You really expect to see Dr. No in his wheelchair with his white cat in those photos.
This is the Bahnhof Bunker, which is owned by Bahnhof A.B., a Swedish company with servers which host, among other sites, Wikileaks. It was a bomb shelter bunker in a past incarnation. Through the link is a slide show.
These photos follow a week of Sen. Joe Lieberman pressuring private companies like Amazon to deny Wikileaks hosting, as well as an attempt to intimidate just about anybody with any association with federal government, past, present, and future, from even looking at the documents. Oh, and Interpol is after Assange now, whom the Swedish police suspect of sexual assault.
Aside from the confirmation that American diplomats are violating treaties and trust by spying, there really isn’t too much I’ve seen which even belongs in secrecy in my opinion. Right now there’s a government backlash against transparency, but I suspect that it’ll take some tangible negative fallout to turn much of the public against it.
48 comments
Comments feed for this article
December 5, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Anonymous
It’s intriguing to watch politicians try to remove information from the Internet. It’s even more intriguing to watch them refer to a journalist as a terrorist.
December 5, 2010 at 10:31 pm
moviedad
Those who see the leaks as something endangering their loved ones, will not be placated with anything less than espionage charges. I wonder if this will be the precedent setting first case, with the government once again going back to its old tricks of public smearing, and death-penalty trials of US enemies. Think of the ratings.
How far we have fallen. Wasn’t that long ago it was elite government officials under the glare of courtroom cameras. It was Nixon defending his honor. Look at us now.
If anything, this episode has shown how little internet sovereignty exists. All it takes is a visit from US henchmen, and Wham! you’re done.
Those of us who believe the public airways are the true means of maintaining democracy, have lost a lot in recent FCC rulings. No links, too depressing.
Assange is pretty ballsy. The “pervert” label will go over big in America. Think of the ratings.
December 5, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Tom Sebourn
A CIA operative was outed by the White House, no one went to jail.
US Senator, Eric Cantor on foreign soil says he will work against our president to see that the agenda of another country (Israel) prevails over the US and nothing happens you have to ask, why all the fuss over Julian Assange? Is treason really treason? Assange is not even a US political figure, much less a US Citizen.
We seem to be turning the Republic into one with a double standard when it comes to law enforcement.
Maybe Liberman made a phone call that got Cantor a pass as well as Carl Rove. I wish Bernie Sanders was the Independent senator with all the power.
December 5, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Tom Sebourn
I mean, I wish Bearnie were and Joe was.
December 5, 2010 at 11:58 pm
moviedad
Not to be too alarmist, but what could a Hitler have accomplished if he owned Google and used it as a weapon. What will be the extreme of governmental/corporate control of internet speed, connection and content. It is already just an illusion of free access to information. These days the very word: “free” anything had better be on a cereal box.
December 6, 2010 at 1:32 am
Anonymous
Dr. No was the guy with the metal hand. I think you mean Dr. Blofield. He had the cat.
December 6, 2010 at 3:16 am
Anonymous
Anonymous 1:32am I think you are correct (aboaut the James Bond trivia).
So Erik if I hacked into your business e-mail and put those documents on a website accessible to just about everyone you’d be OK with that?
Of course you wouldn’t. You’d be outraged, pissed off, mad as hell, and you’d want my head on a platter. So explain the difference between your business e-mail and goverrment secret documents? I don’t have a law degree so I need things to be explained in simple words.
As you mentioned Mr. Assange is wanted by the Swedes for “sexual assault”, gee and I thought it was RAPE. And the wonderful Mr. Assange has threatened to release more information with his “insurance” if he is arrested or his website is tampered with or zapped, or whatever you call it if/when the G. takes down a website. So does this mean that if he gets arrested on the Swedish Rape warrant he will retaliate aginst the U.S. by putting more government documents on the web? Could you call that extortion?
My opinion, Mr. Assange should surrender himself to the Swedes and deal with that, especially if he is innocent.
Other than that if the Government can zap his website then I hope they do. I would also hope that if the Army Private that leaked the information is convicted by Court Martial he will be executed. Harsh!? Yes I know but I still feel that Jane Fonda deserves 10 -20 years in Dannbury for her misdeeds of 1972.
And Eric it’s your “opinion” that most of the information doesn’t belong in “secrecy”. I kind of wonder? If hundreds of thousands of documents have been released does that mean you’ve read allo fthem, most of them ????? Or are you basing your “opinion” on less than one tenth of one percent of the leaked info that you know of? Is that the “progressive” way?
