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Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation (theguardian.com) 227

Sweden has dropped an investigation into a rape allegation made against Julian Assange. From a report: The deputy chief prosecutor, Eva-Marie Persson, told a news conference: "I want to inform about my decision to discontinue the preliminary investigation." The decision on Tuesday follows a ruling in June by a Swedish court that Assange, who denies the accusation, should not be detained. Two months earlier, the WikiLeaks founder was evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he had been living since 2012.
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Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

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  • by DeathToBill ( 601486 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @10:07AM (#59430002) Journal

    So, Julian, how's that whole "avoiding extradition to Sweden so the USA don't get their hands on you" plan working out?

    • by MrNaz ( 730548 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @10:13AM (#59430030) Homepage

      This was always the plan. Assange in UK/US custody. The rape charge were BS from day 1.

      • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @10:21AM (#59430070)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • by Joce640k ( 829181 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @10:29AM (#59430100) Homepage

          If he'd gone to Sweden, he wouldn't be in a UK prison

          No, he'd be in a US prison.

          Given those two options, I'd choose the UK prison.

          • Having said that, it looks like the UK is also going to be the bitch of the USA and extradite him.

            Not going to Sweden was just delaying the inevitable.

          • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

            by jeremyp ( 130771 )

            Not necessarily. He'd have gone to Sweden and might have been jailed for rape, in which case the US might have tried to extradite him but would be less likely to succeed in Sweden than in the UK.

            Or he could have gone to Sweden and been acquitted of the rape, in which case, he could then move to the country of his choice without an extradition treaty with the USA.

            A lot of Assange apologists forget that Assange was in the UK for more than a year fighting his extradition to Sweden before he fled justice. The B

            • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

              Sweden, the country known to literally throw privacy rights of entirety of their citizenry under the proverbial bus just to give NSA a slightly easier access to Russia Germany internet cables of the time would be harder to extradite Assange from than from UK?

              Whatever you're smoking, you should stop. You may think that walking into traffic is safer than waiting for green light next.

            • Not necessarily. He'd have gone to Sweden and might have been jailed for rape, in which case the US might have tried to extradite him but would be less likely to succeed in Sweden than in the UK.

              ORLY?

              Oh extradition, sure. But extra-legal rendition to a third country for torture... you know Sweden has a record of that, right?

          • No he wouldn't. You conspiracy guys are priceless. At every step of the way during this whole process you people claimed that "now he will soon be extradited to the US" and now when Sweden finally have dropped all the charges then that is somehow a confirmation...

            When the UK courts decided to extradite him to Sweden it was under the specific condition that it was only for him being questioned for and possible charged for the rape accusations. Sending him off to the US would have created a massive internati

        • by Archtech ( 159117 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @10:48AM (#59430154)

          If he'd gone to Sweden, he wouldn't be in a UK prison.

          Quite right! His remains would be in a shallow grave.

        • by BardBollocks ( 1231500 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @11:26AM (#59430356)

          He'd be in a US prison.

          Sweden has a proven track record of ignoring international law and statutes to hand over people to the U.S.

          Nobody in their right mind thinks that he'd get a fair trial if he ever ended up in the U.S. - he's shown exactly how corrupt the U.S. elite is, and how they actually behave - and that is something the elite has been working for decades to hide from U.S. citizens.

          • Looks like those Hong Kong protesters / rioters should fight for extradition bills in the UK and Sweden instead of Hong Kong.

          • There is no such track records, there however was once a single incident where two Egyptian men where extradited to Egypt after US pressure despite the Swedish rules against extradition to countries who utilizes torture and death sentences. This was also done in secret, when it was found out it was a massive scandal and not a single person that where involved with that decision is left in office. So no this is not a proven track record.

            Neither could Sweden have sent him to the US since the UK extradited him

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Joce640k ( 829181 )

        The rape charge were BS from day 1.

        Everything about this is bullshit, eg. an Interpol arrest warrant for a single rape case. Since when is that even a thing?

