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Sweden Reopens Rape Case Against Julian Assange
7-9 minutes
The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a police van after he was arrested by the British police at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London last month.CreditHenry Nicholls/Reuters
Image
The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a police van after he was arrested by the British police at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London last month.CreditCreditHenry Nicholls/Reuters
The Swedish authorities announced on Monday that they would reopen an investigation into a rape allegation against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, who is serving a prison term in Britain for jumping bail as the United States seeks his extradition over accusations that he tried to assist in a huge breach of classified data.
The United States has already begun trying to extradite Mr. Assange, an effort that was expected to be prolonged and complex even before the announcement in Stockholm on Monday.
British officials will determine which case takes precedence, Swedish prosecutors said, adding that if Mr. Assange were eventually extradited to Sweden, he could not be sent to the United States without the consent of Britain.
The investigation stems from an accusation in August 2010 made by a Swedish woman who said Mr. Assange had sexually assaulted her.
Mr. Assange was removed from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London last month and promptly arrested, seven years after seeking refuge to avoid extradition in an earlier Swedish investigation into the same case. He was then sentenced to 50 weeks for jumping bail.
With Mr. Assange in custody, the United States began the extradition process on a conspiracy charge — punishable by up to five years in prison — over his alleged attempt to assist in one of the largest leaks of classified materials in American history.
On Monday, Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, announced the decision to reopen the Swedish investigation at a news conference in Stockholm. She said the authorities there were acting because there was still probable cause to suspect that Mr. Assange had committed the crime.
“I take the view that there exists the possibility to take the case forward,” Ms. Persson said.
The decision to reopen the investigation is not equivalent to making a decision to indict Mr. Assange, she said, but a European arrest warrant will be issued so that the Swedish authorities can take him into custody and question him.
Per Samuelsson, Mr. Assange’s Swedish lawyer, said he was surprised by the decision to reopen the investigation. “It’s not proportionate,” Mr. Samuelsson said. “To force him to concentrate on this old investigation is highly unreasonable.”
The Swedish authorities began investigating the WikiLeaks founder in 2010, after two women accused him of assaulting them during separate sexual encounters while he was visiting Stockholm.
The Swedish authorities issued a European arrest warrant in seeking his extradition from Britain for questioning over “suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual molestation and illegal coercion.”
Mr. Assange was arrested by the British police in 2011, and after a series of failed appeals while he was out on bail, he fled to the Ecuadorean Embassy to avoid extradition.
Sweden dropped the initial investigation in May 2017, after concluding that there was no way to proceed with the case as long as Mr. Assange was holed up in the embassy. Prosecutors indicated at the time that they reserved the right to reopen their inquiry.
Video
Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, announced on Monday that the country would reopen an investigation into a rape allegation against Julian Assange.CreditCreditJonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Last month, days after Mr. Assange was removed from the embassy, having worn out his welcome with his hosts, Sweden announced that a lawyer requested that the investigation be reopened into the accusation of rape brought by one of the women.
The prosecution still falls within the country’s 10-year statute of limitations; it has already passed for the sexual molestation and unlawful coercion accusations.
The same day Mr. Assange was removed from the embassy, the United States unsealed an indictment against him on a charge that stems from a leak of hundreds of thousands of documents, mostly related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which were published by WikiLeaks.
The American authorities have accused Mr. Assange of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, to crack an encoded password that would have permitted her to log into a classified Pentagon network under someone else’s identity.
At Mr. Assange’s first hearing in the extradition case, he told the judge that he did not wish to surrender to the United States to be prosecuted for what he called “journalism that has won many awards.”
Ms. Persson, the Swedish prosecutor, said that because Mr. Assange has been convicted of a crime in Britain, he would serve at least 25 weeks of his sentence. The Swedish authorities hope to question Mr. Assange while he is still in British detention, Ms. Persson said, but that would require his consent.
She also said that it would be up to Britain to determine whether the United States’ extradition request or the Swedish investigation takes precedence.
Mr. Assange’s fate could ultimately lie with Sajid Javid, Britain’s home secretary. In the case of multiple extradition requests for one individual, the home secretary may defer proceedings on one of the requests until the other has been completed.
Assuming Sweden submits a European arrest warrant, its claim would most likely take precedence, said Michael O’Kane, a British extradition lawyer. “Arguably the rape allegation is more serious,” Mr. O’Kane said.
The arrest warrant and extradition requests will first proceed through the British court system, a process that could take six months to a year.
One of Mr. Assange’s accusers in Sweden, Anna Ardin, has publicly identified herself. She told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that Mr. Assange was “a man who has a twisted attitude toward women.”
Last month, Ms. Ardin tweeted, “For me this was never about anything else than his misconduct against me/women and his refusal to take responsibility for this.”
Mr. Assange and his supporters have long maintained that the accusations were attempts to discredit him and said that the efforts to extradite him to Sweden were a pretext to send him to the United States.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, said in a statement released shortly after the Swedish prosecutors’ announcement that reopening the case “will give Julian a chance to clear his name.”
Christina Anderson and Iliana Magra contributed reporting.
