Swedes acted unlawfully, Assange trial told. A former Swedish prosecutor has strongly criticised his colleague's decision to publicise Julian Assange's name and his identification as a rape suspect describing it as both "remarkable" and "unlawful".
And he has warned that under Swedish law, rape suspects are kept in custody until trial and this can often take "many months" while investigations take their course. A lawyer for Julian Assange accuses prosecutors in Sweden of irregularities in the way they built a sex crime case against the WikiLeaks founder.
Assange Says He's A Chauvinist And A 'Little Autistic' In New Memoir. Julian Assange, Far Less Than Priceless. This week in London, an attorney for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been making the case against extradition for his client to Sweden to face potential charges of rape and molestation.
Here is how Assange’s own lawyer summarized one of the incidents in court: “They fell asleep and she woke up by his penetrating her. She immediately asked if he was wearing anything. He answered: ‘You.’ She said: ‘You better not have HIV.’ He said: ‘Of course not Keep that description in mind as you watch this video, which has been put out to raise money for, among other things, Assange’s legal defense: According to the Swedish prosecutor, sexually penetrating an unconscious person without consent amounts to a crime, which incidentally is what I remember learning during a rape education seminar when I was a college freshman. Julian Assange, Cat Hater. Open Letter. News on Assange and WikiLeaks. Julian Assange. Don't shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths. Elizabeth Cook's artist impression of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court in London, where he was denied bail after appearing on an extradition warrant.
Source: AP WIKILEAKS deserves protection, not threats and attacks. IN 1958 a young Rupert Murdoch, then owner and editor of Adelaide's The News, wrote: "In the race between secrecy and truth, it seems inevitable that truth will always win. " His observation perhaps reflected his father Keith Murdoch's expose that Australian troops were being needlessly sacrificed by incompetent British commanders on the shores of Gallipoli. The British tried to shut him up but Keith Murdoch would not be silenced and his efforts led to the termination of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.
Nearly a century later, WikiLeaks is also fearlessly publishing facts that need to be made public. I grew up in a Queensland country town where people spoke their minds bluntly. These things have stayed with me. It is neither. Julian Assange's lawyers say they are being watched. Lawyers representing the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, say that they have been surveilled by members of the security services and have accused the US state department of behaving "inappropriately" by failing to respect attorney-client protocol.
Jennifer Robinson and Mark Stephens of the law firm Finers Stephens Innocent told the Guardian they had been watched by people parked outside their houses for the past week. "I've noticed people consistently sitting outside my house in the same cars with newspapers," said Robinson. "I probably noticed certain things a week ago, but mostly it's been the last three or four days. " Stephens said he, too, had had his home watched. Asked who he thought was monitoring him, he said: "The security services. " Robinson said the legal team was also experiencing "other forms of pressure" from Washington.
The letter, which was released to the press, begins: "Dear Ms Robinson and Mr Assange. Supporters dismissed rape accusations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange... but the two women involved tell a different story. By Angella Johnson Updated: 10:57 GMT, 29 August 2010 Fling: WikiLeaks founder faced charges of rape and sexual molestation, but they were withdrawn It is a story as intriguing and confusing as a Stieg Larsson blockbuster: celebrated internet whistleblower becomes embroiled in a complex sex scandal involving two women, not long after he had masterminded one of the biggest intelligence leaks of all time - against the U.S.
That the action takes place in Sweden, Larsson’s home country, and that the protagonist is the flag-waver for freedom of information Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, provides added piquancy. Assange, 39, was attending a seminar in Stockholm earlier this month when he found himself facing charges of rape and sexual molestation - charges that were then, amid much confusion, withdrawn and which he strenuously denies. What does not seem to be in dispute is that he had sex with the two women within four days. The website plans to release more documents. No one gains from this 'rape-rape' defence of Julian Assange. We are all Julian Assange,' said people holding pictures of the WikiLeaks editor in front of their faces at a demo in Brisbane, Australia, on 9 December.
Photograph: Steve Gray/EPA The arrest of Julian Assange has escalated to a new pitch of intensity a controversy already beyond precedent. The arrest of the WikiLeaks founder over sexual offences allegedly committed in Sweden this summer was already fiercely contested. But in the 48 hours since he was remanded in custody in London pending extradition proceedings, those denouncing his prosecution as malicious and politically motivated have grown angrier and ever more profuse.
An unlikely coalition has formed around Assange and, whether explicitly or implicitly, against his two accusers. The veteran journalist John Pilger, who – along with filmmaker Ken Loach and charity fundraiser Jemima Khan – offered bail sureties to the court, dismissed the charges as a "political stunt".