Julian Assange and the alleged sex charges.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is now the subject of an arrest warrant allegedly for sexually assaulting two women. But that case stinks to high heaven. And it appears he may well be the victim of an attack by two women who are angry that he was having a consenting relationship with both of them simultaneously, something they only discovered when they spoke to each other. 


One of the "victims" was Anna Ardin who told the police that Assange sexually assaulted her on August 14th. Ardin is a radical leftist, a feminist, an "animal rights" activist and a Christian involved with the Brotherhood Movement. 



She also Tweeted about her life, which is problematic for the charges against Assange. On the 14th of August she Tweeted, in Swedish, that Assange wanted to go to a a party with her. Early the next morning she Tweeted about the party continuing and that she enjoying the company of some of the smartest people around. Odd, if you think about it, since this should have been shortly after the alleged sexual assault.


But when she went to police to file charges against Assange, a week later, she carefully deleted her own Tweets to remove this indication that she was quite happy spending time with him, after she claimed he had sexually assaulted her.  In fact Assange was staying in Ardin's apartment. So what about the second woman making the same charge? This is where it gets fascinating. I will quote Göran Rudling, who has been investigating the case:

 Julian lives in Anna Ardin's flat from 11 August until 19-20 August. During this time Julian and Anna have sex. Around 18-19 August Anna gets a call from a woman wanting to speak to Julian. When Anna realises that Julian's also had consensual sex with this woman, something happens. The two women who are both Christians and are connected to the Brotherhood Movement and were at the seminar at the Brotherhood Movement realise immediately that Julian doesn't have any long term serious intentions with them. They decide after discussing the matter to file complaints against Julian Assange for sexual molestation.

This would imply that the women only felt assaulted AFTER they learned that Assange was not really into a relationship with them, or at the very least, not interested in a monogamous relationship with one of them. This reminds me about the joke concerning a lady of the night who accepted a check from a client and then went to cash it at the bank. When the teller told her the check was no good she responded: "Oh my god! I've been raped." Clearly it wasn't rape since the act was consenting, it might be fraud, but not rape. 


It would appear that neither of the women making charges against Assange thought of themselves as victims of sexual assault UNTIL they discovered that he had relations with both of them. This is quite the same thing as the prostitute joke above. The women are attempting to withdraw the consent after the fact because they learned Assange was not sexually exclusive. Ardin had gone so far as to previously post material about how women can get revenge when they feel betrayed. She justified it by saying: "it is difficult to go on without some kind of payback." And she felt that was warranted because "a former fiance" had "betrayed" her. 


Two factors seems to be complicating the case. One is that Assange used a condom that broke. Under Swedish law that can constitute an assault even thought it runs contrary to common sense and what most people consider "assault." Ardin, the alleged victim, told police she was sure "that he had done this deliberately. This is what made it sexual assault. The sex was entirely consensual. But Ardin only decided she was assaulted AFTER she discovered Assange had relations with a second woman. Apparently "it is difficult to go on without some kind of payback." 


Oddly Swedish authorities issued "warrants" before formal statements regarding the allegations were taken, which is highly unusual. And then, actually changed the charges rather substantially after they did so, reducing it to a very minor issue.


The second woman became obsessed with Assange after seeing him on television and basically started stalking him. For two weeks she immersed herself in reading material about Assange and when she learned he would be appearing at a seminar she called the organizers to get herself into the event. She dressed, according to one press account, in a manner "to catch his eye, in a shocking-pink cashmere jumper." She begged for a front row seat so she couldn't be ignored, took numerous photos of Assange and then loitered outside the building in order to meet him. She got someone who was with Assange to invite her to join a group at lunch.


The woman then spent the day with Assange and they went to a film where they made out in the back row of the cinema. She wanted to see him that night but he was already committed to attend the party with Ardin and said he couldn't. They meet up the next day and she wanted him to join her in a hotel room but Assange said he would prefer to see her home. 


Supposedly she asked Assange, that night to use a condom but the next morning they had sex without one. This was the basis of her charge of "rape" against Assange. The sex was consenting and she felt so comfortable that after the sex she left Assange in her apartment while she went shopping to get food so she could make him breakfast. She kept calling Assange to see him again but he wasn't taking her calls and didn't call her back.


At this point she called Ardin. The second woman was upset that Assange wasn't calling her and now claimed that the sex without a condom had put her at risk. Ardin realized that both of them had sex with Assange and together they decided to file "assault" charges for acts which they both had assumed were consenting up until this point. 


Swedish prosecutors said they filed the charges mainly because they were unable to speak to Assange, who was no longer in Sweden. Assange had offered to make himself available at a Swedish embassy for interviews but that was turned down the authorities.


Meanwhile it appears that Assange was the victim of two women, both of whom, seemed to assume that their offering themselves to him sexually, after they had only known him for hours, obligated him into a relationship with them. When it was clear Assange wasn't looking for a relationship. Ardin invited Assange to stay in her one-bedroom apartment, on the claim that she had to be away, but then she returned earlier and decided they could sleep together. The second woman, who is not a public figure, was obsessed with Assange and pursued him. She clearly instigated sex by inviting him to spend the night with her in a hotel, but then going to her home with him instead. She seems to have a groupie complex.


Ardin, on the other hand, seems to see herself as some Left-wing activist and perhaps imagined her and Assange as some sort of political power-couple. Both consented to sex and only became angry when they discovered Assange did not see the relationship the same they did. And the rest is history.