Julian Assange's Crime That Has Made Sweden Uphold Its Arrest Warrant May Be That Of 'Telling The Truth'
Sweden's Court of Appeal has made it clear. On Thursday, it announced that the WikiLeaks' founder and Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange's arrest warrant will be upheld by the Scandinavian state, Sweden.
The case will proceed to Sweden's Supreme Court. It has clarified that his crime was of a "relatively serious nature," according to The Guardian.com. "There is a great risk that he will flee and thereby evade legal proceedings if the detention order is set aside." However, the court has also condemned the prosecutor for failing to move the hearings forward by searching for fresh evidence in his case of sexual misconduct. also for not coming to U.K. to question Assange.
Hence, while on the one hand the Swedish court upheld his arrest warrant, it also pointed out that the prosecutors lacked "new evidence" to take the case against him forward. The Scandinavian Court of Appeal gave its verdict on his drawn-out extradition case on Tuesday, but announced it on Thursday. Now it is time to take the case up to Sweden's Supreme Court, confirmed Assange's lawyer.
In 2010, Assange's arrest warrant was slapped after "sexual misconduct and rape" charges were made on him by two Swedish women. It is ironical that Assange is not charged with a crime but remains a "refugee" in London's Ecuadorian Embassy, under the South American's "diplomatic protection" for two years as the U.S. launched a criminal investigation against Wikileaks. If he gets deported to Sweden, he will face espionage charges in the U.S. due to his "role in publishing sensitive, classified US government documents."
Hence, currently, Assange is a much-hunted man by various governments. Sweden slams him for sexual misconduct and rape, the U.S. questions him for espionage, and he is also wanted by U.K. government. The Ecuadorian Embassy is surrounded by Britain's police force at a cost of 6.6 million pounds. Critics of "the international manhunt" argue that the expensive surrounding of the Knightsbridge embassy is "utterly futile," and is just an expression of state muscle.
Denouncing all charges against him, Assange said that it was a "smear campaign" against him, according to BBC.com. He just avoided extradition to Sweden by seeking asylum in London's Ecuadorean Embassy at Knightsbridge. Last June, the WikiLeaks editors' lawyers had asked the Stockholm District Court to overturn its ruling that he should be detained without charge. But as the court did not revoke his extradition warrant, he launched an appeal.
The Australian has opposed the extradition to Sweden in Britain's courts for more than two years, as he would have faced the pressure to get deported to the U.S. once he goes to Sweden. There would have been no guarantee that he would have got protected. Sweden's prosecutor refused to try him either online or in London, but wants him to give up his political asylum and face a trial in Sweden. In spite of worldwide support, the investigation continues and both Britain and Sweden do not guarantee that he will not be deported to the U.S. even if his upcoming Supreme Court appeal in Sweden fails.
It all "marks the country's most drawn out deprivation of liberty in the absence of a trial or charges in its legal history," according to rt.com What exactly was Julian Assange's "crime" apart from telling the truth? His supporters make it clear that this is an era of lies, government deception and brutal war.
Chelsea Manning, another U.S. soldier, also called Bradley Manning, has been imprisoned for 35 years for revealing the files to WikiLeaks. The documents had embarrassed the government as well as its supporting countries, and questioned the American administration during its "War on Terror."
