Can Julian Assange count on a fair trial in Sweden? Not if you believe the nation’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who insisted over the weekend that Assange is “public enemy number one” for the nation.
This is an incredible claim for the prime minister to make, particularly when Swedish officials haven’t even formally charged the WikiLeaks founder with a single offence yet. Indeed, the official reason for seeking his extradition is still “questioning,” though puzzlingly Swedish officials have declined offers to question him in London, where he presently resides.
Assange’s alleged crime in the Swedish case, which isn’t even a formal accusation yet so much as a vague suspicion, is an exceedingly minor offence related to consensual sex with a pair of different women. But Assange’s objection to the extradition has never so much been his belief that he cannot get a fair trial in Sweden, though clearly his lawyer’s arguments to that effect have been greatly strengthened by the prime minister’s comments.
Rather the concern is that the Swedish government, keen to build up their relationship with the US, will never even try to charge Assange with a crime themselves, but will simply trade him off to the Obama Administration, whose officials have called him a terrorist for his publication of embarrassing information about them, and that he will simply disappear into a legal black hole as so many other administration foes in the US have. Though the Swedish government’s bias will no doubt be an issue in the case, the prospect of sending Assange, who is an Australian citizen and subsequently part of the Commonwealth of Nations, from Britain to a possible summary execution somewhere, will no doubt be the bigger concern for British officials, and not the prospect that he will serve a few years in Swedish prison.
I just hope that, if the Assange case achieves just one thing, it is that the scales fall from the eyes of the US public about Sweden
Really, it’s about bloody time.
It is not a liberal paradise. This infantile international image is incredibly out of date, and was based on a 15-year-long free approach to sex and pornography in the 196s, though the state could be oppressive in other ways even then. Believe me, though, there are no sex shops, prostitutes or free love seminars in today’s Stockholm.
Sweden does some things well: it’s organised, gives the bottom half of society plenty of help; Swedes have a nice sense of design. There is much less delinquency, and it’s cleaner. But there are negative things to, and they are associated with Sweden’s strengths. And that is not surprising: weaknesses are are usually also strengths. So the trade off for the wealth and equality and organisation is this.
The state is much more powerful than the individual and it is also a deeply bossy country, you might say authoritarian, and there is no separation of the powers as you might see in the UK. Justice is indeed highly political, carried out with one eye at what he politicians want, with the purpose of social engineering. “Justice protects the state from the individual, not the individual from the state”. It’s as far from Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence as you could imagine. “State feminism” is the government’s current ideological project, and consequently it is in sex crimes that the most abuses against correct legal process take place. Don’t take my word for it. Many of the most senior legal minds in Sweden agree, including the professor of jurisprudence at Uppsala
Though the Swedes are unfortunately saddled with a right-wing government, I think you are a bit harsh on them. This case is being driven by their government, while Swedish feminist are more inclined to view it as just a pretext cooked up in order to suck up to US imperialism. I don't know what kind of "liberal paradise" you prefer. There might be few sex shops and prostitutes in Stockholm, but how is that a bad thing?
As for you vaunted "Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence": How ever bad it can be in Sweden, the civil liberty abused are surely worse in the US or UK.
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It would appear that the Swedish PM is a political eunuch. Has he been castrated by his American handlers or the feminists?
Such is the fate of American poodles.
And American husbands!
As a former American, who years ago became a naturalized Swedish Citizen, Reinfeldt´s comment is hard to digest. For a very long time Sweden had a wonderful tradition of neutrality. It lost this tradition by joining the EU, flirting with NATO and developing a toxic relationship with the primitive policies Of the USA. Many have come to see Reinfeldt as a yes man for the US and many are concerned as to where we are headed. For one, I am very disheartened to see Sweden becoming a vassal of the diabolical country which I left years ago.
Do you have any information on Sweden's financial and banking situation? Sweden is a small and realtively weak country. It could have very strong motives to cozy up to the USA in any case, especially if its financial situation was not all that good.
Yep, nobody has as many printing presses as the FED!
As of now the banking system and economy in general, is in a good position, probably the best in Europe. The phrase "Tiger Economy" has been popping up. However, the last "Tiger Economy" was Ireland and now their economy is in the crapper. At this point in time prospects seem good.
Close the Swedish Court case again and for good. The Swedish People have a democratic duty to demand the Swedish Prime Minister to resign without delay. Finally The Swedish Government duty is to pay a huge sum as compensation to Mr. Assange for defamation.
Fred Reinfeldt says, "public enemy number one!" That's right. Numero Uno. I mean, Assange MUST have killed 57 Swedes with his bare hands. Killed Fred Reinfeldt's wife and then raped her. Gosh Mr. Julian, that's a no-no. Assange shot the sheriff but he did NOT shoot the deputy. Assange MUST have facilitated 9/11/01. Drinks Coke and NOT Pepsi. Spit on the sidewalks of Stockholm. Threw the finger at the King 'o' Swedia.
"Public enemy number one!" Well done Mr. Julian. On account of, if'n you're about the business of pissing off prime ministers well, really really REALLY piss them off. What the hell is Reinfeldt gonna do, rendition Assange to the US? Oh, wait a minute…
The prospect to "serve a few years in Swedish prison" due to condomless intercouse is already pretty much Big Brotherly if you ask me.
Interesting that no-ones bothered to check whether the Swedish PM actually said this. He didn't. The article linked to misquotes Assange's lawyer who states that the Swedish PMs comments have made him public enemy no.1
Assange = 2011 Nobel prize