WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Is Not A Rapist

Note to the foxy patriots who want the head of WikiLeak’s Julian Assange on a plate with his severed penis in his mouth: He’s not a rapist. The Swedish women didn’t accuse him of rape but of not using a condom.

The sex was in both cases completely consensual. Mark Stephens, Assange’s attorney in London, told AOL News what Swedish prosecutors told him: They want to question him regarding “sex by surprise” charges, which could get him a maximum fine of 5,000 Swedish kronor ($715).

What is “sex by surprise”?
According to Swedish law, a woman can denounce a man if he doesn’t use a condom after he has been requested to wear it. They call it “sex by surprise”.

Police reports obtained by the Daily Mail show that Assange met the two women who denounced him at an August 11 event that was held in Stockholm by the Social Democratic Party. The first woman denounced him because the condom broke while having sex at Assange’s apartment. Both were seen acting normally the next day.

The second woman, a 27-year-old photographer, statement to the police is strange: She said she went to the event because she’s fascinated by Assange. She managed to get into a lunch with him and other people. Two days later they talked on the phone and she invited him to her apartment 40 miles from Stockholm, paying for his ticket because—according to her—Assange had no cash or credit cards.

On the train ride, she complained that “he paid more attention to his computer rather than me” and that “the passion and excitement seemed to have disappeared” when they arrived to her apartment. They had sex and, the next morning, they had it again. According to the New York Times, friends of the woman say that he “did not comply with her appeals to stop when (the condom) was no longer in use.” She didn’t accuse him of rape, however.

Smear campaign
While you can accuse of Assange of being a douchebag, these “sex by surprise” denounces seem quite far away from the “Assange is a rapist” accusation being made by most media outlets out there. It certainly doesn’t seem to warrant an Interpol capture order, which describes the two sex by surprise denounces as a number of sexual offenses, especially when “sex by surprise” is only an offence in Sweden.

Perhaps Fox and most of the media out there is going with the “Assange wanted for rape” line because “Assange wanted for broken condom and not using a condom in morning sex” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. Or maybe they are not happy with the idea of someone helping to denounce the wrongdoings of governments. Which is weird, because that’s what media is supposed to do: Keep The People informed so they can make their own decisions. I guess that Woodward and Bernstein’s long hairs and corduroy jackets are not in fashion anymore. [AOL News and Daily Mail]