I have a question about the Assange rape & international arrest warrants

[La Lioness Priyanka]

Is it common to have an international arrest warrant for an alleged rapist?

This is a real question (I am not phrasing a suggestion as a question).

As in if I am raped tomorrow by a an international traveler (say the CEO of XYZ Oil Company), will there be an international arrest warrant issued?

[arcane1]

1. This is the first one I've ever heard of...

I seem to recall Roman Polanski making movie after movie while ducking a rape charge. All he had to do was stay out of the U.S., no international warrant in his case :shrug:

[arcane1]

2. Edit (dupe)

[kestrel91316]

3. I heard it isn't even an arrest warrant per se, because he has not yet been

formally charged, and that he is merely wanted for questioning because of rape allegations. IMHO the RW shills known as our MSM are pushing the false meme that he has actually been charged with a crime.

Oh, and the "rape" allegation appears to stem from having unprotected sex after he said he would use a condom during CONSENSUAL sex.

[ret5hd]

4. In this hypothetical situation, how were you hypothetically dressed?

It hypothetically may have been your own fault.

(not making light of your question, to which i don't have an answer)

[defendandprotect]

5. Wikileaks documents show these charges to have been planned ....

another poster reported this -- evidently Wikileaks itself uncovered he

documents --

[Poll_Blind]

6. 1. It's not an arrest warrant 2. Sweden specifically asked that it be made public and...

3. If you were raped tomorrow by an international traveler, depending on what your local, state and federal law enforcement support wanted to do with the case, they could request a Red Notice. It's absolutely possible.

Most Red Notices are not publicized, especially because there is a certain defamatory element. In this case the Swedish government asked that it be made public in order to use it as a tool to defame Assange.

I would like to leave you with one point to ponder: Assange is constantly on and off planes where he must use his passport. If there was really an arrest warrant out for him he would be arrested (at least) at the airport. Very simple, everyone can understand that example.

As much as people might like you to believe, an Interpol Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant.. Very first line.

In this context, this is purely used as a defamatory tool. Were an actual criminal investigation underway all these weeks he would have been placed in custody at least a dozen times over.

That is not their goal. Thier goal is to smear him as a rapist- and better yet- a rapist on the run. But of course they actually have tools to arrest him if they chose and have had them every since the "charges" were lodged.

PB

[lapislzi]

12. Having read the "Dragon Tattoo" trilogy

Mr. Assange shares some traits with the series' heroine. He's a master hacker, a fugitive, and likely possesses several passports and disguises. (Humming Talking Heads "Life During Wartime" in my head as I type this). If he wishes to elude law enforcement, I have no doubt that he is quite capable of doing so. The fact that Sweden factors in both fact and fiction is an interesting coincidence.

[Poll_Blind]

13. There has been no evidence or even accusations that he has been eluding notice by using disguises or

...fake passports.

PB

[lapislzi]

14. Well, of course not!

And I'm not accusing him of doing either. I'm just saying that he could easily do both, and nobody would be the wiser (that's the whole point of using disguises and fake passports).

On the other hand, he's starting to resemble quite the attention whore, which is a distraction from the message, for one thing. For another, it tells me that he's crossed the event horizon and slipped into the black hole of believing his own bullshit.

The cult of personality threatens to eclipse the goals of Wikileaks.

[pitohui]

18. a very odd sort of attention whore who remains out of sight for months at a time

i must have a completely different understanding of what those words mean than you do

what evidence do you have that he believes his own bullshit? in fact, what bullshit is that? everything i've seen from the reaction of the usa gov't tells me that this is not bullshit, these documents are completely real

if they were bullshit, usa gov't could just chuckle and move on

i'm not defending this guy's actions but i need something better to believe he's a wrong doer than a bunch of made-up crap about two women fighting over him and a broken rubber

[lunatica]

21. I haven't heard one single denial from anyone

What bullshit are you talking about?

[lapislzi]

22. ?

My point was that the man and the message are being conflated, either by the media (likely; they love this kind of diversion), or the man (whom I suspect may have a teensy tiny touch of narcissism)...the consequence of which is that the message is being drowned by nonsense about condoms and fugitives and furtive cell phone calls.

