Wikileaks founder accused of rape.............

[MIKEMUN]

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange accused of rape
Julian Assange Julian Assange was cited as saying the release of the allegations were "deeply disturbing"

Swedish authorities say they have issued an arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, on accusations of rape and molestation.

The warrant was issued late on Friday, said Karin Rosander, communications head at Sweden's prosecutors' office.

Swedish police have been trying to contact Mr Assange, but have been unable to so far, she told the BBC.

On Twitter, Wikileaks, which has leaked Afghan war documents, quoted him saying the charges were "without basis".

The message, attributed directly to Mr Assange, said the appearance of the allegations "at this moment is deeply disturbing".

In a series of other messages posted on the Wikileaks Twitter feed, the whistle-blowing website said: "No-one here has been contacted by Swedish police" and said it had been warned to expect "dirty tricks"


BBC News - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange accused of rape

[crooks]

It's been withdrawn:

Rape warrant against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange cancelled | Media | guardian.co.uk

Swedish authorities have withdrawn an arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, stating that the accusation of rape against him was unfounded.

The move came just a day after a warrant was issued by Sweden's prosecutors' office in Stockholm in response to accusations of rape and molestation in two separate cases.

"I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape," the chief prosecutor, Eva Finne, said.

She made no comment on the status of the molestation case, a less serious charge that would not lead to an arrest warrant.

Assange has denied both accusations, first reported by the Swedish tabloid Expressen, which were described as dirty tricks on the Wikileaks' Twitter account.

He implied that they were linked to the release by the whistleblowers' website of a huge cache of US military records on the Afghan war, which were published in collaboration with the Guardian and two other newspapers.

Assange wrote: "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."

Earlier postings on the Twitter account implied the accusations were part of a dirty tricks campaign against the Wikileaks founder, who has been strongly criticised by the Pentagon.

"Expressen is a tabloid; No one here has been contacted by Swedish police. Needless to say, this will prove hugely distracting.

"We were warned to expect 'dirty tricks'. Now we have the first one."

Last month Wikileaks released around 77,000 secret US military documents on the war in Afghanistan.

US authorities criticised the leak, saying it could put the lives of Nato troops and Afghan informants at risk.

Assange has said that Wikileaks intends to release a further 15,000 documents in the coming weeks - a pledge condemned by the Pentagon, which has demanded the deletion of the files from the website.

Assange, an Australian citizen, was in Sweden last week to apply for a publishing certificate to make sure the website, which has servers in Sweden, can take full advantage of Swedish laws protecting whistleblowers.

He also gave a talk about his work and defended the decision by Wikileaks to publish the Afghan war logs.


I'd be inclined to believe him, this guy has a serious mark on his back, and this seemed like a dirty slur from the begining.

[Triple C]

If someone does what Assange did to the US to Russia, he would turn up dead with a lethal dose of weapons-grade plutonium poisoning and the world would pretend nothing happened and carry on. Disgustingly he's cheeky about this, as if there was nothing anyone can do about him. The fact of the matter is that people in high places choses to use restraint on a person that frankly, isn't worth the very humane treatment that he is receiving.

[YellowFever]

It's been withdrawn

I'd be inclined to believe him, this guy has a serious mark on his back, and this seemed like a dirty slur from the begining.

Are you implying that someone from the American government could've instigated this as opposed to just a misunderstood sexual encounter, which seems to be prevalent these days?

[Parihaka]

So what was the evidence that was considered sufficient to issue a warrant one day that magically disappears the next? If it was so flimsy why issue a warrant in the first place?

[art]

I think these accusations are a setup by the CIA, they will all turn out to be BS in time.

[bigross86]

That's right. The CIA controls the Swedish police.

[crooks]

Are you implying that someone from the American government could've instigated this as opposed to just a misunderstood sexual encounter, which seems to be prevalent these days?

Who says it's Americans? Assange claims to have documents damaging to every country with over 1 million inhabitants, I'd imagine many securocrats in those 155 governments want him arrested or silenced.

And yes, sexual encounters go wrong all the time, doesn't explain the 'issued-withdrawn' nature of the charge, if someone complained why would they withdraw it so soon? Either there was grounds, which there must have been on day one for the charge to be filed, or not, in which case they shouldn't have been filed at all.

