The Assange Case: Common Misconceptions
amiobjective.blogspot.co.uk
amiobjective.blogspot.co.uk
http://www.aklagare.se/In-English/Media/The-Assange-Matter/T...
Obviously this is "biased" -- but I've not been able to spot any "overt" errors here. I've been looking at Norwegian and Swedish media in addition to the (pretty fact starved) international media coverage -- and I was also under the impression that Assange wasn't considered a suspect -- he is.
I have no idea why apparently no media source has managed to get this right -- as presented it has appeared that Assange has been wanted extradited to testify -- which makes absolutely no (legal) sense. It would appear that's not what has happened.
My (personal, IANAL etc) interpretation of the events is that a complaint was filed against Assange -- the prosecutor that handled the case found no reason to prosecute. Then (probably due to political pressure -- although I have no evidence of this) -- the head prosecutor picks up the case again, and an arrest warrant is issued.
The whole affair dovetails a little to nicely with CIA procedure for discrediting inconvenient persons, eg:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO
That being said, it's not inconceivable that Assange is a misogynistic pig -- he certainly appear to have a bit of an ego -- and I don't think anyone would be against him being sentenced in a fair trial.
However, the political pressure involved in this case seems rather extreme -- I do think there's a real danger of Assange disappearing into a black bag at some point -- after all if the US wants him, it would be for espionage -- and kidnapping a single individual is nothing compared to drone strike assassinations.
It is of course inconvenient that this dissident is white, articulate and currently in a country that has a working government.
A Swedish English language media source I discovered recently might also be of interest:
The one thing that strikes me as a bit batty from the 'CIA is going to kidnap him camp' is that in the cases of rendition the victims generally do not end up on US soil, in US courts.
Much rather in another country who's legal is system is more opaque (or transparent depending on your version of crime and punishment)
Given the US desire to put Assange on trial you'd figure they'd do the public legal stuff.
It does seem a bit far fetched that the CIA would grab him from either London or a large town in Sweden. It might not be so far fetched for them to do something if he is serving time in a Swedish prison.
At least the CIA does fly some of its rendition flights through Sweden -- and it's a shorter trip from there to a few choice black sites in Eastern Europe.
Either way, I'd guess the US' motivation at this point is to make sure Assange gets punished and discredited -- and maybe even the discrediting and splintering of Wikileaks.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4410068
(as well as that entire thread).