Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, who has been leaking secret U. S. documents on his news website, was arraigned and denied bail in a court in London, England after turning himself in to Scotland Yard. Assange is accused of four sex crimes which allegedly occurred in Sweden in August of this year.
In the first instance a woman is alleging that on August 14th Mr. Assange held her down with his body weight, and sexually penetrated her without using a condom. Evidently the penetration wasn’t the problem but rather the fact that he had not used a condom as she requested. This act apparently encompasses two of the charges. I guess he should have let her be on top which would have reverted responsibility for the lack of the condom over to her.
Making the third charge in the next instance, it is alleged that on August 18th Mr. Assange deliberately molested the same woman. I guess she came back to try and get it right the second time.
For the fourth charge it is alleged that on August 17th Mr. Assange had intercourse with a second woman without a condom while she was asleep. Does anybody reading this believe one word of these allegations? It might be prudent to note that these two women know each other and did not have a problem with Mr. Assange until each found out that he had been having sex with the other.
Mr. Assange asserted at his hearing that he would be fighting extradition to Sweden as he believes the charges against him are politically motivated. Assange’s attorney, Mark Stephens, reiterated his client’s assertions that the charges are bogus and added that he feared that if his client was returned to Sweden he might be moved to a third location by the Swedish government where he would be tortured. Apparently during the Bush era there were other political dissidents imprisoned in Sweden that were removed to other locations to be tortured.
United States government officials are working frantically to create new laws to prosecute Mr. Assange under, as they can find no existing laws that he has broken. This whole scenario is an outrage. Julian Assange is a member of the press and as such is protected under our First Amendment. He has had his bank accounts frozen and his PayPal account canceled in a deliberate attack on his news site.
There have been several instances in our country in the past few years where well known sports figures have had the same sort of allegations leveled at them as have been brought against Mr. Assange. Not only were their bank accounts not ceased, but they were allowed bail.
Judge Napolitano, of Fox Business News, was very vocal in his defense of Assange and asked what this country is coming to, and I’m left to wonder the same. At a time when every news person should have been coming out in staunch defense of Mr. Assange’s right to publish the truth, they were attacking him like a pack of hyenas attack one of their own when it becomes wounded.