Context and the Assange case.

[AikidoSoul]

230. reorg.... here is an excerpt from the Assange legal case that proves Misanthrope is lying again.

This excerpt comes directly from the pdf legal file provided regarding the Assange legal case in Sweden. PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A LEGAL CASE WITH INTERNATIONAL RAMIFICATIONS. THE LANGUAGE OF THIS VERY SHORT EXCERPT SHOULD PROVE EXACTLY HOW UNFAIR AND CONTROVERSIAL THIS CASE IS, EVEN AS DESCRIBED BY SWEDISH LEGAL MINDS. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO GO TO THE ENTIRE STORY AT THIS URL FOR THE MORE COMPLETE LEGAL OPINION -- LINK:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/world/20110224-Britain-Ruling-Assange-Extradition-to-Sweden.pdf

"The police interviews with the complainants do not follow good practice. The complainants and the interviewing officer are all active members of the Social Democrat Party. He also explained the difficulty in Sweden demonstrating the difference between consenting to something and wanting something. He told me that the police file in this case had been publicly available on the Internet. It was suggested to him that the material he saw on 31st January was a copy of the material sent to Mr Assange, but leaked after it reached the office of his London lawyer, and he appeared to agree.

Sven-Eric Alhem gave evidence the next day, 8th February. He too adopted his expert report and his evidence has been transcribed and need not be repeated in detail here. Mr Alhem retired in July 2008 after a legal career as a prosecutor, including serving as the Chief District Prosecutor in Stockholm and later as Director for the Regional Prosecution Authority in Stockholm. Since 2008 he has seen himself primarily as a social commentator on legal matters. He was concerned that the proper procedures had not been followed in Mr Assange’s case in Sweden. The prosecution should not have confirmed to the media that Mr Asange was considered a likely suspect of rape. That disclosure was unlawful. He was surprised that this defendant had not been detained in custody pending the investigation into the rape allegation. In his view good prosecution practice requires a very early interview with the suspect. It is an imperative for the accused to have the opportunity to respond to the accusations at the earliest possible time when he still remembers the intimate details. Thus it was quite wrong, in his view, for the prosecutor Ms Ny to decline the opportunity to interview Mr Assange. He believed that to issue the European Arrest Warrant without having first tried to arrange an interrogation in England at the earliest possible time via a request for Mutual Assistance offended against the principle of proportionality. A prosecutor should not seek to arrest and extradite Mr Assange simply for the purposes of questioning as long as other means have not been tried, or have been tried and failed. The defendant is not accused: he is a suspect. He has not been indicted. He was taken to section 18 of the Swedish Appeal Code (page 58). The golden rule is that a party should be heard. Until then he should not be prosecuted. The last thing that happens in a preliminary investigation is that the suspect has the right to see all material and the opportunity to comment. He said that rape trials in Sweden are normally heard privately. He believes it is necessary to balance the integrity of the injured party against the principle of openness. Both parties might think it is a good thing that the whole trial is heard behind closed doors.

In cross-examination he said his understanding of the steps taken to interview Mr Assange comes from what he was told by Mr Hurtig, the Swedish defence lawyer, and what he has read. [In his proof Mr Alhem said that “according to the information given to me, Prosecutor Ny declined the opportunity to interview Mr Assange after she took over the case on 1st September, despite the fact he remained in Sweden until 27th September 2010 … I understand that the prosecutor declined the offer to meet for an interview simply because the police officer at the time was sick … it is catastrophic that so much time has passed without a very detailed interrogation having taken place.”] He had not read the documentation put before the Stockholm District Court and the Court of Appeal. He had not seen the statements of Mr Hurtig or Ms Ny. The account given by Ms Ny as to the factual steps taken to interview Mr Assange were put to him. “I make no judgement between Mr Hurtig and Ms Ny.” He added that he saw his role as giving a judgement on the ECHR, the legal issues and fairness. There is nothing wrong with the EAW issued for Mr Assange. If it was the case that it was not possible to hold the interrogation hearing with the suspect earlier then he too, when he was a prosecutor, would have issued the EAW. However he would have first tried to arrange the interrogation hearing in another way. He agreed that the evidential question as to the steps taken to interview Mr Assange is relevant and that he should have seen the relevant documentation before expressing his view. However even if Ms Ny’s account, which he heard in court today for the first time, is correct then that does not change his view that an interrogation should have taken place in England. He made it clear that the statement of Ms Ny does not correspond with the information he had been given by Mr Hurtig. Ms Ny “is allowed to seek an EAW – there is no doubt about that”. On the account given by Ms Ny it would have been a reasonable reaction to apply for an EAW. “Certainly, I would have done the same myself”.

It is a decision for the Swedish court whether a defendant is held in custody and if so whether it should be incommunicado. The failure to hold public hearings has not led to appeals to the court of appeal or to Strasbourg, as far as he can remember. Nevertheless it has caused debate.

He was then asked about extradition from Sweden to the United States. He is not an expert on what happens but had brought a Guide and had considered the specialty principle. His reading was that normally there could not be a further surrender to a country outside the European Union but there are exceptions. It would be “completely impossible to extradite Mr Assange to the USA without a media storm”. It is quite right to say that he would not be extradited to the USA.

Overall I was left with the impression of a sincere witness doing his best to help the court. He relied on Mr Hurtig for his information as to the attempts made to interview Mr Assange. His strongest criticism was based on the information that no attempt had been made to interview the suspect while he was still in Sweden. However, even on Ms Ny’s account he was critical of the decision not to arrange an interview in the UK."