Britain Arrests WikiLeaks Founder on Sex Charges
By ALAN COWELL and SCOTT SHANE
Published: December 7, 2010
LONDON — British police said on Tuesday they had arrested Julian Assange, the beleaguered founder of the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy group, on a warrant issued in Sweden in connection with alleged sex offenses.
Mr. Assange, a 39-year-old Australian, was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard’s extradition unit when he went to a central London police station by prior agreement with the authorities, the police said. A court hearing was expected later.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman, quoted by Britain’s Press Association news agency, said: “Officers from the Metropolitan Police extradition unit have this morning arrested Julian Assange on behalf of the Swedish authorities on suspicion of rape.”
The widely anticipated arrest came after Mr. Assange, who denies the charges of sexual misconduct said to have been committed while he was in Sweden in August, threatened to release many more diplomatic cables if legal action is taken against him or his organization.
Mr. Assange’s threat of further disclosures poses a problem for the Obama administration as it explores ways to prosecute Mr. Assange or the group in relation to the archive of some 250,000 diplomatic cables it has obtained, reportedly from a low-ranking Army intelligence analyst.
A police spokesman said Mr. Assange was “accused by the Swedish authorities of one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape, all alleged to have been committed in August 2010.”
Mark Stephens, Mr. Assange’s British lawyer, confirmed late Monday in a video statement to the BBC that the authorities in London had “received an extradition request from Sweden,” and he said that he and Mr. Assange were “in the process of making arrangements to meet with the police by consent.”
The charges involve sexual encounters that two women say began as consensual but became nonconsensual after Mr. Assange was no longer using a condom. Mr. Assange has denied any wrongdoing and suggested that the charges were trumped up in retaliation for his WikiLeaks work, though there is no public evidence to suggest a connection.
Mr. Assange’s arrest came amid growing challenges to his operations, as computer server companies, Amazon.com and PayPal.com, have cut off commercial cooperation with WikiLeaks.
On Monday, a Swiss bank froze an account held by Mr. Assange that had been used to collect donations for WikiLeaks. Marc Andrey, a spokesman for the bank, PostFinance, an arm of the Swiss postal service, said the account was closed because Mr. Assange “gave us false information when he opened the account,” asserting inaccurately that he lived in Switzerland.
In the United States on Monday, moreover, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said the Justice Department had “a very serious, active, ongoing investigation that is criminal in nature” into the WikiLeaks matter.
“I authorized just last week a number of things to be done so that we can hopefully get to the bottom of this and hold people accountable,” he said at a news conference, declining to elaborate.
Mr. Holder’s statement followed Mr. Assange’s assertion that “over 100,000 people” had been given the entire archive of 251,287 cables “in encrypted form.”
“If something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically,” Mr. Assange said Friday in a question-and-answer session on the Web site of the British newspaper The Guardian.
His threat is not idle, because as of Monday night the group had released fewer than 1,000 of the quarter-million State Department cables it had obtained, reportedly from a low-ranking Army intelligence analyst.
So far, the group has moved cautiously. The whole archive was made available to five news organizations, including The New York Times. But WikiLeaks has posted only a few dozen cables on its own in addition to matching those made public by the news publications. According to the State Department’s count, 1,325 cables, or fewer than 1 percent of the total, have been made public by all parties to date.
There appears to be no way for American authorities to retrieve all copies of the cables archive. And legal experts say there are serious obstacles to any prosecution of Mr. Assange or his group.
But the disclosure of the confidential communications between the State Department and 270 American embassies and consulates has infuriated administration officials and prompted calls from Congress to pursue charges.
Mr. Holder repeated assertions by several Obama administration officials about the damage done by the cable disclosures, which began late last month.
“The national security of the United States has been put at risk; the lives of people who work for the American people have been put at risk; the American people themselves have been put at risk by these actions that are, I believe, arrogant, misguided and ultimately not helpful in any way,” Mr. Holder said.
