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Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

reuters.com

181–190 of 377 posts

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#181
post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least under English law, you cannot provide consent in advance; you must have the ability to provide and withdraw consent at the time of the act.

Generally speaking, regardless of what your local laws are, "don't have sex with unconcious people, ever" is a good policy to have as a human being.

Absolutely! But much like protocols (strict in what you emit, liberal in what you accept), reality is complicated and not conforming to a desired standard.

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel sad, because this is not the right debate to have, and I initiated it. First, I repeat: What he allegedly did is a serious and horrible crime. Also, people need to see the elephant in the room. These two victims' case is weaponized by some governments to scare whistle-blowers. Assange directly or indirectly exposed many horrible crimes, including war rapes, group rapes, mass murders. People need to remember th…

It has to be said that many other journalists who reported on war crimes (including collaborating with Wikileaks on Manning stories) are entirely safe and well and have not been accused of rape.

We don't really know what threats have been delivered to them, only Assange is high-profile enough for whatever happens to him to send message. For all we know those other journalists received a friendly phone call and capitulated immediately - or more likely, they're simply not as big a target.

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#183
post #179
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is certainly possible, but in this instance there are a couple of issues that reduce that to a pretty weird complaint. I mean, if two people have sex and then sleep in the same bed overnight, and one of the two attempts to continue having sex in the morning ... if you wanna call that rape, rape might not even be a moral crime. Just a technical one. It is diluting the word to the point where it is meaningless. In t…

And at this point, it must be known if she contracted an STD from him. I'm assuming if she had, there would be additional charges for it. So, we pretty much know he didn't give her one, so it's a little weird to me that this is being discussed as a could have .

It's about consent: if he knowingly endangered someone there should still be consequences even if he got away with it, just as you'd want for, say, someone driving drunk even if they didn't hit someone that time.

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#184

Would the people who argue that the described situation was not rape please remember that it actually is under swedish law and the situation in your own jurisdiction is irrelevant here?

The legal definition of rape is one that is restricted by the law, but the moral definition is not. If I say a biscuit is a cake and legally it is made so, does that mean it is actually a cake?

I'm sure North Korea or China say some people are criminals and must be executed. As an outsider should we just agree because 'the situation in your own jurisdiction is irrelevant here'? I think not, morality and truth should not be restricted to the definition of the law where it presides. It's possible what Assange allegedly did was in fact rape, but illegal or not shouldn't be the defining factor when assessing the truth of that claim.

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#185
post #152

Come on people. We don't have a lot of information to judge on. But if we are having a debate about the meaning of rape, then we are all side stepping the incredible high chance this is politically motivated nonsense. Nobody had ever been extradited for this sort of thing. Sweden is special in that it enabled it based on a testimony, even after the testimony has been revoked and without the victims pressing charges o…

I think you are correct with everything but...

> maintain any illusion that we live in a free world

That would require the crimes betrayed through the leaked information to have consequences. There also needs to be more control exercised on people responsible, that this cannot happen again. Otherwise, you could skip this trial as well.

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#186
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the law actually say so? To what extent does "rape by lying" exist? I imagine "I'm actually not a doctor" or "let me just remove my makeup" don't count... How about not paying a prostitute after sex (assuming prostitution is legal), does it count as rape (she consented to sex on the condition of paying) or just theft ? Are women that say they're on the pill but aren't, or that use the man's sperm to impregnate t…

> Are women that say they're on the pill but aren't, or that use the man's sperm to impregnate themselves after sex, rapists This is a very interesting scenario you bring up. Anna and Bob agree to have sex. Anna would prefer without a condom, Bob insists they must have a condom. Anna sabotages the condom by poking a pin through the package. They have consensual sex with the condom, which unbeknownst to Bob has a hole…

In Switzerland it definitly would not count as rape by Anna (men cannot be raped here, only sexually abused (same max prison time, but rape carries a mandatory minimum of one year)). But she would be liable for the financial damage caused to Bob (child support, lost income, anything you can think of).

There is a famous case before the highest court, where a doctor, after forgetting to perform a sterilization a patient requested together with the caesarian birth of her second child, was deemed liable for the financial loss incurred by the existance of her third child.

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#187
post #35

Assange is accused of unlawful coercion and "lesser-degree rape" (mindre grov våldtäkt). In the first case, the complainant willingly had an intercourse with him. But after sex, she realized that the condom had a hole. She claims that he made it. In the second case, the complainant also willingly had an intercourse with Assange, they slept naked together. The next day in the morning, he penetrated her without a condo…

I know some couples might have an understanding about such things, but I consider penetrating someone who is sleeping rape.

Why limit it to penetration? Sexual contact without consent to that specific form of contact immediately preceding the contact. That is the law apparently. But as a poster above said, laws need to bend to humanity, not the other way around. If I ask my wife to ride my morning wood, then charge her with rape when she tries to divorce me for being lazy, we can all agree I think that the law is no serving justice.

Also whatever Assange did or didn't do, the handling of the case seems highly suspicious and Swedish resident have standing to request an investigation.

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#188
post #98

Because there are already various conspiracies being discussed in this thread, I'd like to invite you to entertain, just momentarily, the possibility that this is simply a functioning system of justice seeking to prosecute what they consider credible evidence of a crime. I know the tech community likes Assange, or at least liked Wikileaks as it was originally conceived. But here are some thoughts that you could maybe…

"Does anybody believe the CIA has covered secret agents stationed at Swedish feminist literature departments" Sure, why not? It would be an excellent cover persona for that type of spy. From what little I know about how intelligence agencies operate, it always amazes me who their assets are. Look at who the OSS used as spies in WWII. Find out who her parents are before passing judgement. They don't recruit the obviou…

I can believe the CIA has all sorts of assets in obscure places. Believing the CIA is directing its assets to have sex with a target then wait several days until a chance conversation with somebody else about his alleged sexual indiscretions before making a crime report so tentative the case was only reopened on appeal is a step much further. If the CIA wanted to honeytrap someone, which certainly wasn't the most obvious route to going after Assange, they'd have made the case stick.

Similarly, believing that everybody who has ever interacted with an anti-Castro organization (the only "evidence" presented of CIA involvement) is a CIA asset is a step beyond which I'm willing to go.

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has to be said that many other journalists who reported on war crimes (including collaborating with Wikileaks on Manning stories) are entirely safe and well and have not been accused of rape.

We don't really know what threats have been delivered to them, only Assange is high-profile enough for whatever happens to him to send message. For all we know those other journalists received a friendly phone call and capitulated immediately - or more likely, they're simply not as big a target.

I mean, some of the other journalists include Wikileaks members and Assange supporters who've personally assisted Snowden in escaping to Russia. If it's an intimidation strategy, it's clearly not working.

Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition

#190
post #152

Come on people. We don't have a lot of information to judge on. But if we are having a debate about the meaning of rape, then we are all side stepping the incredible high chance this is politically motivated nonsense. Nobody had ever been extradited for this sort of thing. Sweden is special in that it enabled it based on a testimony, even after the testimony has been revoked and without the victims pressing charges o…

If it were about what America wants, why wouldn’t they just let America extradite him? They already have an extradition request in.
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