        What about all those women who really got beaten up and gang raped in the last decade, do they get Interpol arrest warrants too? Oh, wait...

        (For those who don't know, Interpol's charter/mandate is to coordinate inter-police investigations when dealing with organized gangs who operate in multiple countries simultaneously, none of which applies to a single crime committed by a single pe

        • by Rei ( 128717 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @11:54AM (#59430498) Homepage

          Everything about this is bullshit, eg. an Interpol arrest warrant for a single rape case. Since when is that even a thing?

          What about all those women who really got beaten up and gang raped in the last decade, do they get Interpol arrest warrants too? Oh, wait...

          Hypothesis: Interpol red lists are only for the most viscious and brutal of crimes against humanity.

          Methodology: Examine the Interpol Red List [interpol.int] - a red notice being what was filed concerning Assange, a category for people who "flee to another country to try to evade justice". Exclude Russia since they overfile and focus on everyone else. Examine the first two pages of results.

          Results: Russia files half a million of them, biasing the results, so let's filter Russia out and look at what everyone else has filed. In order: sexual abuse of a minor; drug smuggling; homicide; homicide; illegal group; kidnapping; human trafficking; assistance to terrorist activity; homicide; drug dealing; participation in a criminal organization; illegal group; illegal group; homicide; homicide; illegal group; homicide; sexual abuse; triple homicide

          Analysis: The results appear to be a normal cross section of the sort of crimes people would flee across borders to escape. A person charged with one count of rape, one count of unlawful sexual coersion, and two counts of molestation would in no way be out of the ordinary on such a list.

          • by Rei ( 128717 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @12:01PM (#59430538) Homepage

            As for the actual statement of the Swedish prosecutor in regards to the Assange case:

            https://www.aklagare.se/en/new... [aklagare.se]

            --------------------
            The Investigation Against Julian Assange is Discontinued
            19-11-2019
            Deputy Director of Public Prosecution Eva-Marie Persson has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding Julian Assange. The reason for this decision is that the evidence has weakened considerably due to the long period of time that has elapsed since the events in question.

            The preliminary investigation concerning allegations against Julian Assange was resumed on 13 May 2019 after Assange left the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The investigation relates to a suspected rape committed in August 2010. A number of investigative measures have been conducted since May, largely in the form of witness interviews. The preliminary investigation has now been discontinued, the motive for which is that the evidence has weakened considerably due to the long period of time that has elapsed since the events in question.

            "I would like to emphasise that the injured party has submitted a credible and reliable version of events. Her statements have been coherent, extensive and detailed; however, my overall assessment is that the evidential situation has been weakened to such an extent that that there is no longer any reason to continue the investigation," says Eva-Marie Persson, Deputy Director of Public Prosecution.

            Background

            In 2010, being suspected of committing sexual offences in Sweden, Julian Assange fled to the United Kingdom, eventually taking up residency in the Ecuadorian embassy, where he remained from 19 June 2012 until 11 April 2019. In 2017, the public prosecutor responsible for the case at that time discontinued the investigation, as the prosecutor had exhausted all possibilities to make progress. After Assange’s removal from the embassy in spring 2019, the investigation was reopened at the request of the counsel for the injured party in Sweden.
            --------------------

            Got that? It wasn't dropped because they feel Assange was innocent or that his accusers were lying. It was dropped because evidence weakens over time (for example, it becomes harder to argue in court that old recollections are accurate; rape cases are always very difficult to prove in the best of circumstances, and prosecutors have a duty to not bring charges that they don't think they can win). I'll reiterate that the prosecutor took the explicit step of pointing out that it wasn't dropped because they feel Assange was innocent.

            Given the terrible state of typical media coverage, however, I fully expect most reports to leave out this fact.

            • by Mr. Dollar Ton ( 5495648 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @02:37PM (#59431448)

              It was dropped in the same way that Italy dropped the case against those Eastern Europeans (Bulgarians, I believe) who were accused of organizing the pope shooting in 1981 on behalf of the Soviet Union, an allegation that was completely made up by the CIA and rested only on the word of the arrested Turkish terrorist.

