WikiLeaks denies claims of rape
Source: Agencies |
August 22, 2010, Sunday
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Swedish prosecutors withdrew an arrest warrant for the founder of WikiLeaks yesterday, saying less than a day after the document was issued that it was based on an unfounded rape accusation.
The accusation had been labeled a dirty trick by Julian Assange and his group, who are preparing to release a fresh batch of classified United States documents about the Afghan war.
Swedish prosecutors had urged Assange -- a nomadic 39-year-old Australian whose whereabouts were unclear -- to turn himself in to police to face questioning in one case involving suspicion of rape and another based on an accusation of molestation.
"I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape," chief prosecutor Eva Finne said, in announcing the withdrawal of the warrant. She did not address the status of the molestation case, a less serious charge that would not lead to an arrest warrant.
Assange had dismissed the rape allegations in a statement on WikiLeaks' Twitter page, saying: "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing." His whereabouts were not immediately known.
He was in Sweden last week seeking legal protection for the whistle-blower website, which angered the Obama administration by publishing thousands of leaked documents about US military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The first files in Wikileaks' "Afghan War Diary" revealed classified military documents covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. WikiLeaks plans to release a new batch of 15,000 documents within weeks. The Pentagon says the information could risk the lives of US troops and their Afghan helpers and have demanded WikiLeaks return them and remove them from the Internet.
Assange has no permanent address and travels frequently -- jumping from one friend's place to the next. He disappears from public view for months at a time, only to reappear in the full glare of the cameras at packed news conferences to discuss his site's latest disclosure.
Assange was in Sweden last week partly to apply for a publishing certificate to make sure the website can take full advantage of Swedish laws protecting whistle-blowers.
He also spoke at a seminar hosted by the Christian faction of the opposition Social Democratic party.
The accusation had been labeled a dirty trick by Julian Assange and his group, who are preparing to release a fresh batch of classified United States documents about the Afghan war.
Swedish prosecutors had urged Assange -- a nomadic 39-year-old Australian whose whereabouts were unclear -- to turn himself in to police to face questioning in one case involving suspicion of rape and another based on an accusation of molestation.
"I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape," chief prosecutor Eva Finne said, in announcing the withdrawal of the warrant. She did not address the status of the molestation case, a less serious charge that would not lead to an arrest warrant.
Assange had dismissed the rape allegations in a statement on WikiLeaks' Twitter page, saying: "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing." His whereabouts were not immediately known.
He was in Sweden last week seeking legal protection for the whistle-blower website, which angered the Obama administration by publishing thousands of leaked documents about US military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The first files in Wikileaks' "Afghan War Diary" revealed classified military documents covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. WikiLeaks plans to release a new batch of 15,000 documents within weeks. The Pentagon says the information could risk the lives of US troops and their Afghan helpers and have demanded WikiLeaks return them and remove them from the Internet.
Assange has no permanent address and travels frequently -- jumping from one friend's place to the next. He disappears from public view for months at a time, only to reappear in the full glare of the cameras at packed news conferences to discuss his site's latest disclosure.
Assange was in Sweden last week partly to apply for a publishing certificate to make sure the website can take full advantage of Swedish laws protecting whistle-blowers.
He also spoke at a seminar hosted by the Christian faction of the opposition Social Democratic party.
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