Where is a Wikileak when we need it? I would like to know what secret messages are being sent about the accusations of rape against Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. Even in the absence of any hard information, I am not buying the government spin on this one.In Sweden, you can be accused of rape even if the act is consensual, which I think is kind of weird, but then I don't understand their culture. Maybe Swedes understand this concept that a woman can withdraw consent after the fact, and if they understand it, it may actually work for them. It does not work for me.
I don't know how many countries in the world have this concept of retroactive rape, but if Sweden is the only one, then it starts to be a little bit fishy that an Australian gets accused of rape by a Cuban-American woman in Sweden. If this Cuban American woman is actually trying to trap Julian Assange, then I guess Sweden would be a good country to do it.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Sex-accusers-boasted-about-their-conquest-of-WikiLeaks-founder-Julian-Assange/articleshow/7068149.cms
http://respectuk.blogspot.com/2010/12/anna-ardin-official-complainant-against.html
I don't pretend to understand women or their motivations, but I do know that some women are strongly committed to certain causes. These two women were both apparently committed to the cause of Wikileaks, and yet both had sex with Julian Assange and then filed charges of "Swedish rape" against him.
They must have known that to do so would be hugely damaging to the cause that they supported. In my opinion, they did not really believe in the cause in the first place, because women I know do not abandon their convictions so easily.
How about the motives of the Swedish Government? Are they really so concerned about every charge of rape in Sweden? I doubt it.
"up to 90% of all reported rapes never get to court. In 2006 six people were convicted of rape though almost 4,000 people were reported"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-rape-allegations-freedom-of-speech
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but it is a lot more believable to me that this would be some kind of US Government operation to nail Julian Assange. Pressure is being put on certain people to do certain things to try and neutralize Wikileaks.
Picture: From this site http://gossip.whyfame.com/sofia-wilen-and-anna-ardin-accusing-julian-assange-of-rape-8461
There is a plethora of speculation about the Assange case, much of it based on little actual evidence, some of it on conspiracy theories.
ReplyDeleteBut, as with most sexual misconduct charges, the 'mud tends to stick.' Regardless of the eventual outcome, many will persist in considering Assange a rapist, while others will continue to consider him a victim of government persecution.
Sweden prides itself on equality and fairness in matters of gender and has one of the broadest rape laws in the world. In fact, Swedish law identifies three 'severities' of rape; Assange facing charges in the least severe of those classifications.
Sweden also has the highest rate of rape charges in the Western world - twice that of the second jurisdiction, Britain, and four times that of its neighbours, Norway and Denmark. It is not entirely clear why this is.
What is unsettling is how Swedish prosecutors have flip-flopped on this case. The first-level prosecutor's decision was overruled by a more senior prosecutor.
That decision was then overruled again by Marianne Ny, the director of prosecutions - a surprisingly senior justice official to be involved in such a charge, confirming in the minds of conspiracy theorists that backroom maneuvering is going on.
In any event, Assange, to at least some degree, has fallen victim to the controversy with respect to rape laws in Sweden: a country in which 5,000 rape charges are filed annually, but less than a dozen result in convictions. And a country in which defense lawyers joke that one needs 'written permission' to have consensual sex.
i stopped reading your post after in Sweden you can be accused of rape even if the act is consensual.grow a brain.
ReplyDeleteI went back to look more closely at Sweden's "consensual sex" as rape,
Deletehttp://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/no-consent-rape/5412
From what I am seeing, the law in Sweden says if a woman changes her mind during sex, and the man does not stop, that can be rape. Or if the woman thinks the man is wearing a condom, but he is not, she can call rape when she discovers the truth even if it is a few days later. So in Sweden, in some situations, you can be accused of rape even if the sex is consensual.
I am not going to argue against the Swedish consensual sex rape laws, they may well be better than our laws. And I don't know if anyone is lying in this particular case, or has been pressured to make certain statements. But to summarise, the pressure to imprison Julian Assange is still political, using the Swedish rape laws to punish someone for releasing government secrets.