It is my opinion that Mr. Assange is an “enemy of the state” and should be dealt with as such.
December 6, 2010 at 8:49 am
Erasmus
Hitler didn’t need the internet — he had radio, a medium that facilitated the mesmerizing effect he had on Germany. (A disembodied voice is far more powerful than one attached to a visible face. See how well Chaplin satirized Hitler in “The Great Dictator,” see how quickly Joe McCarthy lost his luster when his hearings were televised.) — I’m surprised at Eric Kirk’s cavalier attitude to Wikileaks. The frank assessments of foreign leaders merited the obscurity of secrecy. In the future, diplomats will be much less forthright in their communications, and lack of transparency will be more zealously protected. Assange will have the opposite effect of what he desires. The blowback from this affair will be with us for many years. May Sweden treat him as he deserves!
December 6, 2010 at 9:00 am
Dave Kirby
It turns out that 911 was the event that opened the door for the massive disclosure of info on wikileaks. In the followup investigation it was determined that there was a lot of intelligence out there that may have prevented the attack but the various agencies were not sharing what they had with other. In order remedy that the government set up a secret web net that could be accessed by anyone with the appropriate security clearance. The army enlisted man who released the data to wiki could could do a “google” search on any subject and anything known on that subject would be available to him. I suspect that any country with even modest tech capabilities could has already hacked this stuff. A lot of huffing and puffing about this. Newt “the wind bag” Gingrich is calling Assange an enemy combatant.
December 6, 2010 at 9:21 am
Rose
Wait ’til Assange’s ties to Soros come to light. All you guys who hate the rich and the good ol’ boys sure have no problem with that guy. Kinda funny really. Funny the way you allow yourselves to be manipulated. So predictable.
December 6, 2010 at 9:51 am
Eric Kirk
Not to be too alarmist, but what could a Hitler have accomplished if he owned Google and used it as a weapon.
Well, it might have actually prevented much of what he accomplished as well. The holocaust wouldn’t have been such a “secret” with the Internet, even if Google collaborated with Nazi censorship as they’ve done for China.
So Erik if I hacked into your business e-mail and put those documents on a website accessible to just about everyone you’d be OK with that?
Of course you wouldn’t. You’d be outraged, pissed off, mad as hell, and you’d want my head on a platter. So explain the difference between your business e-mail and goverrment secret documents? I don’t have a law degree so I need things to be explained in simple words.
The difference is that my business is not government representing several hundred million people and claiming transparency. I should also note that while I would be “outraged,” I would also not be implicated in the violation of treaties and international law.
As you mentioned Mr. Assange is wanted by the Swedes for “sexual assault”, gee and I thought it was RAPE.
Not necessarily, but very serious nonetheless.
And the wonderful Mr. Assange has threatened to release more information with his “insurance” if he is arrested or his website is tampered with or zapped, or whatever you call it if/when the G. takes down a website. So does this mean that if he gets arrested on the Swedish Rape warrant he will retaliate aginst the U.S. by putting more government documents on the web? Could you call that extortion?
Well, maybe. Generally speaking, extortion involves the taking of money or property due to threat of force, and “force” can have broad meaning, including such acts as turning someone in for a crime, or threatening to ruin one’s business (although the courts have to be very careful with the definition of the latter). But some statutes actually hold that it is not extortion if the money or property belongs to the aggressor, or the aggressor reasonably believes the money or property belongs to him/her.
I suspect that Assange’s threat would be closer to blackmail since he is not demanding money or property, except that there may be a similar defense in that he would not be guilty if he reasonably believes that he is not lawfully subject to arrest.
But whether it is legally extortion/blackmail, is it morally so? You could make the argument that if he believes that the records should be released he should simply release them, and if he does not that he should not threaten an action he himself believes is wrong simply to avoid arrest. I would agree with that argument, although I don’t know enough about his threat to render a judgment.
Other than that if the Government can zap his website then I hope they do. I would also hope that if the Army Private that leaked the information is convicted by Court Martial he will be executed. Harsh!? Yes I know but I still feel that Jane Fonda deserves 10 -20 years in Dannbury for her misdeeds of 1972.
Yes, harsh. But then I oppose the death penalty anyway.
So what exactly did Jane Fonda do for which she deserves jail?