              In the end, after years of investigations the case against the Bulgarians was dropped "for lack of evidence", leaving a way for the Italian state to "save face". Of course, the Western press played it as usual, "they are guilty, but we could not prove it".

              Here we have more of the same - some weasel words that basically say "we've got nothing" but without openly stating it. How can the simple passage of time weaken the evidence if it was so strong? Of course it could not - the evidence wasn't strong enough in the first place.

              This PR bullshit is just a confession that now the US has Assange in a London jail it is no longer expedient or necessary to continue this waste of resources.

              Pathetic, really.

            • evidence weakens over time

              Bullshit. That is true only if the investigation starts late. If the victim and witnesses made detailed statements right after the fact, all they would have to do is point to them and say "What I said right here". If anything, the defense would have a tougher time, since their testimony would be based off hazy recollections instead of carefully transcribed interviews.

          • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

            >A person charged with one count of rape, one count of unlawful sexual coersion, and two counts of molestation would in no way be out of the ordinary on such a list.

            Assange has never been charged. This is one of the typical lies provided by people who are either in on the US intelligence propaganda talking points, or are victims of them.

            • by Rei ( 128717 )

              1. The British court system (repeatedly) ruled that Assange was charged within the framework of the European Arrest Warrant system.
              2. The above counts were listed on the EAW application in the charges section.

              Yes, there are differences between the Swedish and British court system about what terms (none of which are English terms) are used at what points in time. The British court system upheld the fact that they are what at the equivalent stage in the British judicial process would have been charges.

              • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

                >The British court system (repeatedly) ruled that Assange was charged within the framework of the European Arrest Warrant system.

                Not according to Swedish law he wasn't. British court basically found that "since Sweden issued a warrant, they must have met the requirements for the warrant". The fact that Sweden has a rather sordid history with disregarding domestic and international law when US intelligence requires them to do so was never considered.

        • Everything about this is bullshit, eg. an Interpol arrest warrant for a single rape case. Since when is that even a thing?

          What about all those women who really got beaten up and gang raped in the last decade, do they get Interpol arrest warrants too? Oh, wait...

          (For those who don't know, Interpol's charter/mandate is to coordinate inter-police investigations when dealing with organized gangs who operate in multiple countries simultaneously, none of which applies to a single crime committed by a single person in a single country).

          Interpol started in 1946 (although it's history traces back even further) and the first arrest warrant (red notice) was in 1947 issued for a Russian man wanted for murdering a policeman https://www.interpol.int/Who-w... [interpol.int]

        • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

          It wasn't even a rape case. It was a case of specific type of sexual misconduct, a uniquely Swedish criminal statute which doesn't exist in most of the world, essentially translating into "sex by surprise". Just like his purported "crime" wouldn't even be considered criminal behaviour in most of the world. Mostly including Sweden, where the initial state prosecutors to get the case, before US took notice, just dropping the case. Then US took notice and Marianne Ny stepped into the picture.

          Which adds even mo

          • He was wanted for questioning since that is how the judicial system works here. He cannot be charged unless he has been questioned first. This whole conspiracy theory breaks by the very fact that the US would have had a much easier way to extradite him from the UK than from Sweden.
      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Moryath ( 553296 )
        He ran first to try to run out the clock on the rape charge. His gambit was always trying to avoid the law.
        • The UK, by law, may not grant an extradition request if the suspect potentially faces execution at the hands of the requestor.

          Sweden has no such law.

          The US seems to be successfully end-running the UK's no-execution rule by only publically presenting charges of accessory/conspiracy to computer trespass (no death penalty) rather than the espionage (death penalty) case they would rather bring, and could still once they've got him out of the UK.

          With the UK seemingly receptive to this useful fiction, the Sweden'

          • WTF are you talking about?