Justice Department prosecutors have been struggling to find a way to indict Mr. Assange since July, when WikiLeaks made public documents on the war in Afghanistan. But while it is clearly illegal for a government official with a security clearance to give a classified document to WikiLeaks, it is far from clear that it is illegal for the organization to make it public.
The Justice Department has considered trying to indict Mr. Assange under the Espionage Act, which has never been successfully used to prosecute a third-party recipient of a leak. Some lawmakers have suggested accusing WikiLeaks of receiving stolen government property, but experts said Monday that would also pose difficulties.
Perhaps in a warning shot of sorts, WikiLeaks on Monday released a cable from early last year listing sites around the world — from hydroelectric dams in Canada to vaccine factories in Denmark — that are considered crucial to American national security.
Nearly all the facilities listed in the document, including undersea cables, oil pipelines and power plants, could be identified by Internet searches. But the disclosure prompted headlines in Europe and a new denunciation from the State Department, which said in a statement that “releasing such information amounts to giving a targeting list to groups like Al Qaeda.”
Asked later about the cable, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the continuing disclosures posed “real concerns, and even potential damage to our friends and partners around the world.”
“I won’t comment on any specific alleged cable, but I will underscore that this theft of U.S. government information and its publication without regard to the consequences is deeply distressing,” she said.
In recent months, WikiLeaks gave the entire collection of cables to four European publications — Der Spiegel in Germany, El País in Spain, Le Monde in France and The Guardian. The Guardian shared the cable collection with The New York Times.
Since Nov. 28, each publication has been publishing a series of articles about revelations in the cables, accompanied online by the texts of some of the documents. The publications have removed the names of some confidential sources of American diplomats, and WikiLeaks has generally posted the cables with the same redactions.
But with the initial series of articles and cable postings nearing an end, the fate of the roughly 250,000 cables that have not been placed online is uncertain. The five publications have announced no plans to make public all the documents. WikiLeaks’s intentions remain unclear.
There appears to be no way for American authorities to retrieve all copies of the cables archive. And legal experts say there are serious obstacles to any prosecution of Mr. Assange or his group.
But the disclosure of the confidential communications between the State Department and 270 American embassies and consulates has infuriated administration officials and prompted calls from Congress to pursue charges.
Mr. Holder repeated assertions by several Obama administration officials about the damage done by the cable disclosures, which began late last month.
“The national security of the United States has been put at risk; the lives of people who work for the American people have been put at risk; the American people themselves have been put at risk by these actions that are, I believe, arrogant, misguided and ultimately not helpful in any way,” Mr. Holder said.
Justice Department prosecutors have been struggling to find a way to indict Mr. Assange since July, when WikiLeaks made public documents on the war in Afghanistan. But while it is clearly illegal for a government official with a security clearance to give a classified document to WikiLeaks, it is far from clear that it is illegal for the organization to make it public.
The Justice Department has considered trying to indict Mr. Assange under the Espionage Act, which has never been successfully used to prosecute a third-party recipient of a leak. Some lawmakers have suggested accusing WikiLeaks of receiving stolen government property, but experts said Monday that would also pose difficulties.
Perhaps in a warning shot of sorts, WikiLeaks on Monday released a cable from early last year listing sites around the world — from hydroelectric dams in Canada to vaccine factories in Denmark — that are considered crucial to American national security.
Nearly all the facilities listed in the document, including undersea cables, oil pipelines and power plants, could be identified by Internet searches. But the disclosure prompted headlines in Europe and a new denunciation from the State Department, which said in a statement that “releasing such information amounts to giving a targeting list to groups like Al Qaeda.”
Asked later about the cable, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the continuing disclosures posed “real concerns, and even potential damage to our friends and partners around the world.”
“I won’t comment on any specific alleged cable, but I will underscore that this theft of U.S. government information and its publication without regard to the consequences is deeply distressing,” she said.
In recent months, WikiLeaks gave the entire collection of cables to four European publications — Der Spiegel in Germany, El País in Spain, Le Monde in France and The Guardian. The Guardian shared the cable collection with The New York Times.