And Eric it’s your “opinion” that most of the information doesn’t belong in “secrecy”. I kind of wonder? If hundreds of thousands of documents have been released does that mean you’ve read allo fthem, most of them ????? Or are you basing your “opinion” on less than one tenth of one percent of the leaked info that you know of? Is that the “progressive” way?
I believe my statement was referring to the documents I have seen, but I’ll add to the list the documents which have been summarized by media sources assuming that those summaries and descriptions are accurate. As for those I haven’t seen, well, I am not a political conservative so I am not an expert on things I know nothing about.
Wait ’til Assange’s ties to Soros come to light. All you guys who hate the rich and the good ol’ boys sure have no problem with that guy. Kinda funny really. Funny the way you allow yourselves to be manipulated. So predictable.
Ah! See? Soros is Dr. Blofield! Assange is Dr. No!
I’m surprised at Eric Kirk’s cavalier attitude to Wikileaks. The frank assessments of foreign leaders merited the obscurity of secrecy. In the future, diplomats will be much less forthright in their communications, and lack of transparency will be more zealously protected. Assange will have the opposite effect of what he desires. The blowback from this affair will be with us for many years. May Sweden treat him as he deserves!
I believe I said that in a previous thread, and someone nearly accused me of being a neocon in response. Can’t win for losing!
And you know, I’m not indifferent to the situation, but our government could have avoided any of this by following treaties and international law and maintaining a firewall between diplomacy and espionage.
Gingrich is calling Assange an enemy combatant.
Now there’s a calm voice to invoke!
December 6, 2010 at 9:54 am
Joe Blow
The light and enlightened ALWAYS scares the hell out all those wannabe elitists skulking around in the dark promoting their filthy lies. You can try to vilify the messenger all you want, but in this case, you can’t do anything about the facts. 2,000 years of Dark Age religious rule was enough.
December 6, 2010 at 10:03 am
Eric Kirk
Joe, technically speaking the Dark Ages ranged from the mid 5th century (the fall of Rome) to the reign of Charlemagne which was the late 8th century, although some historians carry it over for a couple of additional centuries. The term was coined during the middle ages by contemporary historians, so our modern references incorporating the middle ages are erroneous, though some amateur historians mark the Renaissance as the end of the Dark Ages. I guess it depends on your definition.
December 6, 2010 at 11:44 am
Moonshadow
personally I do not think the leaks perpetrated by Manning, Assange, and Wikileaks is at all similar to that of the Pentagon Papers. This appears to me to be a selfish, ego driven, act by several individuals with delusions of their heroic importance.
While not much of what has been released so far has been all that damaging some has. AND . . . a new release seems to be very damaging to the national security of the USA . . .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/12/06/national/w095215S45.DTL&tsp=1
The more I read the more I hear the less I like what Pvt. Manning did and Mr. Assange facilitated. At the moment, despite my governmental skepticism and leftist views, I think they should be prosecuted and imprisoned for their acts.
December 6, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Joe Blow
Eric, Yeah! So, what’s your point?
December 6, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Eric Kirk
Joe – that the Dark Age was not 2000 years long.
Moonshadow – in order to prosecute, a law has to be broken, and the end of the article suggests that they are still fishing. This morning it was reported that Scotland Yard has a warrant out for him, but I don’t know what laws he is suspected of breaking unless there are sexual assault allegations coming from there as well.
The points of the article are well taken, especially in that the release was so indiscriminate that some information is ONLY of use to people who want to cause damage. However, I disagree that this release hasn’t resulted in the publication of information which is justified. That we continue, through three administrations, to employ diplomats as spies, is relevant to policy discussions and should be of concern to everyone.
Assange cannot be prosecuted for receiving stolen property by the way. That was decided decades ago by the Supreme Court, even before the Pentagon papers. They might get the insider, but it’s looking like Assange is immune, since he can’t be tried for treason.
December 6, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Erasmus
Is anyone really surprised by “news” of spying among diplomats? As former Irish diplomat Eamon Delaney writes in The Irish Times: Here’s a news flash: Allies spy on each other all the time. And even your closest friends find some things about you annoying. The leaked cables are not going to derail any urgent US policies.
December 6, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Anonymous
Is anyone really surprised by “news” of spying among diplomats?
I am. I think it’s very dangerous and can put our legitimate diplomats at risk.
