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https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikilea...

by thg 6y ago

DavidVoid 6y ago
> But she said that during sex, Assange had intentionally broken the condom. If that is true, then it is, of course, a sexual offense – so-called «stealthing». According to Swedish law, stealthing is rape. So even if neither of the women believe that they were raped, if the circumstances they describe would be seen as rape according to Swedish law, then Assange should be investigated. However, Assange should definitely have retained anonymity during those investigations. The Swedish police have been pretty incompetent (it certainly wouldn't be the first time [1]), but it is highly misleading to claim that the rape story was completely fabricated. > A legal representative by the name of Claes Borgström was appointed to the two women at public cost. The man was a law firm partner to the previous justice minister, Thomas Bodström, under whose supervision Swedish security personnel had seized two men who the U.S. found suspicious in the middle of Stockholm. The men were seized without any kind of legal proceedings and then handed over to the CIA, who proceeded to torture them. That shows the trans-Atlantic backdrop to this affair more clearly. The "Egypt affair" is well-known in Sweden precisely because it's the only such case. It happened shortly after 9/11 in 2001 and the people responsible for it are no longer involved in politics (the Minister for Foreign Affairs who ultimately made the decision to deport Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad Alzery has been dead since 2003 [2]). So to make the claim that Assange would automatically have been extradited to the US had Sweden arrested him is not a fair claim to make imo. Like I wrote earlier: the police have definitely mishandled the case, but I doubt that there's been any kind of conspiracy involved from the start. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Holm%C3%A9r https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Holm%C3%A9r [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Lindh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Lindh

https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikilea...

by thg 6y ago

https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikilea...

DavidVoid 6y ago

> But she said that during sex, Assange had intentionally broken the condom. If that is true, then it is, of course, a sexual offense – so-called «stealthing». According to Swedish law, stealthing is rape. So even if neither of the women believe that they were raped, if the circumstances they describe would be seen as rape according to Swedish law, then Assange should be investigated. However, Assange should definitely have retained anonymity during those investigations. The Swedish police have been pretty incompetent (it certainly wouldn't be the first time [1]), but it is highly misleading to claim that the rape story was completely fabricated. > A legal representative by the name of Claes Borgström was appointed to the two women at public cost. The man was a law firm partner to the previous justice minister, Thomas Bodström, under whose supervision Swedish security personnel had seized two men who the U.S. found suspicious in the middle of Stockholm. The men were seized without any kind of legal proceedings and then handed over to the CIA, who proceeded to torture them. That shows the trans-Atlantic backdrop to this affair more clearly. The "Egypt affair" is well-known in Sweden precisely because it's the only such case. It happened shortly after 9/11 in 2001 and the people responsible for it are no longer involved in politics (the Minister for Foreign Affairs who ultimately made the decision to deport Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad Alzery has been dead since 2003 [2]). So to make the claim that Assange would automatically have been extradited to the US had Sweden arrested him is not a fair claim to make imo. Like I wrote earlier: the police have definitely mishandled the case, but I doubt that there's been any kind of conspiracy involved from the start. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Holm%C3%A9r https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Holm%C3%A9r [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Lindh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Lindh