WikiLeak's Assange Wanted on Rape Charges

Embattled Wikileaks Founder Facing Rape Charge in Sweden

VOA News 21 August 2010

UPDATE: Swedish prosecutors have withdrawn an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on charges of suspected rape.

Chief Prosecutor Eva Finne says she has determined there is no reason to suspect Assange has committed such a crime.

Sweden's national prosecutor's office says Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is wanted for suspected rape.

The prosecutor's office said Saturday the Australian citizen is accused of one count of rape and one count of molestation in Sweden.

A Swedish daily newspaper, Expressen, quotes Assange as denying the allegations. The Wikileaks Twitter feed quotes Assange as saying the charges are "without basis" and that their timing is "deeply disturbing."

Meanwhile the Pentagon is reported to be considering criminal charges against Wikileaks, which last month released more than 70,000 classified or secret documents from the war in Afghanistan.

Assange said Wednesday that contact had been established with the Defense Department to initiate discussions on the issue of new document releases.  But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman denied that the department is willing to collaborate with the website.

The Pentagon has told WikiLeaks its actions risk the lives of U.S. soldiers and Afghan citizens, and could possibly undermine military operations against extremists in Afghanistan.

Assange said the site intends to publish another 15,000 documents on the Internet within weeks.  He said all the documents are being reviewed "line by line," and that the names of "innocent parties who are under reasonable threat" will be removed.

Whitman released a letter from Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson saying the department will not discuss what he called "some 'minimized' or 'sanitized' version of a release by WikiLeaks of additional classified documents."  The letter also repeats the department's demand that all of the documents be returned, and that those already published be removed from WikiLeaks' databases and destroyed.