The point of this diary to emphasize how the America news media have again become a object of ridicule and contempt because of their slavish adherence to Washington's agenda.
Richard Pendlebury of the UK paper The Daily Mail's traveled to Sweden to investigate the alleged sexual assault case against Julian Assange and reports here.
The Mail has hardly been a supporter of Assange, portraying him as a James Bond villain, and yet Pendlebury reports that
"The prosecution's case has several puzzling flaws, and there is scant public evidence of rape or sexual molestation."
More under the fold
I obviously cannot reprint the entire and very detailed article here for copyright reasons, but I strongly encourage anyone interested in the case to go and read this first-hand investigative account of the facts in the case -- the first one I've read on the Net.
I will however share Pendlebury's conclusions as highlighted by the MAIL:
There is scant evidence — in the public domain at least — of rape, sexual molestation or unlawful coercion
The heart of the matter:
The most likely interpretation of events is that as a result of a one-night stand, one participant came to regret what had happened.
Jessica was worried she could have caught a sexual disease, or even be pregnant [because of a broken condom]: and this is where the story takes an intriguing turn. She then decided to phone Sarah — whom she had met at the seminar, and with whom Assange had been staying — and apparently confided to her that she’d had unprotected sex with him.
At that point, Sarah said that she, too, had slept with him.
How must Sarah have felt to discover that the man she’d taken to her bed three days before had already taken up with another woman? Furious? Jealous? Out for revenge? Perhaps she merely felt aggrieved for a fellow woman in distress.
Having taken stock of their options for a day or so, on Friday, August 20, Sarah and Jessica took drastic action.
Read the entire article, there is much more. Pendlebury's eventually concludes:
He [Assange] is responsible for an avalanche of political leaks. Whether he is also guilty of sexual offences remains to be seen. But the more one learns about the case, the allegations simply don't ring true.
I, for one, have always believed that the activities of wikileaks and that of the rock star behavior of Assange are two separate issues. To a large extent, if this is indeed a "honeypot" (ie: a dirty trick campaign against Assange), I can't even blame the intelligence community for doing what is after all their unsavory job.
I can and do blame the American media for relentlessly crucifying Assange and bandying the word "rape" (an insult to every person who has actually been violently raped) without the shred of a decent investigation, which even a British paper opposed to wikileaks was able to conduct in 24 hours.
I will end this by recommending the Guardian's blog on Assange, updated by the hour, the best source of news on this evolving case.
UPDATE:
From the State Department:
The United States is pleased to announce that it will host UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day event in 2011, from May 1 - May 3 in Washington, D.C. UNESCO is the only UN agency with the mandate to promote freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the press.
The theme for next year’s commemoration will be 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals’ right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age.
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