I am slightly updating and reposting this from 2012 because the mainstream media have ensured very few people know the detail of the “case” against Julian Assange in Sweden. The UN Working Group ruled that Assange ought never to have been arrested in the UK in the first place because there is no case, and no genuine investigation. Read this and you will know why.
The other thing not widely understood is there is NO JURY in a rape trial in Sweden and it is a SECRET TRIAL. All of the evidence, all of the witnesses, are heard in secret. No public, no jury, no media. The only public part is the charging and the verdict. There is a judge and two advisers directly appointed by political parties. So you never would get to understand how plainly the case is a stitch-up. Unless you read this.
There are so many inconsistencies in Anna Ardin’s accusation of sexual assault against Julian Assange. But the key question which leaps out at me – and which strangely I have not seen asked anywhere else – is this:
Why did Anna Ardin not warn Sofia Wilen?
On 16 August, Julian Assange had sex with Sofia Wilen. Sofia had become known in the Swedish group around Assange for the shocking pink cashmere sweater she had worn in the front row of Assange’s press conference. Anna Ardin knew Assange was planning to have sex with Sofia Wilen. On 17 August, Ardin texted a friend who was looking for Assange:
“He’s not here. He’s planned to have sex with the cashmere girl every evening, but not made it. Maybe he finally found time yesterday?”
Yet Ardin later testified that just three days earlier, on 13 August, she had been sexually assaulted by Assange; an assault so serious she was willing to try (with great success) to ruin Julian Assange’s entire life. She was also to state that this assault involved enforced unprotected sex and she was concerned about HIV.
If Ardin really believed that on 13 August Assange had forced unprotected sex on her and this could have transmitted HIV, why did she make no attempt to warn Sofia Wilen that Wilen was in danger of her life? And why was Ardin discussing with Assange his desire for sex with Wilen, and texting about it to friends, with no evident disapproval or discouragement?
Ardin had Wilen’s contact details and indeed had organised her registration for the press conference. She could have warned her. But she didn’t.
Let us fit that into a very brief survey of the whole Ardin/Assange relationship. .
11 August: Assange arrives in Stockholm for a press conference organised by a branch of the Social Democratic Party.
Anna Ardin has offered her one bed flat for him to stay in as she will be away.
13 August: Ardin comes back early. She has dinner with Assange and they have consensual sex, on the first day of meeting. Ardin subsequently alleges this turned into assault by surreptitious mutilation of the condom.
14 August: Anna volunteers to act as Julian’s press secretary. She sits next to him on the dais at his press conference. Assange meets Sofia Wilen there.
‘Julian wants to go to a crayfish party, anyone have a couple of available seats tonight or tomorrow? #fb’
This attempt to find a crayfish party fails, so Ardin organises one herself for him, in a garden outside her flat. Anna and Julian seem good together. One guest hears Anna rib Assange that she thought “you had dumped me” when he got up from bed early that morning. Another offers to Anna that Julian can leave her flat and come stay with them. She replies:
“He can stay with me.”
15 August Still at the crayfish party with Julian, Anna tweets:
‘Sitting outdoors at 02:00 and hardly freezing with the world’s coolest smartest people, it’s amazing! #fb’
Julian and Anna, according to both their police testimonies, sleep again in the same single bed, and continue to do so for the next few days. Assange tells police they continue to have sex; Anna tells police they do not. That evening, Anna and Julian go together to, and leave together from, a dinner with the leadership of the Pirate Party. They again sleep in the same bed.
16 August: Julian goes to have sex with Sofia Wilen: Ardin does not warn her of potential sexual assault.
Another friend offers Anna to take over housing Julian. Anna again refuses.
20 August: After Sofia Wilen contacts her to say she is worried about STD’s including HIV after unprotected sex with Julian, Anna takes her to see Anna’s friend, fellow Social Democrat member, former colleague on the same ballot in a council election, and campaigning feminist police officer, Irmeli Krans. Ardin tells Wilen the police can compel Assange to take an HIV test. Ardin sits in throughout Wilen’s unrecorded – in breach of procedure – police interview. Krans prepares a statement accusing Assange of rape. Wilen refuses to sign it.
