Assange arrest warrant upheld

Stockholm District Court announces that the warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange on charges of sexual assault should not be lifted. 

  • WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks at a news conference in London Sept. 1, 2010 after Sweden's Chief Prosecutor Marianne Nye announced she was reopening a preliminary investigation into rape charges against Assange. (Nye stepped down from the case in 2013) Yahoo! News photo via Reuters /Andrew Winning

  • After an unusually long negotiation, Stockholm District Court announced on July 16 that the warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange on charges of sexual assault should not be lifted. The decision was expected. His friends — including radical icons such as Michael Moore, Ken Loach and Noam Chomsky — have devoted a lot of time to spread the image of Sweden as a kind of legal banana monarchy. The courts are said to be politicized. The rule of law is minimal.
    While conspiracy theories — that the government acted on CIA orders —are not likely to be accepted in Sweden, the propaganda does undermine public confidence in the Swedish legal system. The critique has formed an unrealistic picture of the Swedish courts abroad.
    There are grounds for criticism of the rule of law in Sweden when it comes to detention times, which are too long. But Assange's unusually long detainment is not due to the lethargic Swedish police or lazy prosecutors. He has kept himself from justice by seeking refuge in Ecuador's representation in London. When lawyers talk about an "intervention" treatment and "house arrest" they ignore that the suspect has voluntarily chosen to stay at an embassy to avoid the court.

  • The Swedish warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange is upheld. Assange photographed in the Ecuadorian Embassy, London (June 2013). Image: Wikimedia commons/Flickr

  • Op-Ed ...
    If Assange's request to be interviewed in London by Swedish prosecutors was met, it would have created a practice with unclear consequences for the Swedish judicial system. A Swedish prosecutor cannot on British soil take any coercive measures. To let suspects of crime and detained persons formulate conditions for the judicial process would also be offensive.
    It is difficult to take seriously Assange's fear of being extradited to the U.S. from Sweden. It is WikiLeaks’ criticism of the United States that prompted intellectuals in the U.S. to support a detained suspected sex offender. U.S. criticism outweighs the fight against sex crimes and of women’s rights for them. No request for extradition has been made from the United States. If a request would be formulated, the Swedish Supreme Court can still veto an extradition. Even if the judges of the Supreme Court would accept the request, the government has the last word and may still reject it.
    Furthermore, this European arrest warrant also gives Britain a veto right about putting Assange on a plane to the USA. The European arrest warrant has several procedural safeguards, apparently unknown to most.
    The warrant for Assange’s arrest is in conjunction with allegations of sexual assault. It is time to pay attention to the alleged real victims in this case, to debt and substance of the criminal case.
    Ulf Barslund Martensson