Interrogator in the Assange case friend with woman accusing Wikileaks founder

[TacticalPeek]

Source: Expressen


The police interrogator in the Julian Assange-investigation is a friend of one of the two women who is accusing the Wikileaks founder och sexual assault, Expressen can now reveal.

Personal remarks on the internet reveal that the interrogator and the woman who reported Julian Assange had contact already in April 2009. This was sixteen months before Assange was reported to the police for, amongst others, rape allegations.

On her own Facebook-page the police interrogator two weeks ago praised the lawyer of the two women and described Assange as the "overrated bubble ready to burst".



Read more: http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/avslojar/1.2360428/interrogator-in-the-assange-case-friend-with-woman-accusing-wikileaks-founder

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Here's hoping it is the frame-up that bursts.

[Bragi]

1. I too hope it bursts, but I'm cautious

I fully support Wikileaks, and think Assange is a brave and really smart guy. Having said that, I just finished reading the book on him and WL by the Guardian reporters. The info there has caused me to want to be cautious about investing too heavily in the "frame-up" theory that Assange just fell into an orchestrated classic "honey trap".

I say this because the Guardian reporters looked closely into Assange Swedish mess, and concluded, I think fairly, that he may simply be an aggressive and possibly tone-deaf man when it comes to hitting on women, and has a bad habit of pushing them for unprotected sex. Assange then made the mistake of behaving this way in a country which has a particularly rigorous and comprehensive legal framework to protect people from any unwanted sexual aggression or pressure from partners.

And that may be the full story, in which case Assange will lose his case in Sweden and get a small fine for his aggressive sex practices. Not a good thing, but there you go, people make mistakes and can end up paying a price. If it does go that way, then I hope Assange will have learned an important lesson, and hopefully resume to his work for Wikileaks.

If he ends up convicted, I expect the anti-transparency posse will continue to demonize him, but they would do that anyway. For my part, I will continue to support what he has done and is going with and for Wikileaks, without feeling a need to deny that he got messed up in Sweden, and hopefully learned a lesson there.

So that's why I would urge caution to anyone who might invest too heavily right now in the idea that Assange did nothing offensive in Sweden, and that his legal problems there are strictly the result of him being a victim in a sting operation.

As for the pre-event contacts and relationships between prosecutors and one of the women behind the charges reported in the OP, I've been to Sweden, and would imagine that the community of legal and community people active there in the area of women and violence is very compact, and everyone has known everyone else for some time.

[greiner3]

7. The entire mess with the Sweden thing;

And Julian is now that the US may and probably will extradite him from Sweden. These Swedes have already made remarks that they will give him up in order that a 'higher justice' may be served. The Swedes had no intention of prosecuting Julian, other than possibly a quick show trial, and then it will be off to Guantanamo for Julian.

[Bragi]

9. That would indeed be dreadful and wrong

However, what I don't understand is how Assange could be extradited if the U.S can't even find any laws that he may have broken.

And even if the U.S finds or invents a law, given that the U.S has a death penalty, given that U.S politicians have openly called for the extrajudicial murder of Assange, given that the U.S is known to be a rogue torture state, and given that the attachment of the U.S to the rule of law in security cases is at best suspect, I'm having difficulty seeing how an extradition would be legally or politically possible, even for a toady Swedish government.

I'm not saying it can't happen, and I hope it doesn't happen, but it seems unlikely. If the torture being done to Manning causes him to break and he somehow implicates Assange and/or Wikileaks, then that might change things. But even then, it remains a fact that the U.S is no longer able to provide plausible assurance that people extradited for alleged security or terrorism offenses will receive anything resembling due process.

[Ghost Dog]

10. I agree with that analysis. n/t

[Ghost Dog]

11. I agree with this analysis, too. n/t

[No Elephants]

19. You're right: Even if he full on raped someone, that has zero to do with making cables public.

Eah alleged wrong and each alleged good deed stands or falls on its own merits.

