Thursday, June 21, 2012

#Assange: #Sweden broke normal legal procedures to keep me in UK while US prepared case against me

Whistleblower Julian Assange has accused the UK and Sweden of conspiring to trap him in England while US authorities make a legal case against him. He said the Australian government has abandoned him by refusing to intervene in his extradition.

In a live interview from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London with Australian Broadcasting Corp radio he stressed that Washington is hatching a plot to bring him to the US.

 
“The situation for me here in the UK has been extremely precarious and the refusal by the Swedish prosecutor to come to the UK for the past 18 months – despite that being absolutely normal procedure – and the refusal of her to explain it in any manner whatsoever to the British courts, has kept me trapped in the United Kingdom, while the United States has prepared its case against me,” the Australian said to ABC.

 
He added that the Australian government had made an "effective declaration of abandonment" as at no point did it intervene in UK court procedures.

He leveled criticism at Australian PM Julia Gillard for her “slimy rhetoric” with the US ambassador to Australia and categorically denied receiving any help from his country’s diplomatic mission as had been suggested.

The WikiLeaks founder arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Tuesday in a new twist in his on-going battle against extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes.

Assange, 40, maintains that the accusations set against him are politically motivated and said he hoped his dramatic actions “will simply draw attention to the underlying issues."...read more and watch video