=====
Sweden Reopens Rape Case Against Julian Assange
7-9 minutes
The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a police van after he was arrested by the British police at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London last month.CreditHenry Nicholls/Reuters
Image
The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a police van after he was arrested by the British police at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London last month.CreditCreditHenry Nicholls/Reuters
The Swedish authorities announced on Monday that they would reopen an investigation into a rape allegation against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, who is serving a prison term in Britain for jumping bail as the United States seeks his extradition over accusations that he tried to assist in a huge breach of classified data.
The United States has already begun trying to extradite Mr. Assange, an effort that was expected to be prolonged and complex even before the announcement in Stockholm on Monday.
British officials will determine which case takes precedence, Swedish prosecutors said, adding that if Mr. Assange were eventually extradited to Sweden, he could not be sent to the United States without the consent of Britain.
The investigation stems from an accusation in August 2010 made by a Swedish woman who said Mr. Assange had sexually assaulted her.
Mr. Assange was removed from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London last month and promptly arrested, seven years after seeking refuge to avoid extradition in an earlier Swedish investigation into the same case. He was then sentenced to 50 weeks for jumping bail.
With Mr. Assange in custody, the United States began the extradition process on a conspiracy charge — punishable by up to five years in prison — over his alleged attempt to assist in one of the largest leaks of classified materials in American history.
On Monday, Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, announced the decision to reopen the Swedish investigation at a news conference in Stockholm. She said the authorities there were acting because there was still probable cause to suspect that Mr. Assange had committed the crime.
“I take the view that there exists the possibility to take the case forward,” Ms. Persson said.
The decision to reopen the investigation is not equivalent to making a decision to indict Mr. Assange, she said, but a European arrest warrant will be issued so that the Swedish authorities can take him into custody and question him.
Per Samuelsson, Mr. Assange’s Swedish lawyer, said he was surprised by the decision to reopen the investigation. “It’s not proportionate,” Mr. Samuelsson said. “To force him to concentrate on this old investigation is highly unreasonable.”
The Swedish authorities began investigating the WikiLeaks founder in 2010, after two women accused him of assaulting them during separate sexual encounters while he was visiting Stockholm.
The Swedish authorities issued a European arrest warrant in seeking his extradition from Britain for questioning over “suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual molestation and illegal coercion.”
Mr. Assange was arrested by the British police in 2011, and after a series of failed appeals while he was out on bail, he fled to the Ecuadorean Embassy to avoid extradition.
Sweden dropped the initial investigation in May 2017, after concluding that there was no way to proceed with the case as long as Mr. Assange was holed up in the embassy. Prosecutors indicated at the time that they reserved the right to reopen their inquiry.
Video
Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, announced on Monday that the country would reopen an investigation into a rape allegation against Julian Assange.CreditCreditJonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Last month, days after Mr. Assange was removed from the embassy, having worn out his welcome with his hosts, Sweden announced that a lawyer requested that the investigation be reopened into the accusation of rape brought by one of the women.
The prosecution still falls within the country’s 10-year statute of limitations; it has already passed for the sexual molestation and unlawful coercion accusations.
The same day Mr. Assange was removed from the embassy, the United States unsealed an indictment against him on a charge that stems from a leak of hundreds of thousands of documents, mostly related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which were published by WikiLeaks.
The American authorities have accused Mr. Assange of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, to crack an encoded password that would have permitted her to log into a classified Pentagon network under someone else’s identity.
At Mr. Assange’s first hearing in the extradition case, he told the judge that he did not wish to surrender to the United States to be prosecuted for what he called “journalism that has won many awards.”
Ms. Persson, the Swedish prosecutor, said that because Mr. Assange has been convicted of a crime in Britain, he would serve at least 25 weeks of his sentence. The Swedish authorities hope to question Mr. Assange while he is still in British detention, Ms. Persson said, but that would require his consent.
She also said that it would be up to Britain to determine whether the United States’ extradition request or the Swedish investigation takes precedence.
Mr. Assange’s fate could ultimately lie with Sajid Javid, Britain’s home secretary. In the case of multiple extradition requests for one individual, the home secretary may defer proceedings on one of the requests until the other has been completed.
Assuming Sweden submits a European arrest warrant, its claim would most likely take precedence, said Michael O’Kane, a British extradition lawyer. “Arguably the rape allegation is more serious,” Mr. O’Kane said.
The arrest warrant and extradition requests will first proceed through the British court system, a process that could take six months to a year.
One of Mr. Assange’s accusers in Sweden, Anna Ardin, has publicly identified herself. She told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that Mr. Assange was “a man who has a twisted attitude toward women.”
Last month, Ms. Ardin tweeted, “For me this was never about anything else than his misconduct against me/women and his refusal to take responsibility for this.”
Mr. Assange and his supporters have long maintained that the accusations were attempts to discredit him and said that the efforts to extradite him to Sweden were a pretext to send him to the United States.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, said in a statement released shortly after the Swedish prosecutors’ announcement that reopening the case “will give Julian a chance to clear his name.”
Christina Anderson and Iliana Magra contributed reporting.
