"We are Women Against Rape but we do not want Julian Assange extradited"...

[sibelian]

When Julian Assange was first arrested, we were struck by the unusual zeal with which he was being pursued for rape allegations.

It seems even clearer now, that the allegations against him are a smokescreen behind which a number of governments are trying to clamp down on WikiLeaks for having audaciously revealed to the public their secret planning of wars and occupations with their attendant rape, murder and destruction.

More here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/23/women-against-rape-julian-assange

[The Doctor.]

1. Anyone who takes an honest look can see.

K+R.

[CabCurious]

9. Many of us have taken an honest look and concluded he's a creep who...

ran away from two women accusing him of trying to have unprotected sex against their will.

Oh right, it MUST be a vast CIA conspiracy!

[kooljerk666]

2. Eff the PTB

k/r! leave him & Bradley Manning alone!!

[TalkingDog]

3. Over the past week there have been some really good articles parsing out the politics of this mess.

I'm glad to see this one.

[sibelian]

12. Yes, I think in the end it's pretty muich decided the issue for me.

It's difficult to get people to see how to seperate the issues.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

4. But there was a thread on here the other day that claimed this made you a hypocrite?!

It's nice to hear an opinion not muddied up with ulterior motives.

[CabCurious]

8. Because if you REALLY think about it... it is absolutely hypocritical

To argue that 1 man gets to flee accusations of trying to have unprotected sex against their will.

[sibelian]

10. It's an extremely messy story.

I have to say I find myself veering wildly from position to position.

[struggle4progress]

5. Katrin Axelsson was outraged back in December 2010 when Assange was denied bail:

... Assange, who it seems has no criminal convictions, was refused bail in England despite sureties of more than £120,000. Yet bail following rape allegations is routine ...
Katrin Axelsson
Women Against Rape
Rape claims, WikiLeaks and internet freedom
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 December 2010 16.02 EST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-rape-allegations-freedom-of-speech



Bail was subsequently granted, of course, and Assange later skipped out, leaving his guarantors to forfeit their cash. So, looking back, it seems that the Swedish prosecutors, who asked the UK courts to deny bail, perhaps had a much better handle on Assange's character than Katrin Axelsson

[struggle4progress]

6. The Assange affair is not just about WikiLeaks, stupid (The Irish Times | Friday, August 24, 2012)

The Irish Times - Friday, August 24, 2012
SUSAN McKAY

... Assange has not sought political asylum because of WikiLeaks. He is on the run from allegations of rape. These alleged crimes are defined as both serious and non-political. Political asylum is a hard-won human right – Assange has abused it. In doing so he has endorsed a real witch hunt – against the women who allege he sexually coerced them ..

The fact the US has not sought to extradite Assange from the UK, which has the sort of right-wing government that would probably be all too ready to comply with such a request, is not addressed.

Nor is the fact that those accused of sexual offences routinely skip across borders to evade legal proceedings, and that the ability to extradite them is vital. Think Liam Dominic Adams. Think Fr Brendan Smyth. Nor that the assumptions behind the conspiracy theory are based on deeply misogynist notions of why women make rape allegations. Nor that the Swedish justice system is internationally respected in relation to its handling of crimes of sexual violence.

Assange has, however, in the past, been less reticent. “Sweden is the Saudi Arabia of feminism,” he has said. “I fell into the hornet’s nest of revolutionary feminism.” One of his lawyers told a British newspaper that “the honey trap has been sprung . . . dark forces are at work . . . this is part of a greater plan” ...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0824/1224322862282.html

[CabCurious]

7. Extradited to SWEDEN or to the USA?

Arguing against his extradition to Sweden is immoral and hypocritical.

No man is above the law.

I find it disgraceful that so many blindly support this man who is fleeing Sweden's investigation while holding tightly to bank records and other leaks he was SUPPOSED to publish but has decided to use for his own leverage.

This man is an unprincipled creep.

[seabeyond]

11. send his ass back. he made it a public circus. now they are using public circus as reason

for him not to go.

they pretty much created the mess and sweden cannot publicly back down to rape charges.

cant have the cake and eat it too