Wikileaks' Assange Requests New Lawyer in Sweden

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

WikiLeaks' Assange requests new lawyer in Sweden
By MALIN RISING (AP) – 7 hours ago
STOCKHOLM — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday requested a new lawyer to represent him in the ongoing Swedish rape investigation and suggested the allegations against him stemmed from personal conflicts.

In an interview with Swedish TV4, Assange said his previous comments that the rape allegations were part of a smear campaign had been taken out of context. "I never said the word CIA, I never said anyone was behind this," he said. "I said very clearly what we knew, which was that on the 11th we received a warning, and that this was a smear because it is not true," Assange said. "That doesn't mean that intelligence agencies are behind this, nor does it mean they are not behind it, nor does it mean once this has happened, for other reasons, that they are not capitalizing on it."

- snip -

Assange has consistently denied the claims and investigators have not released details about either case, though a police report obtained by the AP shows both women had met Assange in connection with a seminar he gave in Stockholm on Aug. 14. The report shows the women filed their complaints together six days later.

- snip -

Earlier Tuesday, a representative of Assange sent a note to the Stockholm district court saying he is not satisfied with prominent Swedish lawyer Leif Silbersky and wants Bjorn Hurtig instead. The note said Silbersky hasn't been sufficiently engaged in the case.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j67FZIpdD8zrIyYcrXZQ4cqFj_mgD9I384000

[geek tragedy]

1. Odd. He named the Pentagon as the main suspect

behind the allegations. Why is he walking that claim back?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. don't know.

Maybe he's figured it's not a good legal defense?

[reorg]

4. Odd, he didn't

name the Pentagon as the main suspect behind the smear campaign.

He doesn't backpedal, he simply clarifies what he said and doesn't take anything back:

"I said very clearly what we knew, which was that on the 11th we received a warning, and that this was a smear because it is not true," Assange said. "That doesn't mean that intelligence agencies are behind this, nor does it mean they are not behind it, nor does it mean once this has happened, for other reasons, that they are not capitalizing on it."

The ability to read sometimes helps!

[NoodleyAppendage]

3. He's wisely backing off so as to not put the CIA/Pentagon on defensive.

This would then allow for some back room dealing to get the charges dismissed (e.g., you make the charges go away and some embarrassing documents disappear back down the memory hole).

J

[kgnu_fan]

5. I find fascinating that the second woman's identity is not so apparent

while the first woman's identity has been widely known. Who is the second woman? She is the only female who got to go out with the team of journalists after the conference.

[reorg]

7. Sofia Wilén

Participants at the Swedish discussion forum flashback.org have reliably identified her, complete with address. 26 years old, photographer, had pictures of Assange in her Flickr collection which were in the Google cache until recently. She has removed all traces of her on the web since.

Sitting in the front row during this event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWh1Mk2_GVg

The woman with the pink shirt, close-up at: 3:39 - 3:49

Photo from this event published in the Daily Mail (face obscured):



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1307137/Supporters-dismissed-rape-accusations-WikiLeaks-founder-Julian-Assange--women-involved-tell-different-story.html

Composite of photos:

[kgnu_fan]

8. Whom does she work for???? nt

[Downwinder]

6. Enough of the side shows, lets get the releases going again. n/t