December 6, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Joe Blow
Eric, I guess I should expect that from you. From where I stand the Dark Ages are still getting darker and darker. All I have to do is read your blog and many of the comments. Point in fact: “The leaked cables are not going to derail any urgent US policies.” It’s NOT the US policies that the issue. It’s the World’s policies, but then you can’t expect Dark Age people to understand such things since they only live in the dark. If I offended someone with a worthless opinion – I apologize.
By the way, Obama just sold you all out to his and your Masters! How’s that for an urgent US policy?
December 6, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Moonshadow
@Erasmus . . . you’re absolutely correct about allies spying on one another all the time. I’ve got no issue with that. My issue is with Pvt Manning and Wikileaks taking these “classified” cables and just spreading them around to all and sundry. Certainly some (perhaps most) of the information is, in the long term view, no big deal, but then there’s information such as detailed in the article I linked to earlier . . (eg: undersea communications lines, mines, antivenin factories and suppliers of food and manufacturing materials).
It may be information that is known to our enemies (al Qaida and the like) but just tossing it out there in such a cavalier way potentially endangers us all.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/12/06/national/w095215S45.DTL#ixzz17NepGsQP
December 6, 2010 at 5:13 pm
an only mouse
somebody wrote: “As you mentioned Mr. Assange is wanted by the Swedes for “sexual assault”, gee and I thought it was RAPE. ”
I have seen pix of mr. assange. he doesnt look that tough and there were two women involved in what is reported as “not entirely consentual” acts. smells like a conspiracy to shut the man up to me.
on the merits: we need less secrecy. Democracy dies in the dark, and ours is truly flailing as i write. Go Mr. Assange Go.
though i do pray you are not a sexual deviant. I had enough of that in the 90′s with Clinton, the he.
December 6, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Anonymous
That’s a good one Eric!! What did Jane Fonda do. Like lyou don’t know of or maybe even remember Hanoi Jane. If nothing else there are the photos and her lame apology. But of coures lyou knew that.
December 6, 2010 at 7:12 pm
olmanriver
“Admire him or revile him, WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange is the prophet of a coming age of involuntary transparency, the leader of an organization devoted to divulging the world’s secrets using technology unimagined a generation ago.”
The Forbes interview with Assange.
December 6, 2010 at 8:05 pm
moviedad
Either way the guy has put his life on the line. Seems like the sex charge is slow to build. I don’t see how any of this stuff endangers our people anymore than unqualified support of Israel whenever it commits its atrocities.
I’m having a hard time getting all worked up to a patriotic frenzy calling for Traitor’s blood, when to me it is our leaders who are the traitors. Every action they take is another nail in the coffin of my country. Those leaders serve the Corporations who have done more for China than they have done for America.
Now with the corrupt court, the Highest Bidder elections, say goodbye to any chance of a rich, fulfilling lives for our kids and their kids. Of course that means nothing to the cheerleaders and rabid supporters of corporate dominance and economic dictatorship. They can’t cash it out in one business quarter, so of course, it doesn’t exist.
I just can’t get used to people working so hard against anyone who suggests we deserve better.
The ‘Jews for Hitler’ comparison is so apt, that I just can’t think of anything that describes it better.
It’s all so depressing. There is a real meanness creeping in lately. The truly self-hating are just now learning about the injustice and the infanticide committed by our heavy-handed, death-mongering actions; and they’re OK with it. Who are these thugs?
December 6, 2010 at 9:08 pm
Anonymous
NPR is full of character assassination of Assange, but I am pretty sure that is where I heard (but only once) that the “sexual assault” charge in Sweden was for having consensual sex without a condom.
December 6, 2010 at 9:24 pm
an only mouse
that, olmanriver, was a delicious read.
thanks for the link.
i really do pray the man is not a sexual deviant because i really like him. he makes utter sense to me. he is an anarchist the way i see anarchy: people who dont need a policeman to tell them right from wrong. (robbed that from utah phillips)
oh what a lovely juicy read.
oh, and the chronical tells me today that corporations are hiring investigators to watch for hooky playing execs, so why wouldnt corporations also investigate up a couple of women who dont remember actually “saying” yes– to at least slow this guy down?
December 6, 2010 at 9:37 pm
crow girl
”During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”
-George Orwell
December 6, 2010 at 9:40 pm
an only mouse
here is a Der Spiegel interview with the man who left WikiLeaks. http://cryptome.org/0002/schmitt-spiegel.htm
less interesting, but give a back door view on assange. a gossipy view, if you will.