[xchrom]

2. recommend

[bemildred]

3. Dang, you could just knock me over with a feather.

:sarcasm:

[ananda]

4. Another link.

http://www.businessinsider.com/shocker-in-assange-case-swedish-interrogator-was-a-personal-friend-of-an-accuser-2011-3

[Sanity Claws]

5. Isn't that grounds for recusal?

It would be in the US. Obvious conflict of interest; unable to assess the credibility of the witness on an impartial basis.

[Bragi]

6. Good question

I understand that the roles of prosecutors and complainants in Sweden are different than what happens in the U.S.

However, far as I know, a prior relationship/friendship with a complainant wouldn't automatically require recusal of a US prosecutor.

But I'm not a lawyer. Maybe there's one here who could comment on this, as I'd like to know the answer as well.

[fascisthunter]

8. anyone surprised?

[Hissyspit]

12. kick for more eyes nt

[Hissyspit]

13. Interrogator in Assange Case Friend With Woman Accusing WikiLeaks Founder

Source: Expressen

Interrogator in the Assange case friend with woman accusing Wikileaks founder

Av Christian Holmén
Av Niklas Svensson
Publicerat 10 mar 2011 07:50

The police interrogator in the Julian Assange-investigation is a friend of one of the two women who is accusing the Wikileaks founder och sexual assault, Expressen can now reveal.

Personal remarks on the internet reveal that the interrogator and the woman who reported Julian Assange had contact already in April 2009. This was sixteen months before Assange was reported to the police for, amongst others, rape allegations.

On her own Facebook-page the police interrogator two weeks ago praised the lawyer of the two women and described Assange as the "overrated bubble ready to burst".

The Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and his lawyers have on several occasions criticized the Swedish judicial system and claimed that all possibilities of a fair trial have been eradicated.

Read more: http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/avslojar/1.2360428/interrogator-in-the-assange-case-friend-with-woman-accusing-wikileaks-founder

[EFerrari]

14. You beat me.

:)

[Hissyspit]

15. Don't mess with my cut-and-paste skills, ma'am.

:)

[JitterbugPerfume]

16. a witch hunt

--and very ugly

[avaistheone1]

17. Figures.

:grr:

[Turborama]

18. The Guardin: Julian Assange police investigator a friend of sex assault accuser

The police investigator who first interviewed two Swedish women about allegations of rape and sexual assault against Julian Assange is a friend and political associate of one of the women, a Swedish newspaper has claimed.

The female officer became friends with the woman referred to in court as Miss A through Sweden's Social Democratic party, in which both are involved, according to Expressen. The pair corresponded on the internet 16 months before the allegations were made against Assange.

=snip=

The paper says the officer had just started her shift at Klara police station in Stockholm on 20 August when Miss A and Miss B arrived to make a complaint against Assange. It says she did not declare a conflict of interest. The police say that the officer in question did not interview Miss A and she played no further part in the investigation. On the basis of the interrogations, duty prosecutor Maria Häljebo Kjellstrand ordered Assange's arrest, a decision overturned by a more senior prosecutor. Borgstrom appealed against that decision and the case was reinstated by prosecutor Marianne Ny.Mark Stephens, Assange's lawyer, said they had been aware of the relationship, which had informed their arguments in court last month that the Swedish judicial process had been improper.

"There are a whole raft of issues like this which should cause reasonable people a bit of concern," he said. "I'm delighted that the Swedes, who objected so strongly to our criticisms of the case, have started to acknowledge that there are systemic problems in their judicial process which allow this sort of thing to happen."

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/10/julian-assange-police-sex-assault-accuser

[Nihil]

20. "a friend and political associate"

> The pair corresponded on the internet 16 months before the allegations
> were made against Assange.

> The paper said the officer had made anti-Assange comments on the internet.

> "There are a whole raft of issues like this which should cause reasonable
> people a bit of concern"

So true.