Wikileaks founder appeals Swedish court arrest order

[News_Editor]

Wikileaks founder appeals Swedish court arrest order

2010-11-19 23:54:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (BNO NEWS) -- Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is appealing Thursday's Swedish court-approved order to issue an arrest warrant against him, Assange's lawyer said Friday.

Thursday's decision, which was announced after a closed-door hearing at the Stockholm district court, will allow Swedish prosecutors to seek assistance from other countries to obtain Assange's arrest.

The decision was taken after Marianne Ny, Director of Prosecution, asked the District Court of Stockholm to detain Assange on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. The incident involves two women Assange met in Sweden during the month of August.

On Friday, Bjorn Hurtig, Assange's Swedish lawyer, said the appeal has been submitted to the Stockholm district court as prosecutors claim they have failed in trying to question the whistle-blowing website found, but Assange, 39, from Australia, claims his offers have been rejected.

"We established contact with the prosecutors when my client left Sweden to ask if they had any objections and they didn't," Hurtig said.

"My opinion is that the detention order and the international arrest warrant is disproportionate considering the circumstances," Hurtig added, expecting a decision from the court of appeal in the following days.

Assange was not present at the hearing. Hurtig and his counsel Mark Stephens earlier in the week reiterated that Assange is innocent and that the evidence is "very thin".

Assange was first accused of rape and related charges on August 21, but prosecutors quickly dropped the charge. "I do not believe there is reason to suspect that he committed rape," chief prosecutor Eva Finné said at the time. A charge of sexual molestation involving a second woman, however, was upheld.

Days later, on September 1st, Ny said the investigation into the rape allegations would be reopened with reason to believe that the crime of rape had been committed.

Ny further said that the investigation concerning molestation would be extended to include all allegations in the original police report.

Assange has denied the accusations on multiple occasions, but admitted to having consensual sex with two women within several days of each other. "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing," he said on August 21.

Assange questioned the timing of the charges when speaking with media organizations and said he had been told to expect 'dirty tricks' from the Pentagon, including 'sex traps' to ruin his reputation.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-19

[Puccini]

Assange questioned the timing of the charges when speaking with media organizations and said he had been told to expect 'dirty tricks' from the Pentagon, including 'sex traps' to ruin his reputation.

And Assange promptly fell into these traps.