Julian Paul Assange. With a background of an e-mail hacker, and the founder of a whistle-blower website, Assange has lasted as a rapist and a womanizer in jail. Though he has finally managed to get bail, he is now fighting an extradition case in London as Sweden, where the two women colleagues have filed rape and sexual assault charges against him, badly needs him back in its hand. But, can it be considered as rape or assault anyway, what Assange has done? Or is he trapped by the rigid law of a ‘feminist’ country?
In August, 2010, the Wikileaks founder has gone to Sweden. He was to attend a number of events. After giving his valuable speech, Assange got involved with those two women. One of them was the organizer of an event herself. But, what Assange has done generally goes unnoticed in the free society of West. Then how he has got trapped? It was just after the first US secret cables came into light. Courtesy, Wikileaks.
Two separate rape and assault cases were filed against the founder of the whistle-blower site. Julian Paul Assange incessantly denied the charges against him. Merely sleeping with somebody cannot be considered as a crime in a democratic society. This is what exactly Assange has done. He eventually slept with two women in a very short period of time. None of them are his fiancé, so he had no obligation to maintain secrecy even. But, he maintained. And that was fatal for the Australian hacker. According to Assange himself, these women came to know each other and after learning everything, they decided to go to police. And the result is, Julian is awaiting an extradition to Sweden, where he might be jailed.
Assange is obstinately stressing on the fact that he didn’t rape anybody. He never even assaulted anyone. He slept with those women with mutual consent. And therefore it cannot be considered as ‘Rape’. But, the Swedish law is strict enough to put Assange into prison for lifetime even there is mutual consent for the love-making. And that is where Assange got trapped. The women claimed that Julian obviously had sex with them with their consent. But, in one incident, the condom tore up in the midway. But, Assange continued to have sex without the preventive, even after his companion objected. Sex without condom is considered as ‘rape’ according to the rigid Swedish law. And this is what exactly Assange has done. In another incident, Assange tried to have sex while his companion was sleeping. The lady eventually woke up and discovered herself in that awkward position. She lodged in her complaint that, Julian continued to have sex with her in spite of her objection. Therefore, it can be considered as ‘rape’. In Sweden, these are all punishable offences. So, this is quite obvious that Julian Paul Assange is going to get inside the prison. For how many days, God only knows. The British court has already dismissed Assange’s plea for his trial in London. So, his extradition to Sweden is only a matter of time.
But, why after so many days these two women had decided to lodge their complaints? Assange himself claimed that although he has got trapped by the rigid law of Sweden, the United States is behind all those troubles. While speaking to media after the bail was granted, Assange vowed to continue his work as a whistle-blower. He even threatened to publish all the remaining cables he has in his hand one by one. It is a matter of proof whether Pentagon has really played a cunning game behind the rape and assault cases. But, The Wikileaks indeed kept its promise. It has never stopped publishing secret cables even when Assange was behind the bar. Assange claimed that the United States could not instigate a criminal investigation against him for publishing such secret cables. Therefore, he is not a criminal. Assange asserted that US is afraid of him and his website. Assange is obstinate in revealing the ‘truth’, even after he is being threatened to be put behind the bar. May be, his claims would never be considered. But, it is the spirit and virtue of a whistle-blower that one must salute. A worshipper of truth and humanity, a fearless Gandhian? Perhaps he is.
Suchetana Chakraborty
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