Zweden ontkent betrokkenheid van VS bij arrestatie van Wikileaks-oprichter (en)
EUOBSERVER i / BRUSSELS - Sweden has moved to counter speculation that it is involved in a Pentagon 'dirty tricks' campaign against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Irena Busic, a spokeswoman for Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, on Saturday (21 August) told EUobserver that there has been no co-ordination between Washington and Stockholm on the Assange case. "There hasn't been any contact at all between the US and the foreign ministry, and minister Bildt. There was no contact on this at all," she said.
Meanwhile, the office of the Swedish Prosecutor General in a statement on Sunday said its publication of rape charges against Mr Assange was forced by earlier revelations in the Swedish tabloid Expressen.
"Normally, the Swedish Prosecution Authority does not publish the names of persons suspected of crime. The authority did not in this case initiate publication. Late on Friday night, a Swedish newspaper got hold of information concerning Mr Assange's arrest. When interviewed, the duty prosecutor confirmed the facts presented," the bureau said in its statement.
The remarks come after a junior prosecutor late on Friday arrested Mr Assange in absentia on charges of rape and molestation in a move accompanied by a press release on the body's website. A more senior prosecutor overturned the arrest on Saturday but upheld the lesser charge of molestation, with a full investigation pending.
The developments sparked alarm among NGOs, as well as noisy internet chatter, that Mr Assange is being smeared by the US due to his orchestration of a massive leak last month on the war in Afghanistan.
"This arrest, this action, coming so shortly after the revelations by Wikileaks, and the controversy they caused, and the embarrassment for the US security forces associated with the military action in Afghanistan in particular, will see to me and to journalists everywhere that there is a high degree of suspicion as to how this came about," Aidan White, the head of the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, told this website.
"This is a time for very clear, impartial and exhaustive investigation of the charges. We need to make it clear and visible that all his rights are being protected."
For his part, Mr Assange told the Swedish daily, Aftonbladet, in an interview on Monday that the rape allegations will damage his reputation despite being quickly withdrawn.
"Yes, it poses a great harm. There've been headlines all over the world that I am suspected of rape. They will not disappear. And I know from experience that Wikileaks enemies continue to trumpet the things even after they have been denied," he said. "I do not know what is behind this. But we have been warned that, for example, the Pentagon plan to use dirty tricks to destroy us."
The enigmatic 49-year-old former hacker set up Wikileaks in 2006 and has in recent months sought to base part of his operation in Sweden due to the country's strong pro-whistle-blower laws.
Sweden has up till now had a squeaky-clean reputation on press freedom. It is rated as one of the joint-top five countries in the world in terms of press protection by the Paris-based NGO, Reporters Without Borders.
The libertarian Swedish Pirate Party has also offered to host Mr Assange's website on its internet servers in a bid to extend political protection to his operation.
"As a political party we urge calm while waiting for more details about the incident. As little as we want to throw Assange to the wolves, we are going to challenge the two women who have notified him," Pirate Party leader Anna Troberg said in a press release on Monday in reference to the two women who brought the original legal complaint.