Assange prosecutor is anti-men, court told

THE prosecutor who wants WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange extradited to Sweden to face sex charges is “biased” against men, a court heard yesterday.

Retired Swedish appeal court judge Brita Sundberg-Weitman made the claim about Marianne Ny as Assange’s legal team said putting the 39-year-old Australian into the hands of the authorities in Stockholm would be a “flagrant denial of justice”.

They fear a move to Sweden could lead to him being taken against his will to the United States, detained at Guantanamo Bay and ultimately executed for spying.

Sundberg-Weitman, who was flown to London by Assange’s legal team to give evidence supporting their argument, said she could not understand the “attitude” of Ny, a specialist rape prosecutor, and accused her of having a “rather biased view against men”.

She said: “She seems to take it for granted that everybody under prosecution is guilty. I think she is so preoccupied with the situation of battered women and raped women that she has lost balance.”

Woolwich Crown Court, sitting as Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court, heard extradition is disproportionate and the offences he faces are not crimes under British law.

Swedish officials confirmed for the first time they want to prosecute Assange, not just question him, and said they have followed due process.

Opening his case, Geoffrey Robertson QC said the blizzard of international press coverage risked “trial by media” and prejudicing hearings that are likely to be held in secret.

Robertson added: “That’s a compelling argument that there’s a real risk of a flagrant violation of his rights.”

A series of developments in and out of court threw fresh light on the case as hundreds of reporters descended on the south-east London courthouse. They included:

* Swedish law reform campaigner Goran Rudling said one alleged victim deleted Twitter comments that indicated she was enjoying her time with Assange.

* A blog about getting revenge on an unfaithful partner written by the same alleged victim months before she met Assange was deleted after she went to police.

* The Australian government has been asked to request assurances from their Swedish counterparts that Assange would never be removed from their country.

Assange faces three charges of sexually assaulting one woman and one charge of raping another during a week-long visit to Stockholm last August.