Assange Breaks His Silence on Rape Allegation

'I am entirely innocent'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 7, 2016 12:31 PM CST
Assange Breaks His Silence on Rape Allegation
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.   (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

Julian Assange claims Swedish police leaked an accuser's account of a rape allegation against him in 2010 to paint him as a guilty party. Now, he's telling his side of the story publicly because "I want people to know the truth about how abusive this process has been," he says, per the Guardian. In a 19-page document of testimony given to Swedish investigators in an interview last month, Assange says he arrived in Sweden in August 2010 to find his credit cards blocked. His accuser, whom he portrays as an obsessed fan, "appeared to be sympathetic" and "made it very clear that she wanted to have sexual intercourse," says Assange. He says the pair had unprotected sex, then arranged to meet the next day so Assange could be tested for STDs.

"You can imagine my disbelief when I woke … to the news that I had been arrested in my absence for 'rape,'" Assange says. According to leaked reports, the accuser told police that she had protected sex with Assange, fell asleep, and awoke to find him penetrating her without a condom. However, Assange suggests the woman never meant to accuse him of rape and was only pressured by police, who he says have proof, via text messages, that she was awake, per the Hill. "I am entirely innocent," yet prosecutor Marianne Ny chose "to extinguish my freedom of movement and harm my reputation," resulting in "six years of unlawful, politicized detention without charge," Assange says. A Swedish Prosecution Authority rep refused to comment, per Reuters. (More Julian Assange stories.)

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