21 August Having heard Wilen’s interview and Krans’ statement from it, Ardin makes her own police statement alleging Assange has surreptiously had unprotected sex with her eight days previously.
Some days later: Ardin produces a broken condom to the police as evidence; but a forensic examination finds no traces of Assange’s – or anyone else’s – DNA on it, and indeed it is apparently unused.
No witness has come forward to say that Ardin complained of sexual assault by Assange before Wilen’s Ardin-arranged interview with Krans – and Wilen came forward not to complain of an assault, but enquire about STDs. Wilen refused to sign the statement alleging rape, which was drawn up by Ardin’s friend Krans in Ardin’s presence.
It is therefore plain that one of two things happened:
Either
Ardin was sexually assaulted with unprotected sex, but failed to warn Wilen when she knew Assange was going to see her in hope of sex.
Ardin also continued to host Assange, help him, appear in public and private with him, act as his press secretary, and sleep in the same bed with him, refusing repeated offers to accommodate him elsewhere, all after he assaulted her.
Or
Ardin wanted sex with Assange – from whatever motive.. She “unexpectedly” returned home early after offering him the use of her one bed flat while she was away. By her own admission, she had consensual sex with him, within hours of meeting him.
She discussed with Assange his desire for sex with Wilen, and appears at least not to have been discouraging. Hearing of Wilen’s concern about HIV after unprotected sex, she took Wilen to her campaigning feminist friend, policewoman Irmeli Krans, in order to twist Wilen’s story into a sexual assault – very easy given Sweden’s astonishing “second-wave feminism” rape laws. Wilen refused to sign.
At the police station on 20 August, Wilen texted a friend at 14.25 “did not want to put any charges against JA but the police wanted to get a grip on him.”
At 17.26 she texted that she was “shocked when they arrested JA because I only wanted him to take a test”.
The next evening at 22.22 she texted “it was the police who fabricated the charges”.
Ardin then made up her own story of sexual assault. As so many friends knew she was having sex with Assange, she could not claim non-consensual sex. So she manufactured her story to fit in with Wilen’s concerns by alleging the affair of the torn condom. But the torn condom she produced has no trace of Assange on it. It is impossible to wear a condom and not leave a DNA trace.
Conclusion
I have no difficulty in saying that I firmly believe Ardin to be a liar. For her story to be true involves acceptance of behaviour which is, in the literal sense, incredible.
Ardin’s story is of course incredibly weak, but that does not matter. Firstly, you were never supposed to see all this detail. Rape trials in Sweden are held entirely in secret. There is no jury, and the government appointed judge is flanked by assessors appointed directly by political parties. If Assange goes to Sweden, he will disappear into jail, the trial will be secret, and the next thing you will hear is that he is guilty and a rapist.
Secondly, of course, it does not matter the evidence is so weak, as just to cry rape is to tarnish a man’s reputation forever. Anna Ardin has already succeeded in ruining much of the work and life of Assange. The details of the story being pathetic is unimportant.
By crying rape, politically correct opinion falls in behind the line that it is wrong even to look at the evidence. If you are not allowed to know who the accuser is, how can you find out that she worked with CIA-funded anti-Castro groups in Havana and Miami?
Finally, to those useful idiots who claim that the way to test these matters is in court, I would say of course, you are right, we should trust the state always, fit-ups never happen, and we should absolutely condemn the disgraceful behaviour of those who campaigned for the Birmingham Six.
Thanks Salander,
That’s quite a list you’ve got there! Hmm, very true what you say about Carl Bildt. Though, personally, I’ve always felt the tip-off was in the other direction, ie that Svensson and co received the tip from the source “close to the investigation”/one of the women (most likely Ardin) and they passed it to the political players they were mixing with at the time they received it.
