Julian Assange’s extradition hearing began on Feb.7 2011, and is expected to decide if the Australian should be extradited to Sweden for trial. The extradition hearing comes about after two Swedish women, known as Miss A and Miss W, made sexual assault and rape claims against him after encounters in the country last summer.
Assange’s defence have made a number of claims and unusual statements. First, they accused the Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny of hating men, and then they released their skeleton argument against extradition online.
The Case
Seen separate from what brought Assange to fame, the case is a simple one. Did Julian Assange sexually assault or rape two Swedish ladies in the summer of 2010? He claims not; Marianne Ny claims he did. Assange does not deny having sexual intercourse with the two women during a 10-day stay in Stockholm, but denies rape and sexual assault.
Police files released suggest the claim is weak at best. The report shows one woman joking after unprotected sex with Assange that he should pay for child support. Meanwhile, the other lady allowed Assange to stay with her for a number of days after their intercourse.
Further weakening the case against him is the fact that the first prosecutor dropped the case due to “a lack of evidence.” The case suggests good terms with both accusers and that neither complained at the time to friends or family of rape, assault or even of feeling unsafe. The files also suggest he did use a condom when asked.
The Conspiracy
Naturally, the accusations have been seen as part of a wider conspiracy against the WikiLeaks organization. Shortly after WikiLeaks began leaking information about Afghanistan and Iraq, it became infamous. But, the true attacks on the organization occurred after the release of diplomatic cables.
From then onwards, its financial links were shut down one after another. It lost its Paypal and then its MasterCard; finally, its Swiss bank closed its account. This was followed by sustained attacks, claimed to have been carried out by private individual patriots, to shut the site down. From there, the organization copied its data and spread it across thousands of mirror sites. Loyalists then fought back trying to take down various websites. The conspiracy is that the rape claims are an attempt to smear him and take down the WikiLeaks organization.
The Process
Sweden has issued an arrest warrant for Julian Assange in order to question him. As Assange was in London at the time, his case falls under British law primarily. This means a court will hear the case for and against extradition. Assange will argue that as Sweden is not charging him with a crime the European Arrest Warrant is not valid.
If Assange is extradited to Sweden, he fears he will be taken to America. Many American politicians and others have called for Assange’s arrest on national security grounds. Two leading Republicans have been most vociferous. Sarah Palin called for him to be hunted down like Al-Qaeda and Mike Huckabee suggested those who leaked the diplomatic cables should be executed.
Mark Wollacott - Mark Wollacott is a thirty year old Brit from the Cotswolds. He began writing in 2000 when press-ganged into writing a play for the ...
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