Julian Assange Faces Rape Investigation In Sweden — Updated 1017
mpawlo was one of many readers who have sent news that a warrant has been issued in Stockholm, Sweden for WikiLeaks founder and spokesman Julian Assange. The investigation apparently involves "one report of rape and one report of harassment." The story was broken by Swedish tabloid Expressen (original in Swedish), and later picked up by more reputable sources like CNN and the BBC, who say the warrant has been confirmed by Swedish authorities. The WikiLeaks Twitter feed has commented three times about the charges so far, first saying they were warned of 'dirty tricks,' then that they hadn't been contacted by Swedish police, and then a statement from Assange saying the charges are without basis.
Update: 08/21 15:58 GMT by S : Multiple sources are now reporting that the warrant for Assange's arrest has been withdrawn. Aftonbladet has coverage in Swedish. Chief prosecutor Eva Finne said, "I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape."
Update: 08/21 15:58 GMT by S : Multiple sources are now reporting that the warrant for Assange's arrest has been withdrawn. Aftonbladet has coverage in Swedish. Chief prosecutor Eva Finne said, "I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape."
Re:This just in (Score:5, Funny)
In defense of the US government plant who is making the charges, he does look kind of like a rapist.
Re:Hmph (Score:5, Funny)
I didn't think Reiser had any enemies with a motive for framing him, though?
You obviously never read LKML!
Re:In some ways the damage is done (Score:1, Funny)
In some ways it doesn't matter if he's never convicted of these charges. Mouthpieces like recovering drug addict and confessed fraud Rush Limbaugh will be able to call him a "rapist and molester" and convince many that any information from Wikileaks is a lie.
Fixed that for you.
In with (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Rape? In Sweden? (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, I imagine how "hey girl, wanna see my leaked documents" is a great pickup line
Re:This just in (Score:1, Funny)
You're right, they wouldn't leave it to chance: If they found him, they'd likely just plant a gun on him (if he isn't carrying one) and claim they had to shoot him because he was resisting arrest for rape.
Or to put it another way: If they put the same effort into doing something about Osama bin Laden as they're putting into doing something about Julian Assange, I suspect bin Laden would be either in Gitmo or 6 feet under by now.
I was unaware that the US military was all over Sweden blowing up the Assange network. Must be looking at the wrong webnews.
Not Fair! (Score:5, Funny)
Any enemy of the US is our friend.
It's not fair that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gets to post here when he keeps Iran's Internet connections locked down.
Re:This just in (Score:1, Funny)
It is not about Julien Assange, it is a larger context. It a way to bug Julien Assange who is a Thule Teutonic Knight (=protestant!). The US tried the same with the Roman priests (catholic!) and orthodox Christians. It is a way to bully Assange and get information about him. Why did the Thule Knights try to ensure that Sweden stayed neutral in the Iraq war? For the same reasons why they released the US files. Wikileaks threaten their opponents to relase all the information about what was really going on, why the satanic elites in the U.S. wanted their "new Babylon" in Iraq to sacrifice and worship their gods. And what is really going on there...
Re:This just in (Score:5, Funny)
What? Next you'll be arguing that it's possible that Roman Polanski is both a child-abusing rapist and a great filmmaker...
Yeah, right. What are you going to argue next; that slashdot is a great site for simplistic one-dimensional flame wars, and a fantastic source of poorly edited news stories with little substance? Get your head checked, man!
He IS Innocent! (Score:5, Funny)
Someone just leaked the entire plot on Wikileaks.
I smell haters..... (Score:2, Funny)
Unfortunately Australia and his old battalion of merry men are asleep - and what with the cliff-hanger Australian Election results still undecided, every journo in Australia has their head busily up their arse searching for "meaning" in a popularity contest that is voted on by uninformed hillbilly mountain scientists. There is no meaning.
Anyhow my bet is on Assange. He has the points on the board so far, and one hell of an information gathering resource behind him. Just the 4chan crazies alone should scare anyone who wants to put a foot wrong tackling Assange. Everyone loves a hero - almost as much as they love tripping up the anti-hero.
Re:This just in (Score:4, Funny)
Or if he needs to become a supervillain bent on world domination, i wonder if Gene Hackman can help anyways.
Re:This just in (Score:5, Funny)
The Swedish courts can't do things like that. They can decide on prison sentences, community service, fines, and a few other things, but they can't forbid someone from using Internet, or make up new types of punishment on the fly.
Somebody mod that country +2 Insightful.
Hide ya kids, Hide ya Wife! (Score:2, Funny)
...and hide ya husband, because they're rapin' everybody out here! You don't have to come and confess, the US Government is lookin for you!
Sorry, it had to be done [youtube.com].
This rape accusation stinks of government involvement, its way too convenient for this to come up now. Long live Wikileaks!
Re:Shame on you (Score:4, Funny)
America, you should be ashamed of the way your country wages war. Using the accusation of rape as a weapon....
You have to admit that it's an improvement over shooting your own or allied troops.
Re:This just in (Score:2, Funny)
Rape, murder? Eh.
Just wait for the really big one:
He torrented a movie off of Pirate Bay [thepiratebay.org].
If I didn't know any better... (Score:5, Funny)
If I didn't know any better, I'd honestly think this is the next plot in Stieg Larsson's Millennium series.
Re:This just in (Score:5, Funny)
(bad stuff) [wikipedia.org] ...
(bad stuff) [wikipedia.org]
(bad stuff) [wikipedia.org]
Sounds like we're going after the wrong wiki. Wikipedia seems to be the real threat to the the US. Any volunteers to say Jimbo gave them the bad touch?
Re:This just in (Score:1, Funny)
4. The girls are **blowing** the situation out of proportion (either intentionally or unintentionally).
That proves it. They consented.
Re:Not Rape? (Score:5, Funny)
I was raped once.
Of course I didn't find out until his credit card was declined.
Re:Tell That To His Dick (Score:1, Funny)
Hedley Lamarr: Qualifications?
Applicant: Rape, murder, arson, and rape.
Hedley Lamarr: You said rape twice.
Applicant: I like rape.
Re:This just in (Score:3, Funny)
Re:This just in (Score:5, Funny)
Hrmm, first thing I said to myself was, "He looks like a computer nerd."
I guess I'm looking through #cf6275 colored glasses, though.