            4 Utlämning får inte beviljas, om den eftersökte riskerar att dömas till dödsstraff för det brott som utlämningen avser eller har dömts till sådant straff och det föreligger risk att straffet verkställs.

            Av 4 kap. 2 1 framgår att, om dödsstraff är föreskrivet enligt lagstiftningen i den ansökande staten för det brott som utlämningen avser, ska som villkor för utlämning uppställas, att sådant straff inte får utdömas eller verkställas, såvida det har utdömts.

            Google translation for you non-Swedish speakers:

            Section 4 Extradition may not be granted if the person sought is at risk of being sentenced to death for the crime that the extradition refers to or has been sentenced to such punishment and there is a risk that the punishment will be enforced.

            Of Chapter 4 Section 2 (1) states that if the death penalty is prescribed in accordance with the law of the requesting state for the offense to which the extradition relates, the conditions for extradition shall be laid down, that such punishment may not be imposed or enforced, unless it has been sentenced.

            • I'm quite surprised to learn that. I suppose they simply ignored it when their police handed asylum seekers over to masked CIA agents who whisked them off to Egypt with only a promise to be handled in accordance with Egyptian law.

              I'm pleased to now read up on the followup to their case that that there was at least some official blowback, but the bad planes still stopped in their airports thereafter.

              You could see where someone might still worry though, yes?

              • You might be worry about that if it happened on a regular occasion. But not when it happened once in total secrecy, not because CIA asked nicely, but because they presented (probably fake) evidence to the then foreign secretary that the two Egyptians where plotting a terrorist act against Sweden, and that when a investigating journalist found out it all exploded in a massive scandal that made the sitting party loose their power in the following election.

                Our then foreign minister was also naively misled by t

    • by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

      He was anyway locked up for several years - probably more time served at the embassy than he would have served in a Swedish prison anyway.

      • He was anyway locked up for several years - probably more time served at the embassy than he would have served in a Swedish prison anyway.

        He was never going to Swedish prison, that was just an excuse to get him over to the Land Of The Free.

    • Is he in the US?

      That would be a No.

      Just because the US state department got dirt on the Ecuadorian President and blackmailed him into handing over Assange illegally doesn't change the fact that he still has a chance at some justice, not some fucked up US kangaroo court.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Whatever he's been though is probably better than being tortured in Guantanamo and then rotting in a cell for the rest of your life. He may yet prevail over the extradition request, but unfortunately the wheels of justice turn extremely slowing in the UK.

      • Whatever he's been though is probably better than being tortured in Guantanamo and then rotting in a cell for the rest of your life. He may yet prevail over the extradition request, but unfortunately the wheels of justice turn extremely slowing in the UK.

        Well we know how the UK treats it's own journalists turned persona non grata. [breitbart.com] Psychological torture, starvation, and months of solitary confinement at 23 hours a day.

        The question is which 'wheel of justice' Assange will ultimately be ground under, because there certainly seems to be different standards depending on how politically inconvenient you are.

  • by MrKaos ( 858439 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @10:21AM (#59430072) Journal

    To Australia.

    • No dice, Australia is one of the Five Eyes and as such they will comply with any US directive, no matter how tenuous. Whether Sweden exonerate or charge Assange is immaterial, the US government wants him. Sweden is just a pretext, a useful tool. Nothing more. That is Assange's fault for being careless, he should have been more cautious about who he associated with. Especially given the things he was involved with. Now it is just a matter of when, not 'if'.
  • by nomadic ( 141991 )

    Is he going to get that Austrialian ambassador to the US position he was asking for when coordinating with the Trump campaign? Also I'd really be curious as to why a brave truth-teller and anti-government corruption crusader like Assange consistently withholds damaging information on Russia, going so far as to carefully remove such information from other country's dumps? Is he saving it up for a big reveal?

    • Also I'd really be curious as to why a brave truth-teller and anti-government corruption crusader like Assange consistently withholds damaging information on Russia, going so far as to carefully remove such information from other country's dumps? Is he saving it up for a big reveal?

