Assange - Victim of a Swedish circus of horrors?

Julian Assange's fears of not receiving fair treatment in Sweden seem justified, given the recent history of the Swedish legal system's handling of sex cases. Assange's supporters who have been echoing sharp criticism towards Sweden have spoken of bizarre conspiracy theories. But what they don't seem to be aware of is that Julian Assange could quite soon be joining the alarmingly large number of Swedish men who have in recent years been innocently sentenced to prison terms in questionable rape cases That is the real danger facing the international whistleblower!

Sweden being a country, which enhances the world's greatest emphasis on gender equality, has in recent years been so focused on issues relating to violence against women and sexual abuse within relationships that most men in this Nordic nation are aware of the high risks of being accused of sexual misconduct. Despite this awareness, Sweden has the highest number of reported rapes per capita in the whole of the European Union.

This is not due to any real increase in rapes actually taking place, but rather due to the fact that these "rapes" have been brought out into the open because of a recent new awareness created by the feminists in the Swedish media. The Swedish tabloid media has in recent years highly spotlighted rape and created somewhat of a hysteria surrounding sex crimes, the result of which has both encouraged and in some cases "enticed" more women to report alleged rapes to the police.

In Sweden this increase in reported rapes is considered a very positive development in the protection of women's rights. However, one of the side effects has been that many women have reported men for sexual encounters that they have willingly participated in, but regretted afterwards for one reason or another. Once these sexual encounters have landed in the hands of incompetent police officers and junior prosecutors (such as the one who initially issued an arrest warrant against Julian Assange) then the first seeds of miscarriages of Justice are sown. Then when the tabloid media gets wind of the details, all hell breaks loose. The word "Våldtäkt" (Rape in Swedish) has in recent years perhaps been the most common word printed on the first pages of the Swedish tabloids.

In an letter addressed to the Swedish Government, the American whistle blowing movie producer Michael Moore has pointed out that many real rapists in Sweden go scot free, and that Sweden is a paradise for rapists. This is the basis for his criticism of the Swedish treatment of Julian Assange. But what Michael Moore is obviously not aware of is that Sweden has another shameful recent history in which several men were wrongfully imprisoned for sex crimes which they did not commit, and that it was only after the hard efforts of journalists like Moore himself, that these men were eventually freed and compensated by having their judgements and sentences overturned by the Swedish Supreme Court (Högsta Domstolen) A report compiled by the Swedish Chancellor of Justice (Felaktigt Dömda - 2006) highlighted a dozen of these cases, eight of which were sex cases in which the victims of the miscarriages of justice had already served their wrongful sentences when journalists dug out new evidence in each case proving everything from (a) the investigations were carried out in a disgraceful manner to (b) the Courts used "guessing" techniques in order to ascertain who was telling the truth and who was lying, and (c) that some of the women who the courts had previously considered reliable were revealed as downright liars!

All this is common knowledge in Sweden, and it would undoubtedly be beneficial to the worldwide debate about the Julian Assange case if people like Michael Moore were to inform themselves of the aforementioned before criticizing the Swedish Legal System, so that the criticism can show all sides of the spectrum and be of a more thorough nature. Michael Moore's analysis may be correct, but it can hardly be used as a basis for criticism in the Assange case without adding the other side of the coin, which includes all the wrongfully imprisoned men who have been subjected to harrowing injustices in Sweden.

So how high is the risk that Julian Assange will become yet another victim of the Swedish legal system's circus of horrors? Well, it is certainly not an exaggeration to say that the case so far has unfolded in somewhat of an alarming manner. The main thing to remember however is that even if what Julian Assange is alleged to have done is not considered a crime by the laws of most countries, it is considered a punishable crime by the somewhat crazy laws of Sweden. And Sweden does have some really crazy laws! Foreign observers must also bear in mind that we are not just talking of a country which makes Volvos and Saabs and which produced Ingemar Bergman, Björn Borg, Jussi Björling, ABBA and Roxette and the world famous Smorgasbord. We are speaking of a country in which the sale of sexual services (prostitution) is fully legal whilst the purchasing of those same services is illegal and punishable by law. That perhaps describes the Swedish legal and political mentality in a nutshell!

If the Swedish Prosecutor is successful in convincing the courts that Assange intentionally did what he is alleged to have done, he most certainly faces the risk of an unjust prison sentence. Assange's supporters are speaking of the need for the "truth" to come out, but here we have another problem - Swedish law does not require the "truth" to be revealed in order to sentence or acquit an indicted person. The "truth" has no real bearing in Swedish courtrooms.

It's what can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that determines the outcome and despite the pressures from outside the courtroom that in itself, in the end is what will determine the outcome in this case. And what is reasonable doubt? Well, given the past history of the Swedish legal system's treatment of sex cases it is not wrong to suggest that Julian Assange and his supporters may soon discover that the Swedish definition of "reasonable doubt" differs somewhat from that of the rest of the world's democratic nation's interpretations of the phrase.

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Dear Mr. Butt, it's truely ironic that we at the moment have a debate named "talkaboutit" but your case is not even worth mentioning or commenting at all. The loud voice of extreme feminists sound more and more false. It's a pity that this has started to smear the image of Sweden, even among Leftwing people such as Naomi Klein, John Pilger and Michael Moore.

Permalänk | Anmäl #4 Anders Lindfors, 2010-12-22, 13:12

What if a man rapes a woman without him understanding "this is rape"? Perhaps he shows his affection in a very forceful way and the woman feels assaulted and hurt.
Let's suppose this happens from time to time... What if some of these women finds the strength to talk about it and eventually go to the police? Maybe the accused men feels assaulted and think we did "nothing wrong"...

Permalänk | Anmäl #5 Caisa Martinsdotter, 2010-12-23, 00:49

Mens sexual abuse and general violence against women is widely spread and should be despised. Have in mind however that a woman can have sex with a man against her will without necessarily having been raped.

Also just like any other crime there must be some kind of evidence apart from an arbitrary accusation.

To comment the famous broken condom I'd like to ask if a woman falsely telling her male sex partner that she's on the pill is commiting a rape?

Permalänk | Anmäl #6 Ludvig Nyberg, 2010-12-23, 11:15

A Swedish circus of horrors?

Lobbying efforts on behalf of Mr. Assanges innocence falls naturally in the course of the Swedish freedom of speech.

But as we all know, Mr. Butt has been convicted and served sentences of five years in prison for raping nine (9) women.

An unusually high penalty imposed by any Swedish court and as relevant to mention, his appeal and application for revision has not been recognized!

In my opinion, the weight of Mr. Butts's criticism of the Swedish judiciary must therefore be seen in the above light of his criminal past.

Permalänk | Anmäl #11 gunnar mohammad, 2011-01-11, 05:59