If Assange wanted to remain invisible, he would have. It's not that difficult. He's chosen to be a public fugitive, which is an odd choice in itself.

[lunatica]

23. So where is the bullshit part you talk about?

That's my point. It really isn't any skin off your nose what he wants to do about being a public figure.

[snagglepuss]

15. Very informative. Thanks. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. However, there is also a European Arrest Warrant involved

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wikileaks-chief-what-will-he-do-next-2148813.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Arrest_Warrant

However, again:

A spokeswoman for the Swedish National Police Board told the BBC that Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency had requested a new order as the original one had listed only the maximum penalty for the most serious crime alleged, rather than for all of the crimes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11898323

and what the actual charges are seem very unclear:

Apparently having consensual sex in Sweden without a condom is punishable by a term of imprisonment of a minimum of two years for rape. That is the basis for a reinstitution of rape charges against WikiLeaks figurehead Julian Assange that is destined to make Sweden and its justice system the laughing stock of the world and dramatically damage its reputation as a model of modernity.

Sweden’s Public Prosecutor’s Office was embarrassed in August this year when it leaked to the media that it was seeking to arrest Assange for rape, then on the same day withdrew the arrest warrant because in its own words there was “no evidence”. The damage to Assange’s reputation is incalculable. More than three quarters of internet references to his name refer to rape. Now, three months on and three prosecutors later, the Swedes seem to be clear on their basis to proceed. Consensual sex that started out with a condom ended up without one, ergo, the sex was not consensual.

For three months Assange had been waiting in vain to hear whether media statements by and for the two female “victims” that there was no fear or violence were going to be embellished so the charges might be carried forward due to greater seriousness. Such statements would stop a rape charge in any Western country dead in its tracks. Rape is a crime of violence, duress or deception. You can rape someone by deluding them into thinking you are someone else or by drugging them or by reason of their young age but essentially it’s a crime of violence.

The women here are near to and over 30 and have international experience, some of it working in Swedish government embassies. There is no suggestion of drugs nor identity concealment. Far from it. Both women boasted of their celebrity connection to Assange after the events that they would now see him destroyed for.
...
http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/12/02/when-it-comes-to-assange-r-pe-case-the-swedes-are-making-it-up-as-they-go-along/

[ljm2002]

7. As far as I can tell, it is not common...

...however, it is useful to the powers that be to have this warrant out. That way, he is forced to keep hiding, and then the talking heads can complain that he is not being transparent like he wants governments to be. Because, you know, the two things are equivalent: government and corporate lying, lawbreaking and secrecy, vs. secrecy from the founder of a whistle blowing site who is under attack by some of the most powerful forces on the planet. Yeah, that's an apples-to-apples comparison all right. But it does, of course, serve its purpose of smearing him in an attempt to discredit him and Wikileaks.

Of course, none of us know what actually happened. It is possible that he did something wrong. But the timing of it, and the way it was publicized immediately, and withdrawn only to be reinstated, and the involvement of Interpol as you point out, all smells fishy to me.

[Warpy]

8. The only time I've seen such warrants are for rich guys who raped and murdered

I've never seen it for any other case when there wasn't a body found rotting in a trunk in an upper east side NYC co-op or fancy London flat. I can't see a garden variety rapist with one accuser being given this treatment unless the accuser is one of the Royals.

This is pretty transparent, they want him off the street and they want to pump him for information ASAP and they don't care how they do it.

Whether or not the charge is valid is up to a judge and jury to decide. However, the hysteria and international warrant is because of who he is, not because of anything he might have done sexually.

[ck4829]

9. A person would be laughed out of the station if they said they got raped by a CEO

[BurtWorm]

10. Brilliant question!

I don't know the answer, for the record.

[struggle4progress]

11. Interpol alert still out for Roman Polanski

http://www.news.com.au/world/interpol-alert-still-out-for-roman-polanski/story-e6frfkyi-1225891418419

[La Lioness Priyanka]

16. thanks for your answers. i appreciate it

[spanone]

17. the powers that be will change any rule that gets in the way of getting assange

he's done what most governments haven't been able to do....

he's exposed america's secrets.

i believe they will kill him.

[Joanne98]

20. No