected of rape in the Enköping case and molestation in Stockholm.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, a colleague of Assange's who spoke to news agency AFP from Iceland, said that the charges against him were false.

"He didn't know of the charges until he read them in the right wing tabloid Expressen this morning", Hrafnsson said. "There are powerful organisations who want to do harm to WikiLeaks."

Hrafnsson said Assange was still in Sweden and would "go to the police very quickly."

The WikiLeaks founder also personally denied the accusations in an email to Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter.

“Why these accusations are coming at this point in time is an interesting question. I haven't been contacted by the police. The allegations are false.”

Assange has spent time in Sweden over the last week as a guest of the Association of Christian Social Democrats. WikiLeaks chose to move its servers from the United States to Sweden in 2007 as Assange believed the site would benefit from Swedish laws protecting journalists' sources.

The pentagon recently called on WikiLeaks to halt the publication of 70,000 leaked classified documents from the US-led war in Afghanistan. But Assange instead vowed to press ahead with the publication of a further 15,000 secret documents.

it was only a matter of time.

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it seems that the charge was taken back.

 

[Charlie]

I found the whole charge issue odd and not just timing wise..... to say the least. Glad to hear that the charge was taken back. I wonder what they will find when they look into this matter.

 

[Hystzen]

seems like a failed attempt of a set up by goverment to get back at him coz of the Afgan leaks..

 

[Belisar]

Assange hires top Swedish defence lawyer

Leif Silbersky, one of Sweden's most high profile defence lawyers, has been hired by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange ahead of a looming decision by prosecutors

about whether he will face molestation charges, reports said Tuesday.

"I can confirm that I will represent him," Silbersky told the Aftonbladet daily.

Swedish prosecutors on Friday night issued an arrest warrant for 39-year-old Assange over an allegation of rape but then abruptly withdrew it on Saturday.

Authorities are still, however, investigating a separate claim of molestation against the former hacker.

Assange has said the claims are part of a smear campaign aimed at discrediting his whistleblowing website, which is locked in a row with the Pentagon over the release of secret US documents about the war in Afghanistan.

The Swedish chief prosecutor in charge of the case, Eva Finné, said on Tuesday that she would not reach a decision before Wednesday on whether to formally press charges against Assange.

Silbersky said Tuesday his client did not know what charges, if any, he would face and had sought representation to help navigate the Swedish legal system.

"There have been a number of legal twists and turns, with rape (allegations) boiling down to something different, and we don't know where this will end," Silbersky told the TT news agency.

A lawyer representing the two women aged 25 to 35 who originally made the claims against Assange denied that the allegations were part of a plot to harm WikiLeaks, as the website's founder had said.

"This is not a smear campaign," Claes Borgström told AFP. "This has nothing to do with WikiLeaks or the CIA."

Borgström added that the two women had gone to police separately over different alleged incidents and had no links to anyone who would be interested in discrediting the website.

Swedish prosecutors have faced heavy criticism at home for their handling of the case, especially for the decision on Friday evening to confirm media reports that the initial allegation involved Assange.

A judicial watchdog on Tuesday reported the duty prosecutor who made the call for breaching rules regarding preliminary investigation confidentiality.

http://www.thelocal.se/28560/20100825/

 

[Alterno]

He raped the United States of America. Now seriously even a former prosecutor finds odd the charges and the way these charges were instituted, in my opinion is about timing.

Let's suppose the girl actually got molested (actual charges), by Assange... why now?, because the eyes of the world are over this man as spokesperson of wiki-leaks.

But right know it could be a way of the United States to distract the world from the crimes being committed by their Nobel "peace prize" government. Those committed during Bush's charge and those committed during Barack's... btw did I say how ashame I'm for voting democrat?

Either way, Assange being guilty or not of these charges are not likely to affect the information given by wiki leaks. I personally think that Assange is too smart for getting involved or doing anything as despicable as this when the eyes of the world are over him.

 

[Belisar]

Sweden reopens WikiLeaks founder rape investigation

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A top Swedish prosecutor said on Wednesday she was reopening an investigation into rape allegations against Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks published more than 70,000 secret military files on Afghanistan in July in what U.S. officials have called one of the biggest security breaches in U.S. military history.

Assange has denied the charges, which a lower official had withdrawn two weeks ago, and said he has been warned by Australian intelligence that he could face a campaign to discredit him after leaking the documents.

Neither Assange nor his lawyer could be immediately reached for comment.

Director of Public Prosecutions Marianne Ny said she decided to reopen the investigation after further review of the case.

"There is reason to believe that a crime has been committed. Considering information available at present, my judgment is that the classification of the crime is rape," Ny said in a statement on the Prosecution Authority's website.

"More investigations are necessary before a final decision can be made," she added. She also said a preliminary investigation into charges of molestation would be expanded to sexual coercion and sexual molestation.

"The case has a high priority," she told Reuters. She declined to say whether Assange had already been questioned or give further information.

SWEDISH PROTECTION

Allegations of rape and molestation were brought against Assange, an Australian citizen, two weeks ago.

The more serious charge was dropped almost immediately, though prosecutors continued to look into the molestation charge.

WikiLeaks says it is an non-profit organization funded by human rights campaigners, journalists and the general public.

It promotes the leaking of information to fight government and corporate corruption. Earlier this year, it leaked a classified video showing a 2007 helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists.

Assange has been building a base in Sweden in order to benefit from its strict journalist protection laws.

Though he has given few interviews recently, a website, www.wikileaks.org, and a Twitter feed, www.twitter.com/wikileaks, occasionally release material.

The Twitter feed said on Tuesday that Assange had applied for a Swedish residency permit as part of efforts to boost legal protection for WikiLeaks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100901/wl_nm/us_sweden_wikileaks