You wouldn’t happen to know what time of day these annual shindigs at Harpsund start, would you? Maria Kjellstrand issued the warrant for Assange’s arrest at precisely 5pm on Friday 20 August 2010. We know Linda Wassgren phoned Mats Gehlin in the Family Violence Unit, the station officer Johan Hallberg and a couple more (as yet unknown) people. Do we know anything about who Kjellstrand spoke to before (or shortly after) issuing the warrant? Might she have phoned her husband at all that afternoon? Regarding hubby Per being at the Harpsund party, I thought Flashback had found that out last year sometime and established that he was in fact there.
Ever since I first heard where Svensson was when he got the initial tip-off about the women’s visit to police I’ve always felt that there’s more to the Harpsund angle. Like there’s still a missing link in the puzzle chain and Harpsund somehow might just be it… I suppose it’s been firmly established that Karl Rove wasn’t even in Sweden that night, let alone swanking it up with his Bestest Pal Reinfeldt? 🙁 Pity
The Harpsund event started before lunch on Friday. Seminar about the economic situation in the afternoon. Discussions about Pakistan. Press conference with plenty of journalists in the late afternoon. Swimming, sauna and leisure after that. Drinks and mingle at 19.30. Sit down dinner after 20.00 with crayfish, snaps and singing. Good mood in anticipation of an election victory in four weeks. In that atmosphere the news about Assange’s arrest must have been received by some of the key ministers before the mingle started.
Here is a feature article, including some pictures, by a well-known player, Niklas Svensson, in a well-known newspaper ,Expressen, published on August 21 at 15.23. Around an hour before Eva Finne closed the rape case.
http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/val-2010/reinfeldt-och-regeringen-firade-valsegern-i-forskott/
To Arbed. As far as I know Karl Rove was not in Sweden when the case exploded, or the week before. But he was there earlier in the summer. This picture is from Almedalen, Gotland, the place for the most important political civil society gathering in Sweden every year. First or second week in July. Rove had a closed dinner with political friends there.
On the picture is Bill McCormac, Republican American living in Sweden, working on Prime PR, Karl Rove and Fredrik Andersson, member of the moderate party (Carl Bildt’s party) and head of Prime PR:s office in New York. If any of you know anything about Prime’s american and british links it would be of interest.
http://www.chillingmesoftly.com/content/six-degrees-karl-rove
Hi Salander,
There’s someone who comments regularly on Craig’s blog who’s very good at digging into company records. I’ll ask them if they can find anything out for you. Brb.
Arbed, re: your link on the Correa post.
All I’ve been able to find up to now is the UK twitter account for PrimePR. I guess you might already have that.
http://www.primesw.co.uk
Will try some more.
re Bill McCormac
Not sure this is the same family. But it was a Republican success of an older sister of a Will McCormack (note difference in spelling) however don’t rule it out as being the same person.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/how-michigan-judicial-candidate-bridget-mary-mccormack-got-the-west-wing-cast-for-her-campaign-video/2012/09/20/a2d53326-0347-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_blog.html
The older sister’s name is Bridget McCormack.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_McCormack
They seem to be a very influential family. Of course it may not be the same person.
Sorry, Salander I missed your earlier request for the same information.
Here is an image of writer/actor Will McCormack, younger brother of Supreme Court Judge, Bridget. Is it the same person as in your photo? I’m not very good at lookalikes.
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/XENU0pzNxO-/Celeste+Jessie+New+York+Premiere+Inside+Arrivals/mMzTpmqa6uZ/Will+McCormack
@ John Goss 2.03pm
Hi John,
No, that’s not the right guy – wrong eye colour – or family (the McCormac spelling is correct). I’m not even sure that primesw.co.uk is part of the same Prime group we’re after. Here’s is McCormac’s biog page from Prime’s Swedish website (use Google translate):
http://www.primegroup.com/medarbetare/billy-mccormac
Thanks Arbed. Will drop that lead.
And here Fredrik Andersson’s biog from Prime’s Swedish website:
http://www.primegroup.com/medarbetare/fredrik-andersson
John, I don’t know exactly which sources Mary uses to dig up the stuff she does but if you do know perhaps you could start with those sources? I’m aware Flashback does already have quite a bit on this Prime two-some; what I think they’re after is more on any connections via companies they are associated with, or have previously been associated with, in the UK or US.
