rawstory.com — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange took his 13-month fight againstextradition to Sweden to England’s highest court on Wednesday. Seven judges are hearing the 40-year-old Australian’s appeal over two days at the Supreme Court and are not expected to return their judgement for several weeks.
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mjay1950Feb 1, 2012
If he is guilty of the crime of rape then he should do the time.
However, if he is extradited to Sweden and convicted he will of course go to prison.
Waiting in the wings are the American Government who will want to extradite him for the WikiLeaks issue. Once he is in Sweden they will be waiting to extradite him - whether he is found guilty of rape or not. When you think of things that happened in the past, is it beyond the realms of possibility that the American Secret Service have manufactured this 'rape' incident?
darwininmotionFeb 2, 2012
There was an article yesterday that said if the US try to extradite from Sweden they'd still have to go through the UK to do so... well, legally anyway,
ultrasparcFeb 2, 2012
*cough* Seal Team 6 *cough*
darwininmotionFeb 3, 2012
Know what you're saying, but he's too high profile to just disappear and noone question it. Even if he is into hiding out in different countries to remain anonymous.
novenatorFeb 1, 2012Submitter
Question: would Assange be facing these charges if he was not the man behind Wikileaks?
anomaly100Feb 1, 2012
No. It's a ridiculous charge to begin with.
neveroddorevenFeb 1, 2012
isn't he charged with rape?
norman619Feb 1, 2012
I guess rape is trivial these days...
anomaly100Feb 1, 2012
He was charged with not using a condom, which they call rape.
norman619Feb 1, 2012
Citation required.
darwininmotionFeb 2, 2012
@norman Google it, there have been heaps of articles stating exactly what Anomaly said.
anomaly100Feb 1, 2012
See my reply to Norman ^^.
neveroddorevenFeb 1, 2012
People tend to come out of the woodwork when you're more prominent. Look at Herman Cain. If Assange were a rock star he might of gotten the same charges. Though you're probably referring to the more conspiracy theory aspect of it, which I can't quite speculate on.
stubearFeb 1, 2012
No, the question is would Assange have even been allowed to have the extradition hearing if he weren't the person behind Wikileaks?
norman619Feb 1, 2012
If there is evidence of a rape he should be forced to stand trial. Sorry but he should stand trial in Sweden. People here are assuming he's innocent simply because they like his leaking of state secrets. To hell with the possible rape victim and getting justice for the alleged rape victim.
muffcakesFeb 1, 2012
If I understand this correctly though, what they are calling rape is in fact consensual. It's only rape because they were persuaded to consent due to his celebrity status. I don't think a country ought to extradite people for something they themselves don't consider illegal. What if there was a harsh penalty for homosexuality somewhere? Should we extradite people for that? On the other hand I suppose a country that legalizes theft really ought to extradite thieves... Maybe I just want my personal views upheld.
I do think that based on Assange's appeal that a prosecutor isn't a valid judicial authority he should be extradited.
I totally support Assange. I think the charges might have been nefariously influenced. I think the charges are ridiculous. Despite this, according to the system, I think he should go to Sweden (although I hope he doesn't).
Closed AccountFeb 1, 2012
nope. she constented then she passed out and he went on anyways. he raped her b/c shw was unconcious. according to most laws thats rape b/c she is out cold and cannot object or tell someone to stop if she wants to.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
muffcakesFeb 1, 2012
In that case, I guess I'd agree, it should go to court then. Hopefully the trial is legit - honestly I think it probably would be.
Closed AccountFeb 1, 2012
that's us law im not sure what sweden law is but i know that swedish,uk and us courts usually cite each others rulings b/c the laws are close to the same.
geejayeFeb 2, 2012
"she consented then she passed out and he went on anyways"
Where in the HECK are you getting THAT information??? The real story, according to the records:
* one woman had consensual sex with him, and she says the condom broke. After that, they had breakfast together the next day, and she threw a party for him, during which she tweeted that she was "with the coolest people".
