If you notice, virtually no news outlet has gone back to tell this story, and it's probably worth understanding.
Back in the early part of 2010....Julian Assange labeled himself as a target of the US government, and felt that he was going to get grabbed 'sooner or later', and sent to the US to face charges. So Julian started this 'secret-agent' game....traveling around Europe (beyond the UK), and staying hidden.
For the most part, a number of pro-WikiLeaks groups were finding accomodations for Julian, and he was moving every couple of days. So in the June/July timeframe of 2010, he ended up in Sweden. There, the pro-WikiLeaks crowd advertised around and found a Swedish gal who was supportive, and Julian moved in with her for several days and nights.
No one says if there was wine or some cannabis in the mix, but somehow....this first gal slept with Julian. No, Julian apparently didn't use condoms.
Then Julian moves onto the next hiding place, the apartment of another Swedish woman. The same thing repeats with Julian sleeping with her. Again, you can't be sure of the entire story.
After Julian leaves house number two.....somehow, these two women find each other, and discuss the matter. For the record, the two believed after the episode....that they were used by Julian. They went to the cops.
What the two wanted was to force Julian to go in and take a test for sexually transmitted diseases. Cops were open about this....the law didn't give them that ability to force him to these tests. So the ladies went the next step....saying that they did not give their consent for sex. Well, that's different....the cops could write up that report, and the prosecution could handle that.
Julian now woke up to realize that this could be a rape case in a Swedish court. So he ran back to the UK, and hid for roughy eight years in a embassy.
The rape charges? They eventually got dropped, but in the last couple of days....it's been discussed that they might be brought back. The max of jail-time if convicted? If there had been violence or threats? You could be talking over several years in prison. But just plain rape, without any violence or threat? Less than two years.
The two women involved? My impression is that they felt used after the episode, and that Julian's 'game' was mostly theatrical in nature. They might have been naive to be volunteers to house Julian, but both were over the age of 21.
It is a legit case, and I suspect that he deserves some type of punishment, but he's been in some embassy hiding 'hole' for more than eight years. That might be viewed as prison in some way.
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