Mary very kindly said “will do, but not today” as she’s heading off to the demo about the Gaza raids today, so if you’re not busy perhaps you can do it, or some of it, for her?
Arbed, Salander, apologies if you’ve already seen, or posted this.
http://www.thelocal.se/44270/20121106/
Arbed, now I’m clearer as to what you want, the best site I know is:
http://company-director-check.co.uk/
I’ve searched this site using Bill McCormac, Billy McCormac, and William McCormac to no avail. There is probably a US equivalent and I’ll try to find out what that is. I think to be a director in the UK you have to have an address here.
Nothing. Only Sweden. There is a US address that appears to pick up McCormac’s email address {[email protected]} but you have to pay.
http://www.spokeo.com/
My concern is it might direct one back to the Swedish sites. Perhaps Mary can come up with something. Komodo is also good at getting this kind of information. If McCormac works for the CIA they have most likely scrubbed anything connected with his former life. He seems to have stock exchange knowledge. The easy way to pay him is for the CIA to use its insider knowledge and transfer a few shares from time to time. As you can see from the Correa blog post drug money is being used to try and depose the president of Equador.
Arbed, I’ve found a number of Swedish videos of McCormac talking (in Swedish) with a panel of five including a Wikileaks’ representative, but I guess you know about this and you can no doubt understand it, which I can’t.
As to his US roots I suspect he is a descendent of a Harvard educated family man who settled in California and was a scientist and NASA space expert called William Murray Mccormac (1920-1999). There is a family resemblance, perhaps a grandson.
http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/BAAS./0032//0001679.000.html
Oh dear. Looks like Goran Rudling’s “Samtycke Leaks” may be going viral.
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23penisemail&src=hash
as a result of this:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/112662612/Samtycke-Leaks
http://www.scribd.com/doc/112662628/Not-Interested-in-Sex-Re-Goran-Rudling-on-Assange
Meanwhile, anyone want to sign the petition against the misguided and ill-informed campaign to ban Julian Assange’s appearance at the Cambridge Union?
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/for-cambridge-university-cusu-women-s-campaign-to-let-julian-assange-speak-and-not-revoke-his-invitation#share
It’s appalling that these people are referring to him as a “confessed rapist” when he has vehemently denied these allegations over and over again.
Susy Langsdale, CUSU Women’s Officer should hang her head in shame for this ridiculous campaign to silence an uncharged man:
http://cambridge.tab.co.uk/2012/11/14/cusu-seeks-to-block-assange-secretly/
Looks like it’s worked too:
http://www.varsity.co.uk/news/5316
Suzy Langsdale has already been given much in the way of facts about the Swedish investigation in feedback from Cambridge students – just in case her campaign was based on genuine ignorance about them. It seems she hasn’t bothered to educate herself and has simply decided that nowadays if anyone has a sexual allegation made against them they no longer have the right to be heard or the right to defend themselves. Presumption of innocence? Pah! Who needs that?
Extremely well-researched and informative book, available for download for less than $3. Best conpendium of facts about the Swedish investigation to date:
Guy Sim, Julian Assange in Sweden – what really happened:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/233304
For Arbed and anyone interested. It appears that your Billy McCormac is the son of Billy Murray McCormac mentioned above. So his father must have been middle-aged when he fathered Billy (unless Willy is in his sixties). He has made two donations of $1000 to the Democratic National Committee Services Corporation in 2009 and this year. I can find no details of him having any directorships in the US or UK. His father worked on Nuclear weapons’ experiments in Europe and elsewhere. His name is Billy Murray McCormac II and there is very little about him anywhere under Billy McCormac or any other name. But it appears he is not short of money.
http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=city&city=Stockholm&off=10n
Dear Arbed and Mr. John Goss
I have been extremely busy with work and travels and not been able to keep in touch with developments on this issue as i would have liked to. However I will be penning an article very soon for a very reputable international newspaper from a developing country on developments in the Assange case and would appreciate your input.
email me at:[email protected]
Thank you.
