LONDON - Attorneys for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange launcheda blistering attack on the credibility of Swedish prosecutors andtwo women who are accusing the 39-year-old Australian of sexualassault, arguing on the first day of an extradition hearing that hefaces the prospect of a closed-door show trial if Britishauthorities send him to Stockholm.
Assange, who is wanted for questioning on allegations of sexualmolestation, unlawful coercion and rape, appeared calm as hescribbled notes throughout the first half of the two-day hearing ina southeast London courtroom. The hearing is to determine whetherBritish authorities will agree to honor a Swedish warrant forAssange, who is under partial house arrest in Britain as he fightsextradition.
The warrant hinges on allegations by two Swedish women with whomAssange had brief affairs in Stockholm in August 2010. Both claimthat specific encounters with Assange became nonconsensual, with onesaying he engaged in unwanted, unprotected sex with her while shewas asleep, an act considered criminal rape in Sweden.
Geoffrey Robertson, one of Assange's lead attorneys, argued thatthe alleged acts would not be considered crimes in Britain and thusare not extraditable offenses. He called to the stand Brita Sundberg-Weitman, a Swedish former judge, who described Marianne Ny, theSwedish prosecutor seeking Assange's arrest, as an overzealouswomen's rights crusader with a bias against men.
"I think she is so preoccupied with the situation of batteredwomen and raped women that she has lost balance," Sundberg-Weitmansaid of Ny. Crown prosecutors representing their Swedish peersrejected the assertions.
Robertson criticized Swedish prosecutors for their apparentreadiness to file serious criminal charges against Assange while heis wanted only for questioning and added that rape proceedings inSweden are conducted in private, posing the risk of "a flagrantdenial of justice."
Clare Montgomery, a prosecuting attorney, rejected defenseassertions that Sweden was in collusion to hand Assange over to theUnited States if U.S. officials charge him in connection with thedisclosures of secret documents on the Internet.
In comments in the court, and in witness testimony by a bloggerwho said that one of the women had deleted a lighthearted tweetabout Assange posted after an alleged act of sexual assault, thedefense sought to paint his accusers as jilted lovers out forrevenge. But Montgomery sought to bring home the seriousness of theallegations, graphically describing the account of one of the womenwho said she had protested the continuation of sex after a condombroke. His action constituted "violent, unlawful coercion," shesaid.
Although the hearing is scheduled to end Tuesday, many expertspredict that Judge Howard Riddle will not issue an immediate ruling,instead releasing a written verdict in coming days. Both sides willthen have the chance to appeal to Britain's High Court, possiblydragging the process out for weeks or months more.
Monday's hearing proved a major media spectacle, withinternational journalists busily tweeting from a courtroom filledwith Assange's celebrity backers, including Bianca Jagger and thesocialite Jemima Khan.
Before heading back to the rural Georgian mansion to which he ispartly confined for the length of the legal proceedings, Assangetook to a microphone outside the courthouse to again proclaim hisinnocence, saying he hoped the proceedings would prove that his nameshould not be associated with the word "rape."
faiolaa@washpost.com adamk@washpost.com
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