December 6, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Moonshadow
@anonymous (9:08) said: I heard (but only once) that the “sexual assault” charge in Sweden was for having consensual sex without a condom.
It was for refusing to stop once the women said NO after the condom broke or was taken off. Remember NO means NO!
December 6, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Eric Kirk
I have seen pix of mr. assange. he doesnt look that tough and there were two women involved in what is reported as “not entirely consentual” acts. smells like a conspiracy to shut the man up to me.
That would be a pretty lame conspiracy.
Is anyone really surprised by “news” of spying among diplomats?
That’s really beside the point. It’s illegal and it shouldn’t be done, and I think it’s fair game for public disclosure if discovered by the media.
Eric, I guess I should expect that from you. From where I stand the Dark Ages are still getting darker and darker.
Uh, okay Joe. Did they begin with the theory of evolution or the heliocentric solar system? Maybe the discovery of electricity or penicillin?
That’s a good one Eric!! What did Jane Fonda do. Like lyou don’t know of or maybe even remember Hanoi Jane. If nothing else there are the photos and her lame apology. But of coures lyou knew that.
Yes, I knew that she went to Hanoi. But what did she do that was illegal?
“Admire him or revile him, WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange is the prophet of a coming age of involuntary transparency, the leader of an organization devoted to divulging the world’s secrets using technology unimagined a generation ago.”
Probably true, and hopefully we survive it without too much bloodshed. We are in a new era.
December 6, 2010 at 9:50 pm
tra
Crow Girl:
That Orwell quote really does capture the essence of the current situation. Thanks for posting it.
December 6, 2010 at 9:57 pm
mresquan
“and hopefully we survive it without too much bloodshed”
Well I sure feel for Manning,who may lose his life for what he did,and was a bit more heroic that Assange,imho.
December 6, 2010 at 10:09 pm
tra
Eric: I don’t know if there’s any kind of conspiracy involved in the sex charges, but if there is, then it has been at least somewhat successful in providing a distraction from the story about the leaks themselves, and putting Assange on the defensive and in danger of being arrested at any time.
If he’s arrested in Britain (or wherever) and transferred to Sweden on the sex charges, he could potentially be held without bail due to flight risk, and then the U.S. and it’s embarassed allies would have plenty of time to try to get their act together to get him extradicted to the U.S. to be charged under the Espionage Act, or maybe even just shipped to Bagram or Gitmo for the “enemy combatant” treatment.
And with folks like Moonshadow @ 9:46, who is apparently assuming his guilt already, it makes great PR for the embarassed would-be secret-keeper who want to discredit Assange, and by extension discredit Wikileaks.
Of course I don’t know that he’s innocent, either, and I certainly don’t don’t have any proof that the accusations were concocted as part of a campaign to take him down, but I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility out of hand. Certainly the timing of all this raises questions.
December 6, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Eric Kirk
Well I sure feel for Manning,who may lose his life for what he did,and was a bit more heroic that Assange,imho.
Not likely. About losing his life that is. Heroic? Debatable. Brave? Certainly.
December 6, 2010 at 10:28 pm
mresquan
At this point,it’s being said that he’ll serve 52 years in prison.To me,that’s losing his life.
Here is Greg Palast’s take
December 6, 2010 at 10:37 pm
mresquan
Here is Greg Palast’s take,3rd try,hoping Eric removes the first two.
December 6, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Eric Kirk
Mark, all you have to do is C&P the site address and it’s converted to a blue fonted link automatically.
December 6, 2010 at 10:46 pm
mresquan
Yeah I got it.When I C&P’d the first two times I missed taking out a quotation mark.
December 7, 2010 at 6:43 am
an only mouse
it may be a lame conspiracy, but even AOL is considering it as a possibility.
“True, one of Assange’s accusers sounds tailor-made for those who think Assange is being set up in Sweden by dark CIA-backed operatives who want him smeared or silenced for his document dumping with WikiLeaks. She’s a 31-year-old blond academic and member of the Social Democratic Party who’s known for her radical feminist views, once wrote a treatise on how to take revenge against men and was once thrown out of Cuba for subversive activities.
