Gorgeous Galloway (pictured above) has (in a roundabout way) done me a favour this week; he has brought back to my attention the whole Assange saga. I think this post is actually long overdue, but I am very glad of the excuse to be able to do it now, so here we go...
Now I'm sure you've all heard about Galloway's sentiments regarding Julian Assange's rape charges this week, but here's a little run down of the story...
So, in August 2010, two women from Sweden came forward accusing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of committing sexual offences. One woman said she had consensual sex with Assange, but that the condom broke and he used his body weight to hold her down, presumably to complete the act. A few days later, Assange had sex with another woman, who claimed she woke up to him having sex with her — also without wearing a condom. Both women reportedly acknowledged that they freely chose to engage in sex acts with Assange — but that some of his conduct was nonconsensual.
Since then, the whole thing blew up, but I will go into the details of what happened to Assange post-accusations shortly. Firstly, I must share George Galloway's story...
In support of Assange, George Galloway, Respect MP for Bradford West, spoke out on Monday in his podcast "Good Night With George Galloway", in which he stated the following:
"Woman A met Julian Assange, invited him back to her flat, gave him dinner, went to bed with him, (and) had consensual sex with him.
"(She) claims that she woke up to him having sex with her again. This is something which can happen, you know.
"I mean, not everybody needs to be asked prior to each insertion. Some people believe that when you go to bed with somebody, take off your clothes, and have sex with them and then fall asleep, you're already in the sex game with them.
"It might be really bad manners not to have tapped her on the shoulder and said, 'Do you mind if I do it again?'
"It might be really sordid and bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape, or you bankrupt the term rape of all meaning.
"I don't believe either of those women, I don't believe either of these stories."
Errr, yeah. GOOD.
After the obvious backlack, yesterday, Galloway went on the tweet the following:
Turns out, not just American Republicans who fail to shock me...
I'm not going to focus on this much longer, I don't think there's anything I could say about it that would bring you any further insight, it's all pretty black and white. He's made his own bed with these comments. I wouldn't like to judge whether these women were telling the truth or not, and NEITHER SHOULD GALLOWAY. There's loads of people out there who believe these women to be making it up, including British diplomat Craig Murray, who named one of Assange's accusers on News Night last night. But, who are they to question the validity of the claims? Massive error if they're wrong.
I think politicians these days have a false sense of invincibility- most likely founded through egotism.
HOWEVER, in danger of being a little controversial here (how out of character!), I can't help but agree with cynics that the circumstances resulting from these claims are a little suspicious...
Which brings me back to how it all went a bit mad after the allegations... I think everyone got a bit lost in the events following these claims, so here's a brief look at what happened next:
Firstly, following the accusations the Swedish Prosecutor's Office issued a warrant for Assange's arrest, only for it to be withdrawn days after, as they no longer thought there was reason to suspect he had committed rape. Then on the 1st September 2010, the case was re-opened and in the November Swedish police issued an international arrest warrant via Interpol along with a "red notice", asking people to hand him in. Assange then handed himself into London police in early December, and was freed on bail after his supporters paid £240,000 in cash and sureties. In February 2011 it was then ruled that Assange be extradited to Sweden to face trial, but his lawyers launched an appeal against that... this "will he/won't he" be extradited business carried on for a while, until in May this year it was upheld that he would be extradited to Sweden. Wanting to avoid this (as he does not believe he would get a fair trial in Sweden), Assange then applied for political asylum at Ecuador's embassy in London, which was granted on the 16th August... And now that's where he has to stay- because if he leaves the embassy and sets a foot on British soil, he will be extradited.
Obviously, if the allegations are true (which I have no reason to believe they are not), Assange should be punished because he violated the women's fundamental right to personal autonomy and bodily integrity. Simple. But it's the way it has been handled subsequently that makes me suspicious... From personal experience, I have enough reason to believe that if Assange were any other guy, he would not have been held in a British jail, nor would there have been this "manhunt" unless he was proven guilty. He still maintains to be innocent.
Also, the timing of Assange's arrest is suspicious. Considering the WikiLeaks scandal, I think one would be forgiven for thinking that perhaps the charges are more like "holding charges" to keep Assange in one place while the world figures out how he might actually be prosecutable for the WikiLeaks release of government files? Seems like a great excuse to keep Assange where the government can see him.
Plus Assange continues to claim that the sexual assault charges are a ruse to extradite him to Sweden, which will then result in further extradition to the US, where he'll be punished for his Wikileaks disclosures. Is that a conspiracy theory, or is it the truth? I guess only time will tell.
I am obviously not saying that these women were lying, at all. I am just saying that the whole situation may have been exploited for government gain...? I think it's relatively obvious there's a bigger political agenda behind all this.
I guess it would work out nicely though for the US Government if Assange were to be charged with rape and molestation. WikiLeaks would lose a lot of credibility as a result.
Just an observation.
Anyway, I will let you make your own minds up, and will also welcome your suggestions on how the British Government could attempt to lure Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy...?? I don't know about Assange, but they could totally get me with a large glass of Châteauneuf-du-Pape right about now... #BringOnBankHoliday
L.
