WikiLeaks

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
Have you ever thought what that sounds like to someone who has survived a sexual assault? I know people who were assaulted by very popular guys, whom no one would want to believe anything bad about. Yeah, I can just see how they'd feel if they were in a similar situation and I said to them -- too bad, doesn't matter that this guy injured you in a very personal way. Because the authorities clearly have a political agenda, your personal pain doesn't matter, the investigation should not go forth, and justice for you should be denied. Are you really okay with that kind of statement?

The idea that the motivations driving the Assange case are political is not something that someone pulled out of their ass. Consider the following:

1) The two women themselves said that they went to the police, not to press charges, but to force Assange to be tested for STDs. An on-call prosecutor decided to press charges;

2) Those charges were dismissed by a Chief Prosecutor the next day;

3) A third prosecutor re-opened the investigation 12 days later after the initial charges received much publicity.

4) According to several sources, the crimes of which Assange is accused don't carry jail time and are punished only by a $750 fine.

5) The first warrant issued by Sweden was found by British authorities to be insufficient to warrant an arrest. A second warrant had to be issued. This suggests either a certain amount of incompetence or difficulty in drafting a legally-sustainable warrant.

6) The INTERPOL "red notice" specifically asked that Assange be "held incommunicado without access to lawyers, visitors or other prisoners". Why would that be necessary for someone charged with relatively minor sex crimes?

7) Subsequently, Assange was arrested and held in solitary confinement for 9 days. Even today there is a dispute over whether Assange has actually been charged. The judge who upheld Assange's bail said, "There is a debate, which may yet be had elsewhere, over whether the warrant is a warrant for questioning or a warrant for trial."

8) Assange will now be held for several months under house arrest (albeit, very comfortable house arrest) while he waits to appeal the extradition request.

It is quite clear that this is not how a normal case of this nature would be handled by either Sweden or the UK. Can you imagine any other circumstances in which a person facing a $750 fine would be subject to an international arrest warrant and held for over a week in solitary confinement?

You seem to suggest that the obvious political motivations should be ignored because they minimize the abuse the two women allegedly suffered. But, those motivations are clear, not because of the actions of fanatical Assange supporters, but because of the actions of the governments involved. If you oppose cases of sexual assault being politicized, I'd suggest that your gripe is with the governments who politicized this case.

Nobody is suggesting that the accusations should not be investigated. To the contrary, they should be. The Swedish authorities are quite capable of questioning Assange while he remains in the UK, either by video conference or by simply traveling there. If they find sufficient evidence to charge him, those charges should be clearly and publicly outlined. It is absurd that even a British judge who has had evidence presented to him by Swedish authorities cannot say whether there have been formal charges or not.

The two women may or may not have been exploited by Assange. But, they are most definitely being exploited now by the Swedish, British, and probably American governments. Getting mad at Assange and anyone who defends his rights does not help change that reality.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Nobody is suggesting that the accusations should not be investigated. To the contrary, they should be. The Swedish authorities are quite capable of questioning Assange while he remains in the UK, either by video conference or by simply traveling there. If they find sufficient evidence to charge him, those charges should be clearly and publicly outlined. It is absurd that even a British judge who has had evidence presented to him by Swedish authorities cannot say whether there have been formal charges or not.

The two women may or may not have been exploited by Assange. But, they are most definitely being exploited now by the Swedish, British, and probably American governments. Getting mad at Assange and anyone who defends his rights does not help change that reality.

You're not suggesting that the accusations shouldn't be investigated but others have quite clearly said or implied that. Nor would you say that just because the Swedish, British, and US governments have an agenda regarding Assange, that these allegations should be minimized and disregarded. But others have quite clearly said or implied that as well. Getting mad at me for pointing out that there are people on the left wrongly making those claims doesn't help change that reality. Being silent about it doesn't help change it either. I have a lot of respect for you, Jeff, and your opinions but there are indeed people out there who are so blinded by hero worship that they're willing to dismiss these allegations and harass the women who made them and I won't be silent about that.

And to reiterate -- I will defend Assange's rights to not be extradited to the US. To not be set up on phony charges for endangering national security. Because I'm a grown up and I'm capable of keeping these two conflicting thoughts in my mind -- that Assange both provided a valuable service through Wikileaks and he may be capable of date rape. I'd like to see more people on the left acknowledge that.

[Anonymous]

You are yelling at a person who agree that he should be prosecuted. And I for one am another poster who said the same thing.

How many other posters must we recruit to your position before you will stop yelling at those of us who already agree with you?

[Anonymous]

American amassadors are the stupid ones, they are the ones who gossip, fill forms and make a whole lot of useless information electronic. It was just a matter of time before it became public.
So what if some stupid American diplomat said that Gaddafi has a voluptious blond as a personal nurse. Whoever said that must have been jealous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:17:30 again. Forgot the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/17/julian-assange-sweden?CMP=twt_gu

If the Guardian's story is true, the allegations against Assange sound like pure exploitation by a variety of interested parties. I don't think his sexual behavior is much different from a lot of men in this world. He seems to have forgotten that he's famous, though. The former governor of NY learned the hard way the consequences of forgetting his own fame whilst fulfilling his sexual desires.

He's getting a few millions for writing his memoir. So something good is coming out of this for him at least.