But others say Assange, who denies any wrongdoing and says the sex was consensual, may have just run afoul of Sweden’s unusual rape laws, which are considered pro-feminist because of the consideration given issues of consent when it comes to sexual activity — including even the issue of whether a condom was used.’
here is alink to the entire piece http://news.aol.ca/ca/article/sex-by-surprise-at-heart-of-assange-criminal-probe/19743210
Ned Kelly Lives!!
December 7, 2010 at 7:45 am
Moonshadow
an only mouse @6:43 said (or pasted): But others say Assange, who denies any wrongdoing and says the sex was consensual, may have just run afoul of Sweden’s unusual rape laws, which are considered pro-feminist because of the consideration given issues of consent when it comes to sexual activity — including even the issue of whether a condom was used.
Hmmmm we should have rape laws like that here. Consent and condoms are a very good thing. A woman should be able to say NO at any point and if her wishes are ignored the the man should answer to the law for that. There’s nothing unusual about that . . . other than Sweden is probably the only place where it is written into the law.
December 7, 2010 at 7:53 am
Eric Kirk
He’s been arrested.Edit: He surrendered himself to British police. An important distinction.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40544697/ns/us_news-wikileaks_in_security/
December 7, 2010 at 9:07 am
Joe Blow
Eric, Dark Age “THINKING” = Barbaric lawless Elitist rule by despots incapable of thinking, only believing in their superiority – torturing, murdering, persecuting at will, waging illegal wars, all in the name of some God. America, with complicit help from collaborating “allies,” has for the past 12 years, in particular, imposed this, these DARK AGES, upon the world and this country as well. The U.S. Constitution is only worth the paper its written on when ALL the people defend and enforce it. That means they FIRST must be able to understand those laws and concepts so that they can comply WITH them. That is the free “vote” every American has that is their FIRST responsibility to cast. Enforcing de fact anarchy and allowing the government to shred that Constitution with its majority rule delegitimizes this country’s universal right of existence. NO Dark Age “thinker” or “believer” can understand or comprehend, let alone accept, that simple truth.
You and most people on this blog talk about the illegal treatment of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange as if it is just another comic incident at the park. With one or two rare exceptions, none of you have a clue and furthermore, none of you are willing to deal with any of these issues when presented. When Julian Assange ends up in American hands for some trumped up charge everyone one of you can start worrying about when some of these righteous thugs comes to your home in the middle of the night and that’s the last anyone hears of you. DARK AGES, Eric.
December 7, 2010 at 9:13 am
Joe Blow
By the way, Eric, here is a good example of how the world deals with illegitimate people occupying land or countries:
Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay Recognize Palestinian State in Occupied Territories
They recognize the legitimate people and isolate illegitimate. WikiLeaks just kicked this process in the backside.
December 7, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Eric Kirk
Now Lieberman is after the NY Times.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/lieberman_nyt_may_have_committed_crime_by_publishi.php?ref=fpb
December 7, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Moonshadow
I suppose the NYTimes should count themselves lucky that they’re not in the UK where the press laws are much more stringent.
December 8, 2010 at 12:28 am
Eric Kirk
Here’s as detailed an account of the charges against him (I’m not sure if charges have been filed as the various accounts differ as to whether he is facing charges or just questioning – and I’ve never heard of an international dragnet search for someone wanted for questioning) as I can find. Not much there really. One woman says he tore a condom on purpose, and the other says she was forcibly raped, but doesn’t really describe it in those terms, but instead says the sex was nonconsensual.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/07/rape-claims-julian-assange
I don’t know what to make of it, and I’m uncomfortable with the attacks on these women I’m finding around the Internet, including some tenuous political stigmatizing. Having written an essay on post-Castro Cuba, for instance, does not make one a CIA agent. The timing of the search and arrest is suspect, but apparently the wheels were spinning as early as August.
Is he guilty? I certainly don’t have the facts to make any such judgment. But I’m content to let the Swedish legal system sort it out, at least for now.
December 8, 2010 at 9:50 am
Joe Blow
Eric, “Is he guilty? I certainly don’t have the facts to make any such judgment. But I’m content to let the Swedish legal system sort it out, at least for now.” Probably, second only to American law and courts, the Swedish legal system is one of the worst in the world. All that’s going on is codifying anarchy – real reassuring!
December 8, 2010 at 10:00 am
Moonshadow
Uh Joe Blow . . . what evidence do you and can put up here that the US and Swedish legal systems are among the worst in the World??