Swedish tabloid Expressen reports that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been charged with raping two women in Stockholm. No details of the alleged crime are available, but a very rough Google translation of the Expressen report indicates that the two women who made the accusations are in their 20s. Australian-born Assange is 39.
WikiLeaks made headlines last month by releasing thousands of pages of classified U.S. military documents. Via Twitter, Wikileaks characterized the charges as “dirty tricks” and quoted Assange’s assertion that “the charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing.” Wikileaks subsequently issued an official statement:
On Saturday 21st of August, we have been made aware of rape allegations made against Julian Assange, founder of this project and one of our spokespeople.
We are deeply concerned about the seriousness of these allegations. We the people behind WikiLeaks think highly of Julian and and he has our full support.
CNN’s Jim Kavanagh said the charges against Assange “brought instant suspicion of a U.S. government-led smear campaign,” while Politico‘s Laura Rozen noted that the reported arrest was made “just ahead of the expected release of thousands more secret U.S. military documents.” The London Telegraph reported:
Kristinn Hrafnsson, an Icelandic journalist who works with Mr Assange, told Swedish media on Saturday afternoon that Mr Assange was still in the country and would visit a police station later that day. “He will go there late today. There are powerful forces that want to hurt Wikileaks,” said Mr Hranfnsson, who insisted that the accusations were false.
Critics of WikiLeaks say its reports have endangered U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan. A U.S. soldier, Bradley Manning, is suspected of leaking materials to the organization.
The BBC also reported on Assange’s rape charges and there is additional blog commentary at Outside the Beltway, Sister Toldjah and Riehl World View.
UPDATE: Now police have reportedly withdrawn the charges, or all but one of the charges, and there is certainly cause for Allahpundit to say, “Hmmmmmmm.”
More reaction at Memeorandum.
UPDATE II: Readers will note the Joe Friday “just-the-facts-ma’am” nature of my initial reaction. I was struck by the fact that none of the reports had details of where, when and how the alleged rape occurred. I was also struck by how quickly some media insinuated that the accusations had to be the result of a U.S.-orchestrated “smear.” As in any criminal investigation, the facts may take days or weeks to sort out, and there’s no need to jump to any conclusion about this situation.
UPDATE III: CNN updates to note the dropped charges, but there is still no detail on how the charges originally arose. Who were the accusers? Where and when did they make these allegations? Why were their accusations initially believed, but later discredited?
