The Julian Assange Allegations
August 21st, 2010

Update: Warrant Canceled

Mmm hmm.

Via: BBC:

Swedish authorities have cancelled an arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on accusations of rape and molestation.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority website said the chief prosecutor had come to the decision that Mr Assange was not suspected of rape.

The warrant was issued late on Friday.

Wikileaks, which has been criticised for leaking Afghan war docuмents, had quoted Mr Assange as saying the charges were “without basis”.

That message, which appeared on Twitter and was attributed directly to Mr Assange, said the appearance of the allegations “at this moment is deeply disturbing”.

In a series of other messages posted on the Wikileaks Twitter feed, the whistle-blowing website said: “No-one here has been contacted by Swedish police”, and that it had been warned to expect “dirty tricks”.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority website said chief prosecutor Eva Finne had come to the decision that Julian Assange was not suspected of rape and so was not subject to arrest. It said Eva Finne would make no further immediate comment.

—End Update—

The fact that I’m reading about this damn near everywhere, and that so many people are submitting it, is giving me a really bad feeling. The hive mind of Reddit is upvoting “character assassination” type comments to the top. Be extremely careful when coming to the same conclusion as the zombie herd on Reddit.

I’m coming out with a solid: I don’t know what the f*&@ is happening here.

Via: AP:

The founder of WikiLeaks was accused of rape in a Swedish arrest warrant Saturday that turned the spotlight onto the former hacker who’s infuriated governments with his self-proclaimed mission to make secrets public.

The accusation was labeled a dirty trick by Julian Assange and his group, who are preparing to release a fresh batch of classified U.S. docuмents from the Afghan war.

Swedish prosecutors urged Assange — a nomadic 39-year-old Australian whose whereabouts were unclear — to turn himself in to police to face questioning in one case involving suspicions of rape and another based on an accusation of molestation.

They issued a warrant for his arrest, a move that doesn’t necessarily mean that criminal charges will be filed. Investigators want him in custody because they believe there is a risk he will obstruct the probe by destroying evidence, said Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Prosecution Authority.

“The next step is that we interrogate him,” she said. “Then we’ll see what happens.”

Assange has no permanent address and travels frequently — jumping from one friend’s place to the next. He disappears from public view for months at a time, only to reappear in the full glare of the cameras at packed news conferences to discuss his site’s latest disclosure.

He was in Sweden last week seeking legal protection for the whistle-blower website, which angered the Obama administration for publishing thousands of leaked docuмents about U.S. military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange dismissed the rape allegations in a statement on WikiLeaks’ Twitter page, saying “the charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing.”

Keep in Mind: WikiLeaks Founder, “Constantly Annoyed that People Are Distracted by False cօռspιʀαcιҽs Such as 9/11?