I woke up today to find that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was being charged in Sweden with one count of rape and one count of molestation (they’re not the same thing?). I checked the news an hour later, and the more serious charge (rape, I guess) was rescinded.
STOCKHOLM — Swedish prosecutors withdrew an arrest warrant for the founder of WikiLeaks on Saturday, saying less than a day after the document was issued that it was based on an unfounded accusation of rape.
The accusation had been labeled a dirty trick by Julian Assange and his group, who are preparing to release a fresh batch of classified U.S. documents from the Afghan war.
Swedish prosecutors had urged Assange — a nomadic 39-year-old Australian whose whereabouts were unclear — to turn himself in to police to face questioning in one case involving suspicions of rape and another based on an accusation of molestation.
"I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape," chief prosecutor Eva Finne said, in announcing the withdrawal of the warrant. She did not address the status of the molestation case, a less serious charge that would not lead to an arrest warrant.
The Pentagon has been taking the position that Assange had blood on his hands, an absolutely jaw dropping allegation coming from those killing innocent people because Obama can’t afford to look like a wimp in front of Fox News.
I give this “molestation” charge another 24 hours.