Since Nov. 28, each publication has been publishing a series of articles about revelations in the cables, accompanied online by the texts of some of the documents. The publications have removed the names of some confidential sources of American diplomats, and WikiLeaks has generally posted the cables with the same redactions.
But with the initial series of articles and cable postings nearing an end, the fate of the roughly 250,000 cables that have not been placed online is uncertain. The five publications have announced no plans to make public all the documents. WikiLeaks’s intentions remain unclear.
Alan Cowell reported from London, and Scott Shane from Washington. Charlie Savage and Brian Knowlton contributed reporting from Washington, and Ravi Somaiya from London.
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Polícia do Reino Unido prende Julian Assange, criador do site WikiLeaks
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DAS AGÊNCIAS DE NOTÍCIAS
Atualizado às 08h55.
Acusado pela Suécia de estupro e assédio sexual, Julian Assange, o criador do site WikiLeaks, se entregou à polícia nesta terça-feira, confirmaram as autoridades britânicas. Na lista dos mais procurados da Interpol, o australiano deve agora ser ouvido pela Justiça do Reino Unido.
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De acordo com informações divulgadas pela imprensa britânica, Assange estava escondido na região metropolitana de Londres durante as últimas semanas e foi oficialmente preso às 9h30 locais (7h30 de Brasília), após se entregar à uma delegacia no centro da capital do Reino Unido.
"Agentes da unidade extradições da polícia metropolitana prenderam Julian Assange nesta manhã em nome das autoridades suecas por susepeita de assédio", disse a polícia metropolitana londrina em comunicado. Até o momento não houve comunicados do advogado de Assange, Mark Stephens.
Um porta-voz do australiano, no entanto, afirmou à emissora britânica BBC que "a prisão de Julian Assange é um ataque contra a liberdade de imprensa e não vai interromper as atividades do WikiLeaks".
Assange deve ser ouvido ainda hoje num tribunal de Westminster, na região central de Londres. Os juízes britânicos devem decidir se o mandado de prisão emitido pela Suécia levará à extradição do criador do site que desde a semana passada divulgou mais de 250 mil documentos secretos do Departamento de Estado dos EUA. Ele nega todas as acusações.
| Martial Trezzini/Efe | ||
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| Imagem de arquivo mostra o criador do site WikiLeaks durante uma entrevista coletiva em Genebra, na Suíça |
Ainda na semana passada ele já tinha deixado claro que caso fosse preso pelas autoridades britânicas resistiria à qualquer tentativa de extradição.
NEGOCIAÇÃO
Ainda na noite de segunda-feira (6) o advogado de Assange afirmou que ele e seu cliente estavam negociando um encontro com a polícia britânica. Assange estava sob alerta vermelho da Interpol, a polícia internacional, depois que a Justiça sueca emitiu uma ordem de prisão por acusações de estupro e agressão sexual.
"Nós estamos negociando um encontro voluntário com a polícia, para facilitar o preenchimento do questionário, como solicitado", disse Mark Stephens ao canal britânico BBC.
Stephens reiterou, contudo, que "Julian Assange não foi acusado de nada" -- e, portanto, não haveria motivo para sua prisão. Ele não deu detalhes sobre quando ou onde ocorreria o encontro.
Mais cedo, a BBC informou que a polícia britânica recebeu a nova ordem de busca internacional, emitida perla Suécia, contra Assange. A Scotland Yard não quis comentar.
A Suécia emitiu na sexta-feira passada (3) que emitiu um novo documento, com a informação que faltava, e que foi entregue ao Reino Unido. O novo mandado permitiria a prisão de Assange, que está no Reino Unido, em endereço supostamente conhecido pelas forças britânicas.
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| Página da Interpol na internet mostra Julian Assange entre os procurados, por crimes sexuais na Suécia |
Segundo a imprensa britânica, as autoridades não puderam detê-lo na semana passada devido a um erro no primeiro mandado emitido pela Suécia. Assange enfrenta acusações de estupro e assédio sexual, mas a primeira versão do mandado incluiria apenas a sentença máxima para o mais grave dos crimes. As autoridades britânicas exigem que a pena máxima seja descrita para todos os crimes alegados.