* the second one, had consensual sex with him one night.They also had consensual sex the next morning - but she says that Assange did not wear a condom. They then went out together for a nice breakfast.
Basically, he was violating an obscure Swedish law against having sex without a condom. Certainly, there was no non-consensual sex, and definitely no sex with someone who was passed out.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1336291/Wikileaks-Julian-Assanges-2-night-stands-spark-worldwide-hunt.html
Closed AccountFeb 2, 2012
http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/julian-assange-date-rapist/
9th paragraph down.
geejayeFeb 2, 2012
Well - the blogger certainly did throw in his own embellishments, but I see that he has no links, and does not state where he got his information.
Here is a similar link to the one I posted before, based on the police records:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1307137/Supporters-dismissed-rape-accusations-WikiLeaks-founder-Julian-Assange--women-involved-tell-different-story.html
Again, no forced sex - as you can see by the fact that the women kept seeing him.
There were only broken (and no) condoms...
Closed AccountFeb 2, 2012
okay official docs that were leaked...spin away
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/02/wikileaks-sweden/
geejayeFeb 2, 2012
A better link - thanks.
According to your link, it still is a "he said/she said":
The first woman claims he "became violent", but went on to have sex with him, despite the broken condom. She then went on to throw a party for him days later.
When the 2nd woman was awakened by sex, she did not try to stop the act - she only asked a few questions, then let it continue. She then had breakfast with him.
And, he has not been charged with anything.
We are not talking character here, we are talking about if this is, in fact, rape.
The big red flag, in my mind, is the money behind those who really want to take Assange down. We are talking banks and major politicians whose jobs and businesses are on the line.
Money buys a lot. With allegations this weak, you do wonder if these are not simply trumped up charges to keep Assange from leaking facts that could take the powers that be down.
Closed AccountFeb 2, 2012
in sweden apparently have sex w/ a woman who is asleep is rape...
http://emsnews.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/sex-by-surprise-swedish-law-that-makes-every-man-a-rapist/
never knew that for sure but i thought that might be it.
oceansendFeb 1, 2012
I don't know if he's been formally charged yet. So far, all the news articles I've read are still referring to "allegations" and not charges. I guess if there was actual physical evidence of a rape (bruising, defense wounds, DNA...) then the Swedish police should have no difficulty pressing real charges against Assange by now. I don't know about how Swedish courts admits evidence, but in the US and Canada, I highly doubt testimonial evidence would be sufficient to make a case. The way I see this is that it's turning out to be a "he said, she said" clusterf**k and he should have no problem defending himself in court.
darwininmotionFeb 2, 2012
There isn't physical evidence of rape as the charges centre around him 1. lying about using a condom when he didn't and 2. not stopping after the condom broke, with 2 different partners.
Swedish rape laws are more broad than anywhere else I've heard of to include those 2 scenarios, basically it is a he said she said case, how either party proves or disproves the events is intriguing, but we'll only know if it does go to trial.
sab0tageFeb 1, 2012
I think if the women had accused him straight away, instead of doing so after the Wikileaks thing went global then people would be looking at it differently. It's hard not to be skeptical that the events did indeed occur in this instance.
MunroeMotorsFeb 1, 2012
Thanks for the article. This is a very important story.
dervalFeb 2, 2012
I have been hearing a lot of news regarding the Wikileaks case. Many people still believe that leaks may still continue.
http://www.allkarepropertydryingout.co.uk/services/leak-detection.html
alicei78768768Feb 2, 2012
this looks pretty crazy... cant belive he did this.. check the pics here..... http://bit.ly/nu00UJ
jasonrspencerFeb 2, 2012
what do you folks think of this guy? I can't make head nor tails
casf1bFeb 2, 2012
Time for the loud mouth to answer for himself.
uursssFeb 1, 2012
http://ulenn.com/firefox-10-cikti-indirebilirsiniz/