WikiLeaks Founder Assange Arrested
Tuesday 07 December 2010
by: Nadia Prupis, t r u t h o u t | Report

Julian Assange. (Photo: espenmoe)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange turned himself in to police in London on Tuesday and will remain in custody until December 14 unless extradited to Sweden, Sweden's English-language newspaper The Local reports.
Assange, who has been on the international radar since exposing hundreds of classified US government documents and simultaneously dodging a manhunt for alleged sex crimes against two Swedish women since August, said he would fight his extradition and the charges facing him.
But much of the information on the accusations against Assange is unclear. Since the initial police report was filed in August, prosecutors have opened and closed rape cases against Assange three separate times. After his arrest on Tuesday, British authorities stated that he faces "one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape," while Assange's UK attorney Mark Stephens told AOL News that the charge was "sex by surprise."
Although Stephens told AOL News that prosecutors had not informed him what "sex by surprise" means, it may refer to the alleged victims' claims that their initially consensual sex with Assange became nonconsensual. According to one of the women's accounts, Assange "did not comply with her appeals to stop when [the condom] was no longer in use."
Assange has denied the claims and stated that the sex was consensual. Stephens said that the dispute was "consensual but unprotected." In Sweden, a somewhat obscure law prohibits sex without condoms and is punishable by a minimum sentence of two years for rape, according to Australian lawyer James D. Catlin.
Truthout has put in calls to the Swedish Prosecution Authority and The Local for more information.

This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.



Comments
This forum is moderated by software. Please allow up to 15 minutes for your comments to go live and avoid posting the same comment multiple times.
Um, just a wee bit
Tue, 12/07/2010 - 17:31 — Anonymous (not verified)Um, just a wee bit convenient for the Powers That Be? What, has the whole world, incl. even Sweden, become a new Soviet Union!?!
In a slightly difference
Tue, 12/07/2010 - 19:02 — Dr. Bill Bushing (not verified)In a slightly difference sense this smacks of "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."
Only in America can a
Tue, 12/07/2010 - 19:24 — JEFFERSON (not verified)Only in America can a pro-life mass murderer and war criminal ride
around in a taxpayer funded jet and a bullet-proof limo protected by an
army of secret service agents while making millions of dollars selling a
poorly written book filled with lies and deception,Whilst a purveyor of truth is threatened with murder by a lying conspirator Mike Huckabee, who has covered up his role in working against the Constitution of the United States. WHO IS THE REAL CRIMINAL AND TRAITOR?
How can you be so dense,
Wed, 12/08/2010 - 09:01 — Anonymous (not verified)How can you be so dense, Nadia, intern or not- sorry, but it is unforgiveable for you to spread the BS that Assange was 'dodging a manhunt for sexcrimes' !!!
1st: The man is not even charged yet.
2nd: Assange was on record as having offered to speak with the Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny at any time by skype or such ( which was the stated purpose of the warrant ), but Ny refused the offers.
3rd: His lawyers repeatedly said that the police knew about his whereabouts...!
4th : As you should know, the actual 'SEX CRIME' is the temporary absence of a CONDOM during CONSENSUAL intercourse with Ana A.- which is probably why the Swedish prosecutors office closed the case the first time around. The second woman accused Assange of advances while she was asleep.
5th : Both women did NOT charge Assange in the first instance.
Furthermore: The US government via the CIA and its embassy staff is clearly doing the usual - as shown so well in the very cable releases - which is the dirty tricks bag any Mafia-like organization uses to get back at their critic/target - what could be more obvious: They use the stickiest public charge anyone can lay: 'sex crimes'. And they think that that's really clever... ( drones are too messy here... ! )
So, dear Nadia, get with it, or get out - before you do more damage to people. Journalism - even in the states - should take more than screaming with AP and Reuters whatever the Washington gang feeds the MSM rabble journo-whores...
He is the modern Thomas
Thu, 12/09/2010 - 23:30 — Anonymous (not verified)He is the modern Thomas Paine. The King Georges making the ridiculous accusations are the real criminals/terrorists. The tables will be turned, and the few who revere freedom, truth and justice over money and ignorance and greed will prevail. But history says it won't happen without blood being spilled.