“It’s a violation of sexual integrity, and it can be seen as rape.”
December 18, 2010 11:10 PM Subscribe
Filmmaker Michael Moore writes an open letter to the Government of Sweden. Defending accused rapist Julian Assange, Moore explains that "Sweden just doesn't take sexual assault against women seriously. Unless you have the evidence (and it seems if you did you would have issued an arrest warrant by now), drop the extradition attempt and get to work doing the job you've so far refused to do: Protecting the women of Sweden."
Ironically, a police report detailing some of the allegations against the founder of Wikileaks has been leaked.
Details in the police report and dozens of interviews in recent months with people in Sweden linked to the case suggest that the Swedish case could be less flawed than Mr. Assange’s supporters have claimed.
Two women have accused Assange of sexual assault:
Their accounts, which form the basis of an extradition case against Mr. Assange, state that their encounters with him began consensually, but became nonconsensual when he persisted in having unprotected sex with them in defiance of their insistence that he use a condom.
Sweden has one of the toughest laws on sexual crime in the world - lawyers sometimes joke that men need written permission first. The attorney representing the women in this case explains: "It is not necessary to have a lot of violence. That is what people usually think, but in practice if you force someone to have sex with you against their consent you don't have to use much violence at all. Or you can take advantage of a difficult situation for the woman in question."
In a country with a deep-seated commitment to gender equality, it is true that Sweden has some of the toughest laws agains rape in the world. It is also true that Sweden has the highest number of reported rapes in Europe. Pointing to low conviction rates, however, Amnesty International produced a report in 2009 saying the "rapists enjoy impunity in Sweden." The Swedish government says more rapes are reported in Sweden because Swedish women have come to expect that the police take all allegations of rape seriously and are thus more likely to come forward. Low conviction rates are the result of strong legal protections enjoyed by all accused criminals in Sweden.
Accusations by Moore and Assange that the charges are politically motivated:
Legal experts in Sweden have said that the decision was not unusual given the success that the women’s movement in Sweden has had over the last 30 years in recasting Sweden’s criminal laws on sexual issues, making them extremely protective of women’s rights, and the intense public interest that has been stirred in Sweden by the Assange case.
The prosecutor in the case, Marianne Ny, specializes in cases regarding sexual abuse of children and domestic violence.
Details in the police report and dozens of interviews in recent months with people in Sweden linked to the case suggest that the Swedish case could be less flawed than Mr. Assange’s supporters have claimed.
Two women have accused Assange of sexual assault:
Their accounts, which form the basis of an extradition case against Mr. Assange, state that their encounters with him began consensually, but became nonconsensual when he persisted in having unprotected sex with them in defiance of their insistence that he use a condom.
Sweden has one of the toughest laws on sexual crime in the world - lawyers sometimes joke that men need written permission first. The attorney representing the women in this case explains: "It is not necessary to have a lot of violence. That is what people usually think, but in practice if you force someone to have sex with you against their consent you don't have to use much violence at all. Or you can take advantage of a difficult situation for the woman in question."
In a country with a deep-seated commitment to gender equality, it is true that Sweden has some of the toughest laws agains rape in the world. It is also true that Sweden has the highest number of reported rapes in Europe. Pointing to low conviction rates, however, Amnesty International produced a report in 2009 saying the "rapists enjoy impunity in Sweden." The Swedish government says more rapes are reported in Sweden because Swedish women have come to expect that the police take all allegations of rape seriously and are thus more likely to come forward. Low conviction rates are the result of strong legal protections enjoyed by all accused criminals in Sweden.
Accusations by Moore and Assange that the charges are politically motivated:
Legal experts in Sweden have said that the decision was not unusual given the success that the women’s movement in Sweden has had over the last 30 years in recasting Sweden’s criminal laws on sexual issues, making them extremely protective of women’s rights, and the intense public interest that has been stirred in Sweden by the Assange case.
The prosecutor in the case, Marianne Ny, specializes in cases regarding sexual abuse of children and domestic violence.
This post was deleted for the following reason: We've had so many wikileaks posts, having yet another about Assange's arrest and possible rape feels like one too many, sorry. -- mathowie
A source of mine leaked the ending of this thread to me. It's not looking good.
posted by Bromius at 11:19 PM on December 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Bromius at 11:19 PM on December 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
I couldn't help but read Michael Moore's letter in the voice of Andy Rooney
posted by Hoopo at 11:25 PM on December 18, 2010
posted by Hoopo at 11:25 PM on December 18, 2010
Tiger Beatdown called for Moore to donate $20k to rape crisis organizations to match his contribution to Assange's bail; he still hasn't responded.
posted by NoraReed at 11:25 PM on December 18, 2010
posted by NoraReed at 11:25 PM on December 18, 2010
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What evidence? It's he said/she said, they want to interview he. Pretty reasonable.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 11:14 PM on December 18, 2010