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Sweden Accuses Wikileak's Julian Assange of Rape, Then Withdraws Warrant

by Amar Toor on August 21, 2010 at 01:00 PM

Julian Assange Already under pressure from the Pentagon, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange woke up Saturday morning facing charges of rape and molestation in Sweden. A few hours later, however, the rape charge was dropped, after Swedish authorities determined that accusations against the mysterious Australian were bogus.

"We can confirm that he's wanted. He was charged last night -- the allegation is suspected rape," Director of Communications at the National Prosecutor's Office Karin Rosander said early this morning. "One is rape and one is molestation." Less than 24 hours after filing the charges, though, the National Prosecutor's Office rescinded the warrant for Assange's arrest, claiming that the charges of rape were based on unfounded accusations. ''I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape," lead prosecutor Eva Finne said. As the AP reports, Finne would not comment on the status of the molestation charge, which is considered less serious under Swedish law, and would therefore not involve an arrest warrant.

Shortly after news of the arrest broke, Assange sent an e-mail to the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, in which he vehemently denied the allegations. "Why these accusations are popping up right now is an interesting question. I have not been contacted by police," the e-mail reads. "These allegations are false." A few hours later, a Twitter message attributed to Assange suggested that there may be some ulterior motive behind what he believes to be frivolous charges. "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing," the tweet reads. Kristinn Hrafnsson, a colleague of Assange's, echoed those sentiments, telling the AFP that "there are powerful organisations [sic] who want to do harm to WikiLeaks."

Assange has yet to publicly comment on the withdrawal of the warrant for his arrest, although a message posted on WikiLeaks' Twitter page earlier this morning reads: "We were warned to expect 'dirty tricks'. Now we have the first one."

Tags: celebrities, crime, Julian Assange, JulianAssange, molestation, rape, rape charges, RapeCharges, sweden, web, Wikileaks

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