Assange's London attorney, Mark Stephens, told AOL News today that Swedish prosecutors told him that Assange is wanted not for allegations of rape, as previously reported, but for something called "sex by surprise," which he said involves a fine of 5,000 kronor or about $715. "Whatever 'sex by surprise' is, it's only a offense in Sweden -- not in the U.K. or the U.S. or even Ibiza," Stephens said. "I feel as if I'm in a surreal Swedish movie being threatened by bizarre trolls.
...the founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, walked voluntarily into a London Police Station this morning to clear his name, and with John Pilger, Jemima Khan and Ken Loach offering sureties, there was still no bail...
Mr Assange denies sexually surprising two women in Sweden. He was remanded in custody pending a hearing next week.
A judge at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court refused bail because of the risk of the 39-year-old fleeing.
A Wikileaks spokesman said the arrest was an attack on media freedom and pledged to continue publishing.
Mr Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens said after the court appearance he would be applying again for bail.
He also claimed the charges were "politically motivated" and he said the judge was keen to see the evidence against Mr Assange, an Australian citizen.
Mr Stephens also said Wikileaks would continue to publish material and added: "We are on cable 301 and there are 250,000 secret cables."
Julian Assange (left) appeared in court with John Pilger and others offering sureties A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Assange's arrest was "a matter for the police" and there had been no ministerial involvement.
Wikileaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said it would not stop the release of more secret files and told Reuters on Tuesday: "Wikileaks is operational. We are continuing on the same track as laid out before.
"Any development with regards to Julian Assange will not change the plans we have with regards to the releases today and in the coming days."
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THE CIA CONNECTION
“The 39-year-old Australian was detained by Scotland Yard officers at around 9.30am after he voluntarily went to a police station in central London,” reports Sky News. Assange is attempting to clear his name of spurious rape charges that appear to be part of a contrived ploy to discredit him.
Whatever your view on the motivations behind Assange’s Wikileaks campaign, the rape story appears to be little more than a fabrication contrived by two jilted women.
The “rape” charges, which were virtually laughed out of court by the original prosecutor, center around Assange’s refusal to wear a condom during sex. The two women, who Assange had sex with on back to back nights in August when he was visiting Sweden, both “sent SMS messages and tweets boasting of their conquests following the alleged “rapes,” reports Raw Story, strange behavior for people who subsequently claimed they were victims of molestation.
“At least as the Sydney Herald’s Asher Moses tells it, there’s not much in the stories about forced sex or “molestation” or politically-driven hit jobs,” points out Henry Blodget. “Mostly it’s about two Julian Assange fans annoyed that the rock star Wikileaks founder charmed their pants off and then bolted.”
Indeed, one of the alleged “victims,” Anna Ardin, later threw a party at her flat in honor of Assange after he had supposedly raped her, according to Assange’s lawyer James D. Catlin.
“The exact content of Wilén’s mobile phone texts is not yet known but their bragging and exculpatory character has been confirmed by Swedish prosecutors. Neither Wilén’s nor Ardin’s texts complain of rape,” Catlin said.
Despite their initial celebration at consorting with Assange, the women later went to a police station and claimed Assange had sexually molested them.
It has now emerged that Anna Ardin is a militant feminist who views even consensual sex as tantamount to rape and has published blogs encouraging women to seek “revenge” on their ex-lovers by making them “suffer”.
She has also been strongly linked with the US Central Intelligence Agency. Ardin may have “ties to the US-financed anti-Castro and anti-communist groups,” according to Israel Shamir and Paul Bennett, writing for CounterPunch.
“While in Cuba, Ardin worked with the Las damas de blanco (the Ladies in White), a feminist anti-Castro group,” writes David Edwards. “Professor Michael Seltzer pointed out that the group is led by Carlos Alberto Montaner who is reportedly connected to the CIA.”
The Ladies in White organization is funded by the US government and is also supported by Luis Posada Carriles, a known CIA agent who is alleged to have participated in terror attacks that have killed hundreds of people.
“Ardin is “a gender equity officer at Uppsula University – who chose to associate with a US funded group openly supported by a convicted terrorist and mass murderer,” FireDogLake’s Kirk James Murphy observed,” writes Edwards.
The two women appear to be useful pawns in a wider dirty tricks campaign aimed at discrediting Assange and his organization. No matter what your view is on the rights and wrongs of Wikileaks, the “rape” claims are utterly spurious and only serve to take away attention from the leaked cables, replacing that focus instead with titillating claims about Assange’s private life that have nothing to do with the issue at hand.
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