It is interesting that McCormac has made donations to the Democratic National Committee Services but describes himself as a Republican.
http://kampanjbarometern.dagensmedia.se/2012/09/21/billy-mccormac-%E2%80%93-sveriges-ende-republikan/
I am struggling to find out what University (or military academy) he went to. Anybody know?
Can anybody open this please and post its contents. It says something about Billy McCormac and the CIA not having the capability for something.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CE8QFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffr.goldenmap.com%2FTimbro&ei=2NysUIz4DYLK0QXW7IDgCw&usg=AFQjCNFwZO0odeYSxLdvcg_RTKHWzL3pRQ&sig2=U_9aQ071wmUu0MVg7z8iiw
Hi John,
It won’t open for me either. Perhaps you should repaste your request in the latest thread and request Clark’s (or another one of the ‘techie’ chaps on the blog) help with it. He’s back commenting again.
Hello Arbed and John. I’ve cached something that could be your target here:
http://www.killick1.plus.com/timbro/timbro.html
It looks as if the original article was on site of the Timbro Swedish think-tank. There is a Wikipedia article about Timbro, and they have an English entry-point to their web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbro
http://www.timbro.se/innehall/?omr=180
Clark thank you. This was the piece I was after.
http://www.thelocal.se/31880/20110207/
I located it by cutting some of the text from below the link.
Hi Everyone,
The Flashback folk have unearthed potentially explosive news. English speakers will need to use Google translate on the links below, and likewise with the links within the Flashback posts.
Brief summary is that a 7 September 2010 raid in Sweden on a network of “elite” file-sharers – misleadingly described as co-ordinated by the Belgian authorities and as “nothing to do with Wikileaks” in the Swedish MSM at the time – was in fact a smokescreen for a CIA op to link two particular IP addresses: one was Bradley Manning’s aunt’s house, the other was to Wikileaks’ server at Swedish host at the time of Cablegate, PRQ.
Here are the best Flashback posts giving the details:
https://www.flashback.org/sp40488798
https://www.flashback.org/sp40494111
And here’s the “smokescreen” story as it appeared on Sveriges Radio’s site on 7 September 2010:
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=1646&artikel=3989392
PRQ, of course, is the company founded by Gottfrid Svartholm – @Anakata – also co-founder of The Pirate Bay and friend of Julian Assange, who is currently 11 weeks into detention in solitary confinement for various reasons:
– serving the one-year prison sentence he was given in absentia for his role in the Pirate Bay
– “suspicions” (ie not yet charges) allegedly relating to a hack of Logica, contractor to the Swedish tax authorities and Defence systems. These were slapped on him following the extremely dodgy (and possibly illegal) manoeuvres by the Swedish authorities to get him deported back to Sweden from Cambodia
– new “suspicions” (ie not yet charges) of “aggravated fraud” which the Swedish prosecutor refuses to go into any detail about. Very vague.
I can’t help feeling that the third item here is really the crux of everything, and that Svartholm’s detention in Stockholm is part of the bigger picture of getting Assange extradited to the US via Sweden to face the espionage indictment that’s currently under seal with the Grand Jury in Virginia. I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if Svartholm’s name is on one of the other sealed indictments discovered by accident by Birgitta Jonsdottir’s US lawyers, ie Svartholm is one of the “seven civilians” it’s been confirmed the Grand Jury is investigating. In this scenario, perhaps Svartholm’s pre-charge detention is simply a holding mechanism pending the successful extradition of Assange from the UK to Sweden, then they both get shipped off together to the US.
I wonder if one of our Flashback visitors could do an English translation of the Flashback posts and links above, to help get this important info out into the English-speaking blogosphere?
Has anyone pointed this out to Rixstep? Do they have an article on this yet?
Hi Clark,
Rixstep’s tweeted about it. No idea if he plans an article on it. Hope so.
Not much help. I am sure, but here’s a tapeworm halfway up Karl Rove:
http://www.plinky.com/people/bm
Looks like the same McCormac to me.