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Travails of a Whistle-blower: Julian Paul Assange in Police Net

07/12/2010 14:17

Julian Paul Assange, 39, founder of Wikileaks, the website that has been a subject of debates and diplomatic row over the release of secret documents involving the United States (US), has been arrested in London. He was arrested on a Swedish warrant, and is expected to appear at the City of Westminster Magistrate's Court.

The arrest of Assange, is however, not in connection with leaking secret information through his now overly famous website, which has made the US accuse him of espionage. He is being accused on a one count charge of rape, one of unlawful coercion and two counts of sexual molestation. The offences are alleged to have been committed in August.

An arrest warrant was first issued for Assange in November on the various charges for which he has now been arrested. Indeed, at the request of the Stockholm Criminal Court in Sweden, the Interpol had put him on a list of wanted suspects. Assange has however, denied the accusation. Jennifer Robinson, a lawyer to Assange, said he voluntarily presented himself to the Police, in order to clear his name.

The charges brought against him:

Used body weight to hold down the lady in sexual manner;

Had unprotected sex with the lady while she was asleep;

Had unprotected sex with the lady when she had insisted on him using condom;

Molested the lady in a way designed to violate her sexual integrity.

There are also indications that the US government may prosecute him for espionage. Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, has described several released secret information on the Wikileaks website, as illegal. She described the actions as potentially damaging to friends and partners of the US, and a "theft of US government information."

Wikileaks began posting the first of more than 250,000 secret information from the US State Department documents on November 28, and has not since stopped, with indications that more would still be released even with the arrest of Assange.

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