You were quoted in an article published in an anti-Wikileaks British paper penned by fellow Oxford PPE student @AlexJ_Rankine

You state in your facebook event that "Assange is refusing to face the Swedish legal system with respect to rape allegations". This is false. You show a complete disregard for the presumption of innocence or the fair trial rights of a persecuted journalist, a recognised political refugee.

It is admitted in the United Kingdom Supreme Court by the prosecution that neither of the women intended to file a complaint against Mr. Assange. Neither woman has ever alleged rape. In the official police documentation, Woman B states that she was "railroaded" by police and others around her to make a statement, which she refused to sign. There are not two allegations of rape, but one allegation by the Swedish state of what Swedish law calls 'minor rape'. According to an analysis by a professor of English law at Oxford University, Prof. Andrew Ashworth, the conduct described in the allegations would not be criminal in the United Kingdom.

Swedish lawyers who have read the police report (which clearly those supporting your campaign have not), argue that even in Sweden the conduct alleged does not constitute a crime. A fact that senior prosecutor Eva Finne relied on when she dropped the 'rape' investigation, before it was resurrected by a prosecutor who is close to the women's politician-lawyer, Borgstrom.

Mr. Assange has be granted asylum because he is the subject of a political persecution. The Ecuadorian Government has found that his fears of persecution and torture are justified and that Sweden will not protect him from persecution by the United States. Amnesty International has made a statement calling on Sweden to guarantee that Mr. Assange will not be sent to a political persecution designed to silence whistleblowing and undermining freedom of the press in the West.

Mr. Assange has asked to give his side of the story for two years. It is the Swedish prosecutor who is fleeing Mr. Assange's cooperation. The prosecutor refuses to abide by standard Swedish and European mechanisms which mandate the prosecutor to interview Mr. Assange in London. The prosecutor refuses to give any reasonable explanation for this refusal. The prosecutor is under a legal obligation to advance the investigation. Misinformed misinformation campaigns such as yours are not benefiting the two women. Even Swedish lawyers and media commentators are critical of the Swedish prosecutor's untenable position, which is harming Sweden's international reputation.

The presumption of innocence is a basic principle of law. The abuse of process involved in this case is flagrant. Your campaign propagates smears and is imbued by ignorance to further the political aims of powerful actors. It is specially interesting that you are taking this position in connection with a speech at a whistleblower event.

Please correct the falsehoods you have publicised. Propagating these with the knowledge that they are false is malicious and defamatory. More importantly, your position reinforces the political persecution of Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks, and actively undermines the important work that whistleblowers do to protect your civil liberties. Julian Assange has taken risks and you have an obligation to, at the very least, not mislead your audience in relation to the facts of this spurious case.

Of course your campaign is not about women's rights, or about the rights of these two women (whose interests you clearly have not seriously considered). This is not even about Assange.

If I were you I would be thinking about how this will look when this investigation is dropped. I would take a long hard look at the arguments you are making against free speech in connection with a whistleblowing event. And I would think twice about actively undermining the presumption of innocence and the right to due process. That's what your future employers will see when they search your names on the internet. But perhaps the type of employers you will be applying to will like your politics.

http://justice4assange.com

@tomrutland @santaevita @izzywestbury

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