OpEdNews - Article: Julian Assange Extradited To Sweden -- High Comedy Or Political Drama

Crossposted with Axis of Logic

Swedish director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, who requested Assange's extradition is under fire.

As the French leftist newspaper LibÃ©ration states, the accusations for rape against Julian Assange were intended to "destroy" Wikileaks " (August 22, 2010).

- "There have been [headlines in the media] worldwide claiming that I was suspected of rape (...) And I know from experience that the enemies of WikiLeaks continue to trumpet things even after they were denied." he says.

Since there is a strong suspicion that political interests are behind the extremely suspicious wheelings and dealings of the Swedish system of justice, we are posting excerpts from an article which was posted in The Standard, New Zealand, on December 4th, 2010 and also by the site Radsoft on December 4th, 2010 "Assange, FSI, Marianne Ny, & The Swedish Media" (FSI - Finers Stephens Innocent is a central London based law firm). There have been contradictory statements by Swedish legal officers ever since this brouhaha started in August 2010. Two women were wrongly quoted by police officers as having been the victims of rape, whereas only one of the women was complaining of anything at all, and definitely not of rape, which was simply the interpretation of the police officer. The accusation of rape was later withdrawn by the woman in question. The expression "trumped-up' charges comes back rather frequently in the writings dealing with this legal scandal.

The accusations have been moving back and forth from rape to sexual coersion and then to coercion. The Swedish director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, seems to be the official who has been mishandling this case and made herself guilty of lies and strange delays from the very beginning. She overruled the decision by the previous prosecutor, Eva Finne, without even having seen and talked to Julian Assange who had repeatedly asked to see her.

Excerpts from various sites -- Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet (August 21, 2010)

"Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is no longer suspected of rape.
Therefore he does not have to submit himself to the police.
- I do not think there is any reason to suspect that he has committed rape, said chief prosecutor Eva Finne in a statement to the press.

Allegations of coercion still remain." (translation by Siv O'Neall)

Wikileaks Julian Assange, Extradition Hearing: Marianne Ny, Swedish Prosecutor Biased? (NowPublic - Crowd Powered Media, UK - February 7, 2011)

Marianne Ny, the Swedish public prosecutor, requesting the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, is biased, the Belmarsh Magistrates Court in South East London heard on Monday.

Julian Assange is now officially wanted in Sweden on a "minor rape" charge. Brita Sundberg-Weitman, a former Swedish judge, appearing on behalf of the Assange defense team, told the UK court that public prosecutor, Marianne Ny, could easily have questioned Assange via Skype or phone instead of requesting the extradition.

Excerpt from the Swedish blog "Samtycke nu' by Goran Rudling: (February 9, 2011)
This blog states essentially what the report by The Standard, New Zealand is saying. "When you know something better than the Prime Minister, you have to speak out."

"On September 1, the investigation of the rape of woman No. 2 was resumed. Even then, Julian Assange was not arrested. Which he should have been, according to Sven Erik Alhem. We must remember that rape is a serious crime and that Eva Finne as late as August 25 wrote off any possible suspicion that Julian was guilty of rape. The fact that a well informed prosecutor did not find anything suspicious in the relationship between Julian and woman No. 2 made the Julian version of what happened all the more important to obtain. It was not done. Marianne Ny let 21 days go by before she showed any interest in questioning Julian. This is extremely strange." (translation by Siv O'Neall)

Sven Erik Alhem is a former prosecutor and a well-known civil rights lawyer who would have insisted on keeping Assange in Sweden and also accused the Swedish prosecutors of acting far too slowly. The question why the Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny, did not question Julian Assange during the month that he was still in Sweden after he was suspected of a grave offense last fall has been thoroughly discussed and questioned at the trial in London.
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Marianne Ny: Making an arse of Swedish law. (Excerpts)

All of the drama surrounding the Wikileaks release of US government diplomatic wires I and others do not find surprising. What has been intriguing me more is the behavior of Sweden's director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny. The available information on her charges and actions against Julian Assange, the founder and head of Wikileaks, indicates that she is driven more by politics than by any respect for the law. Assange's current lawyer compares her to the role of the infamous Beria in Stalin's 1930s show trials -- and from what I can see I'd have to agree. Similarly I fail to see why Interpol is involved for such a minor charge. (Minor corrections for legibility, by SON)
...

Assange's London attorney, Mark Stephens, told AOL News today that Swedish prosecutors told him that Assange is wanted not for allegations of rape, as previously reported, but for something called "sex by surprise," which he said involves a fine of 5,000 kronor or about $715.

This would not be regarded as rape here or apparently anywhere else apart from Sweden. Specifically in this case it appears to revolve around the use of condoms.

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