      Source? Or is this just a product of your fertile imagination?

  • by tinkerton ( 199273 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @10:29AM (#59430104)

    This is not just about 'nevermind Assange this is an assault on journalism'.
    I'm disgusted about the whole campaign against Assange and fed up with how people eagerly go along with it.
    He is now kept in isolation in a high security prison . He's in very bad mental and physical health and he might well die there. Because some people just like to destroy other people.

    The amount of smears and lies about Assange is astounding and when they get corrected it doesn't get the news. Just days ago "Trump Ally" Roger Stone was convicted, but too often it is omitted why: for lying about his links to Assange. Lies on which other lies were built to damage Assange.

    Supporters have compiled long lists debunking disinformation about Assange. I should link to them.
    https://thegrayzone.com/2019/0... [thegrayzone.com]
    https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2... [caitlinjohnstone.com]

    • Because some people just like to destroy other people.

      Precisely so. Just as a small, weak and perhaps friendless child who is picked on by the school bully finds that, far from being befriended and protected, everyone else gangs up against him.

      It's human nature - once you understand that human beings are killer apes to whom nothing matters more than being in with the alpha group.

  • by butchersong ( 1222796 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @10:39AM (#59430128)
    We should all remember not to commit treason against countries we are not citizens of...
    • Name one person who ever succeeded in committing treason against a country he or she was not a citizen of.

      • Name one person who ever succeeded in committing treason against a country he or she was not a citizen of.

        A very good point to which there is no answer - in the normal universe.

        However, there is one government that claims to be unique, exceptional, indispensable and above all laws of God or man. That nation regards all property, anywhere, as belonging to it; and all people, everywhere, as being subject to its laws and jurisdiction.

        After all, we furriners are barely human.

        • In a more colloquial sense of loyalty of course one can speak of betrayal although I'm not that much in a hurry to do so. It becomes easy to throw around accusations then. Assange was loyal to the citizens though, very much so and more than to states.
          And he was betrayed in many ways.

        • Not sure what you are talking about. Assange wasn't charged with treason, but espionage. Anti-US people are dumb. If China or Russia takes over, you won't enjoy that. Guaranteed.

    • We should all remember not to commit treason against countries we are not citizens of...

      Also not to steal our own property from ourselves, or to utter gross and blatant libels such as that 2 + 2 = 4. (After all, Mr Putin would agree that 2 + 2 = 4, so it must be a rotten anti-American lie).

    • You guys are too dumb to know the difference between "espionage" and "treason" so you shouldn't comment.

  • and were discarded the moment they weren't needed anymore. Brought to you by the same cabal that told you a year ago that a cabal of elite pedos was a nazi conspiracy theory.
  • by BAReFO0t ( 6240524 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @11:04AM (#59430244)

    Great job, Swedish legal system!

    Some CIA agents make a girl that had sex with him claim she was raped, then she retracts it, saying she was pushed into making the claim, actually consented, and didn't want him harmed ... And you go just on hunting him for YEARS, completely ignoring that, like the good lapdogs of the CIA that you are!

    I wonder how many other girls that were actually raped you swept under the rug to use the resources for this act of totalitarian global fascist terrorism...

    • I have found no indication those swedish groupies were being pushed by the CIA to go the the police and demand he would take tests, but I do know about people who have been raped and are offended that Assange has been branded a rapist for what he did, because it is a totally different ballgame.

      • I actually wrote ballgame ! (rolleyes) . Not on purpose.

      • by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @01:24PM (#59430934) Homepage Journal

        One of the two was literally kicked out of Cuba for spying. Her cover was working for some NGO, but everybody knew she was CIA. Assange was warned by Eastern Block intelligence that a Kompromat operation was out for him and to beware of honeypots but he fucked these girls in Sweden anyway. There's a reason these strategies are so frequently employed, to frame people on bogus charges, or especially against the rich and famous, who have money to pay blackmail (or "invest" in a do-nothing "hedge fund"). This is how we can be nearly certain that Epstein didn't kill himself. Sweden may have pulled their charges after being informed that Assange is likely to die in jail in a similar way. While Assange is a hero to most and Epstein a villain, they were both a problem for people in power.