Na sexta-feira, a porta-voz da Promotoria sueca, Karin Rosander, não soube informar se a nova versão do mandado já fora aprovada pelas autoridades britânicas como suficiente para realizar a prisão de Assange.
Já o advogado Stephens disse na quinta-feira (2) à agência de notícias Reuters que o mandado de prisão foi enviado de volta à Scotland Yard porque "não cumpria com a lei e era falho".
O paradeiro de Assange é desconhecido. Mas o jornal "Independent" afirma que ele está no sudeste da Inglaterra. Stephens disse apenas que os serviços de inteligência britânicos, como de outros países, sabem sua localização, mas não confirmou se é na Inglaterra.
"A polícia (britânica) está sendo um pouco evasiva em suas respostas, mas sabe exatamente como entrar em contato com ele, assim como a procuradoria sueca", completou o advogado, que trabalha em Londres.
INTERPOL
A Interpol informou na terça-feira (30) que emitiu um pedido de captura internacional contra Assange, procurado na Suécia por uma investigação de "estupro e agressão sexual".
Em 18 de novembro a Justiça sueca divulgou uma ordem de prisão contra o australiano de 39 anos com o objetivo de interrogá-lo por "suspeitas razoáveis de estupro, agressão sexual e coerção" em um caso ocorrido em agosto.
A Promotoria do país declarou que pediu o alerta internacional da Interpol para a prisão de Assange por que não conseguir realizar o interrogatório do acusado. Stephens disse que as autoridades suecas rejeitaram diversas ofertas para conversar com Assange.
| Editoria de arte/Folhapress | ||
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Assange vive entre o Reino Unido e a Suécia. Na mesma terça-feira, um advogado apresentou uma apelação à Suprema Corte sueca para contestar a ordem de captura.
Na quinta-feira (2), a Suprema Corte sueca negou-se a examinar o recurso, ratificando a ordem de prisão a Assange. "A Suprema Corte analisou o expediente e concluiu que não havia motivos para examinar o recurso", afirmou a mais alta instância sueca.
O advogado de Assange, que também representa a agência de notícias Associated Press, disse que seu escritório em Londres investigará se a o caso sueco está ligado com as promessas dos Estados Unidos de processar quem estivesse por trás dos vazamentos.
Stephens reclamou que Assange ainda não recebeu uma notificação formal das denúncias impostas -- o que é descrito como uma requisito legal pela lei da União Europeia.
CASO
Segundo a Justiça sueca, ele cometeu estupro, assédio sexual e coerção ilegal contra duas mulheres. Os argumentos usados pela promotoria não estão claros, mas a prática de sexo desprotegido pode ser considerada uma categoria leve de estupro na Suécia. Assange manteve relações sexuais com duas mulheres, em datas distintas, enquanto dava palestras em Estocolmo.
Assange afirma que as relações foram consensuais. Segundo depoimentos das vítimas, o preservativo estourou com uma delas e com a outra Assange teria se recusado a usá-lo. A defesa de Assange alega que a ação da Suécia é uma retaliação em relação a vazamentos divulgados pelo WikiLeaks sobre o país.
Em um imbróglio judicial, a Justiça sueca chegou a reabrir a investigação sobre a acusação de estupro. A decisão reverte sentença da procuradora-geral em Estocolmo, Eva Finné, que fechou o caso de estupro pro falta de indícios, mantendo apenas uma denúncia, por outra vítima, de assédio sexual. Finné, por sua vez, havia revertido a decisão de uma instância inferior de investigar a denúncia.
O caso chegou a render uma ordem de prisão contra Assange no dia 21 de agosto, retirada pouco depois. Assange nega as acusações e diz que as denúncias são uma tática do Pentágono para desmerecer seu site.
Há uma semana, a promotora federal, Marianne Ny, voltou a emitir uma ordem de detenção de Assange, que acabou escalada no alerta vermelho da Interpol.
Caso seja condenado, Assange pode receber sentença de até quatro anos de prisão.