UK judge defers judgement on extradition of WikiLeaks founder Assange
WSWS14 July 2011 by Robert Stevens (Excerpts)
Assange was at the High Court at London’s Royal Courts of Justice to appeal against his extradition under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) to Sweden. He faces trumped-up allegations of sexual assault and rape.
Justice Thomas did question why the Swedish authorities had refused to allow Assange to be interviewed without extradition, in the spirit of "EU co-operation". He asked, “Why are we precluded from acting with sense in this European Union when the commission talks about [judicial] co-operation?”
Refuting the points made by Montgomery, Emmerson argued that one of the women had later told another person that she felt she had been "railroaded" by the Swedish police and that she had only wanted Assange to get a blood test. She said she did not want to press charges, said Emmerson.
Referring to the woman known as AA, Emmerson stated that she “did not even say she had been exposed to abuse; she didn’t even want to go to the police,"
Addressing the wording of the EAW, Emmerson told the court, “The clearest possible facts have been concealed through the terminology of the warrant. That is wrong.”
Emmerson told the court that the women had consented in their sexual encounters with Assange and under English law he would not have been charged. "What (Swedish prosecutors) must prove beyond reasonable doubt is that if these circumstances, as alleged, had happened in London, would they have constituted offences?" he said.
Summers, for the defence, stated that that a district court in Sweden “have confirmed reasonable suspicion”, but that the EAW does “not spell out a concrete charge.” On this point he contended, “The use of the word suspect in the EAW takes us no further at all”.
He concluded, “The prosecutor has never sought to explain why she has not engaged all other mechanisms [i.e. other than extradition] to progress this investigation... The reason there is a stand-off is entirely of Sweden’s making. What a waste of time.”
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