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In reply to the discussion: Eight myths about Assange [View all]struggle4progress
(118,236 posts)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 hornets 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