Sweden seeks WikiLeaks founder arrest in rape case

[bobdina]

Sweden seeks WikiLeaks founder arrest in rape case
AP

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By KARL RITTER, Associated Press Writer Karl Ritter, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago

STOCKHOLM – The founder of WikiLeaks was accused of rape in a Swedish arrest warrant Saturday that turned the spotlight onto the former hacker who's infuriated governments with his self-proclaimed mission to make secrets public.

The accusation was labeled a dirty trick by Julian Assange and his group, who are preparing to release a fresh batch of classified U.S. documents from the Afghan war.

Swedish prosecutors 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 suspicions of rape and another based on an accusation of molestation.

They issued a warrant for his arrest, a move that doesn't necessarily mean that criminal charges will be filed. Investigators want him in custody because they believe there is a risk he will obstruct the probe by destroying evidence, said Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Prosecution Authority.

"The next step is that we interrogate him," she said. "Then we'll see what happens."

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.

He was in Sweden last week seeking legal protection for the whistle-blower website, which angered the Obama administration for publishing thousands of leaked documents about U.S. military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange 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."

The first files in its "Afghan War Diary" revealed classified military documents covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. Assange said Wednesday that WikiLeaks plans to release a new batch of 15,000 documents from the Afghan war within weeks.

The Pentagon says the information could risk the lives of U.S. troops and their Afghan helpers and have demanded WikiLeaks return all leaked documents and remove them from the Internet.

On its official blog, WikiLeaks appeared to suggest that that work would go on despite the allegations against Assange.

"While Julian is focusing on his defenses and clearing his name, WikiLeaks will be continuing its regular operations," said a statement signed by "The WikiLeaks team."

Little is known about Assange's private life — he declined to talk about his background at a news conference in Stockholm a week ago. Equally secretive is the small team behind WikiLeaks, reportedly just a half-dozen people and casual volunteers who offer their services as needed.

A WikiLeaks spokesman, who says he goes by the name Daniel Schmitt in order to protect his identity, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Iceland that the "extremely serious allegations" came as a complete surprise and that efforts to find lawyers for Assange are under way.

"We are currently looking into the matter," Schmitt said. It will be resolved within the coming weeks and months, he added.

WikiLeaks also commented on the allegations on its Twitter page. Apart from the comment from Assange, the page had a link to an article in Swedish tabloid Expressen, which first reported the allegations.

"We were warned to expect 'dirty tricks.' Now we have the first one," it said.

"Expressen is a tabloid; No one here has been contacted by Swedish police. Needless to say this will prove hugely distracting," said another posting.

Assange was in Sweden last week partly to apply for a publishing certificate to make sure the website, which has servers in Sweden, 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 and announced he would write bimonthly columns for a left-wing Swedish newspaper.

[MickDonalds]

This guy WILL be killed, I'm calling it. Thing is though, he deserves it. If these accusations are true, he deserves it even more.

[windexglow]

Read earlier that they were false. The whole leaking feels like they are just trying to make more money from it as much as possible.

[perocity]

Stockholm, Sweden (CNN) -- Swedish authorities say they have revoked an arrest warrant that had alleged rape against the founder and editor of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.

Assange is "no longer wanted" and "is not suspected of rape," Chief Prosecutor Eva Finne said in a statement posted on the agency's official website Saturday. He is also no longer arrested in absentia, the statement said.

The arrest warrant filed Friday had also mentioned a molestation charge, but molestation -- which is not limited to child victims in Sweden -- is not a crime punishable behind bars in Sweden.

Karin Rosander, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office, told CNN affiliate TV4 that Assange is still being investigated for molestation. Earlier, Rosander told CNN that Assange was arrested in absentia Friday night, and faced charges in relation to two separate instances, but she did not have more detail about when the alleged crimes occurred or who the alleged victims are.

Assange denied the allegations in a posting Saturday on the WikiLeaks Twitter page, saying, "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."

Assange was in Sweden last weekend, but Rosander said it's not clear whether he is still in the country.

She told TV4 that the decision to make the arrest was made by an "on-call prosecutor," and that the arrest was revoked Saturday by the chief prosecutor. Rosander said such differences in prosecutorial judgment are common in Sweden.

She also said she does not believe that Assange had contacted police yet.

An elusive figure, Assange reportedly lives part-time in Sweden. He told the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet this week that he chose Sweden to host several servers for WikiLeaks because of the country's privacy laws.

He also told the paper, in an interview published Monday, that he had been in Sweden because he wanted a safe place to go after the high-profile leak of U.S. documents related to the war in Afghanistan.

A statement was posted by the "WikiLeaks team" on the website earlier Saturday, saying, "We are deeply concerned about the seriousness of these allegations. We the people behind WikiLeaks think highly of Julian and and he has our full support."

WikiLeaks will continue its work as "Julian is focusing on his defenses and clearing his name," the statement said.

WikiLeaks has sparked major controversy by posting some 76,000 pages of those documents online last month, in what was called the biggest leak since the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized the leak, saying it would have a significant negative impact on troops and allies, revealing techniques and procedures.

Assange has defended the leak by saying it can help shape the public's understanding of the war. He said the material was of no operational significance and that WikiLeaks tried to ensure the material did not put innocent people at risk.

Assange reportedly has spent his life developing the tech skills needed to set up WikiLeaks. When he was a teenager in Melbourne, Australia, he belonged to a hacker collective called the International Subversives, according to the magazine Mother Jones.

He eventually pleaded guilty to multiple counts of breaking into Australian government and commercial websites to test their security gaps, but was released on bond for "good behavior," the magazine said.

As WikiLeaks has grown and published increasingly high-profile items, Assange has found himself the target of what he says are many legal attacks -- though not necessarily of the type he now faces in Sweden.

"In my role as Wikileaks editor, I've been involved in fighting off many legal attacks," Assange said in an e-mail to the BBC earlier this year. "To do that, and keep our sources safe, we have had to spread assets, encrypt everything, and move telecommunications and people around the world to activate protective laws in different national jurisdictions.

"We've become good at it, and never lost a case, or a source, but we can't expect everyone to go through the extraordinary efforts that we do."

In a news conference following the release of the Afghan documents, Assange said the site has 800 part-time volunteers and a loose network of 70,000 "supporters."

[Stark]

That makes the frontlines hahah wtf... I am sure he will find a way to blame the US army for this ::)

I cannot wait to see the conspiracy nuts going apeshit over this.

[Toki]

This guy WILL be killed, I'm calling it. Thing is though, he deserves it. If these accusations are true, he deserves it even more.

Can't say I disagree.

[MickDonalds]

Oh Sweden....I was beginning to think you had two good things: Death Metal and Justice, but I guess I was wrong. Therefore, as I originally thought, the only good thing coming out of Sweden is Death Metal.

[b__Rad]

Those charges well at least the rape charge has been withdrawn by Swedish prosecutors. So he now is without a warrant. He's one lucky pedophile/sexual predator..