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by F.Ultra ( 1673484 )

          This is Qanon level conspiracy nonsense. So according to you the CIA master plan was:

          • #1 - Lure him to have sex with two operatives.
          • #2 - Wait two days.
          • #3 - Have him arrested for suspision on rape.
          • #4 - Release him one day later and lower the charges.
          • #5 - Allow him to travel to the UK.
          • #6 - Wait 85 days.
          • #7 - Charge him again.
          • #8 - After many years, drop all charges.

          And this time of events is that convinces you without any doubt that a grand CIA conspiracy is behind all this? Seriously?

        • Ah this story maybe? https://www.craigmurray.org.uk... [craigmurray.org.uk] . I hadn't looked into it. Googling Anna Ardin Cuba shows up the Cuba background.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It worked though, unfortunately. Assange is widely hated by the public in the UK, people think it's a rapist, and over the last decade he hasn't been able to do much with Wikileaks.

      After Snowden we haven't had any major leaks. The chill has been very effective. If you leak there is no chance of a fair trial, let alone thanks for defending your country. The best you can hope for is to escape to somewhere like Russia where they won't extradite you.

      • AFAIK actions were stepped up after Vault7 because the CIA decided they wanted to finish him themselves.

      • It worked though, unfortunately. Assange is widely hated by the public in the UK, people think it's a rapist, and over the last decade he hasn't been able to do much with Wikileaks.

        It's as if the UK has a hot mess that passes for mainstream journalism, that's mostly produced by leftist presstitutes, and that mostly just lies, smears and slanders. I can't imagine how Assange got branded a rapist.

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @11:20AM (#59430312)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Is it really a conspiracy when it's as out in the open and obvious as this is?
      • I have had people argue about it on here, so maybe? The sad fact is that the transparent veneer of legal process is enough to convince some people that there's nothing to see.
      • by Shotgun ( 30919 )

        Well, they're still calling the people that say, "Jeffry Epstein didn't kill himself" conspiracy theorist.

  • ... is how despicable and utterly without honor those in power and their servants are.
    Remember that Sweden started this, even if they now try to distance themselves.

  • So the 'investiagtion' was fake an untrue all along.
    Then the US thing is fake and untrue.
    And then the UK shizzle of mistreating Julian while in custody. (why else did he debilitate so much?)
    The Swedes, the English and the USasions are all dirty in this case.
    Justice for whatver is at hand means prosecution of the Collateral Murder responsibles, the removal of the military-industrial-financial-medical-farma complex and more.
    Where are the indictments of them HRC, the FBI hotshots, the CIA hotshots, etc? W
  • This is power-geo-politics, plain and simple. I'm not saying it's right or just, but powerful countries are going to defend their interests and contest with their enemies. Sometimes they do it above board, and sometimes they hit well below the belt. Assange had pretty much admitted that he's an enemy of the U.S., and he wasn't even bothering to hide the fact that he was using Wikileaks to settle scores. Wikileaks was never a "neutral arbiter of information". This dude thought that he could play geo-politics
  • There is a lively discussion of facts and opinions on the matter, from all sides. That is all the matters. I stopped visiting a few years back as anyone not fellating Slashdot God-Emperor Assange enthusiastically enough was almost instantly modded to -1, and even mentioning any of the increasingly disturbing warning signs about the guy was an instant vote off island. The moderation system was once almost solely a tool for enforcing a very narrow party line of groupthink about topics like Assange. Now l
    • The moderation system was once almost solely a tool for enforcing a very narrow party line of groupthink about topics like Assange. Now look at what we have!

      The moderation system is almost solely a tool for enforcing a very narrow party line of groupthink about topics like Trump?

      All the mod abuse really does though is contribute to the site's decline... which is unfortunate.

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