[Parihaka]

That's right. The CIA controls the Swedish police.

[Parihaka]

Who says it's Americans? Assange claims to have documents damaging to every country with over 1 million inhabitants,

Damn, he must have found those sheep photos... Um I mean... uh never mind...

[Julie]

Are you implying that someone from the American government could've instigated this as opposed to just a misunderstood sexual encounter, which seems to be prevalent these days?

That's exactly what Wiki is implying:

WikiLeaks Founder: Pentagon Could Be Behind Rape Claim

(Aug. 22) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a Swedish newspaper today that he believes the Pentagon could be behind a rape allegation that was filed against him on Friday, and was quickly withdrawn by Swedish prosecutors.

"I don't know who's behind this but we have been warned that, for example, the Pentagon plans to use dirty tricks to spoil things for us," he told the Aftonbladet daily. "I have also been warned about sex traps."

The Pentagon hasn't commented on the case. Since its launch in 2006, WikiLeaks has published thousands of leaked documents about the activities of American and allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the whistleblower site is currently preparing to put 15,000 more classified military documents on the Afghan War online in coming weeks, despite warnings from the U.S. administration that it could place the lives of soldiers and Afghan civilians at risk.

Assange has been in Sweden for the past week attempting to win support for a change to the legal system that would boost protection for whistleblower sites like WikiLeaks. Late Friday, prosecutors in the Scandinavian country issued an arrest warrant for him after an unnamed woman claimed she had been the victim of a sexual assault. However, that warrant -- issued by an "on-call" prosecutor according to The Associated Press -- was canceled the following day by a higher-ranking prosecutor, who found no grounds to suspect him of rape.

"The prosecutor who took over the case yesterday had more information, and that is why she made a different assessment than the on-call prosecutor," Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Prosecution Authority, told the news agency. She refused to clarify what the new evidence was, but said there was "absolutely nothing" to suggest either prosecutor had made a mistake.

Although the warrant has now been withdrawn, Assange says it has already damaged both his and his site's reputation. "There have been headlines all over the world saying I'm suspected of rape," he told Aftonbladet. "They will not disappear. And I know from experience that WikiLeaks enemies will continue to trumpet these allegations even after they've been denied."

The Australian still remains under suspicion of a lesser crime of molestation, based on a claim filed by another woman. That crime covers a wide of range of offenses under Swedish law, including inappropriate physical contact with another adult, and can be punished with fines or up to one year in prison.

Assange told the Swedish daily that he had "no idea" about the identity of the women who filed the allegations, and said that he had never had non-consensual sex. "It was shocking [to hear about these claims]," he told Aftonbladet. "I have been accused of various things in recent years, but nothing as serious as this."

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Says Pentagon Could Be Behind Rape Claim

[Genosaurer]

And yes, sexual encounters go wrong all the time, doesn't explain the 'issued-withdrawn' nature of the charge, if someone complained why would they withdraw it so soon? Either there was grounds, which there must have been on day one for the charge to be filed, or not, in which case they shouldn't have been filed at all.

Well, the fact that he remains under suspicion for a lesser version of the crime indicates to me that there could have been a legitimate basis, but due to circumstances or lack of evidence, they decided they would be unable to convict him of the more serious charge.

[rj1]

Incredibly dumb by the Swedes regardless.

TripleC: If someone does what Assange did to the US to Russia, he would turn up dead with a lethal dose of weapons-grade plutonium poisoning and the world would pretend nothing happened and carry on. Disgustingly he's cheeky about this, as if there was nothing anyone can do about him. The fact of the matter is that people in high places choses to use restraint on a person that frankly, isn't worth the very humane treatment that he is receiving.

I'd think that the people running this thing are smart enough to only release information against countries that won't kill them to be vindictive.

Plus, they're dependent on donations to keep running. If they released info saying Russia or China was corrupt, everyone would yawn and not give them any money. And then people with less scrupulous morals could find out who these guys are easily enough and kill them. If they released info on the U.S., they can tap into how people hate how our government and country operates since we're top dog and that'd get a lot of money donations. It's all about tapping into the worldview of your audience so they think "this guy is on our side" and they'll support it financially.