You really didn't bother doing any deep research did you?
The two women agreed the sex was consensual, they just wanted Assange tested for STDs, not charged. The charges only came about after the leaks scandal and were not brought about by the women but by prosecutors, thus leading to a reasonable perception that the charges were more political than about protecting women.
So repeating "sexual assault" several times like the rest of the media just makes it look more like a beat-up.
Shooting the messenger and bringing death threats down on those who threaten the secrecy of corrupt governments is the real issue. Let the women actually accuse him of assault before leaping to their defence and aiding the corrupt.

Good article, thanks, though, some people will always see conspiracies.

I heard an interview on the ABC (The Australian ABC) last night with the lawyer for the two women, and he kept saying under persistent badgering by the interviewer, that this has nothing to do with wikileaks, that it is a civil case. The interviewer clearly was of the opinion this was a US inspired plot, so much for objectivity and being unbiased .. oh wait, it was the ABC, what was I thinking.

Why ozandy is determined to make a huge US conspiracy is best known to him, but it is in keeping with the usual bleating anti US behavior on this forum.

(ozandy is best known for being able to prove any AGW skeptic is being paid to be a skeptic, another conspiracy of course .. though seems awful quiet about that lately, now that over 50% of Australian are said to be skeptical, must be a huge warchest eh ozandy?)

Assange cannot be transferred to the US without Sweden and British permission under EU law. The US do not have any warrants out for his arrest, not even sure if he can be charged under US law, they are annoyed with him, but can't do much about it.

The Swedish charges are a completely different matter and unrelated .. just coincidental, he man is a loose cannon, is it any wonder he's in trouble.

mind you none of the facts stop the breathless hysteria and exaggeration of the anti US crowd. If it were Chinese data being released, would anyone care if they were upset, as much as they care about the US being embarassed .. of course not

A world wide case of left wing shadenfreud .. amusing to watch how biased and hypocritical they can be .. compare this to the CRU leaks outrage because the documents were "stolen" ! There was no cry for the rest of CRUs data to be released, why, we were told it was "private" and we should not discuss them because of that .. unbelievable hypocrisy.

You were going well until your "reality check" turned to hearsay from the British media. At first, you told us that the details of the charges were unknown. Then you told us what the charges were, using the media as your source. A little sloppy, I must say.

That said, the whole Assange saga has been a bit unsettling for me. I don't fully agree with what he is doing (with Wikileaks - if he is a rapist, then I fully disagree with what he was doing in that regard), and I don't fully support the notion that he has the right to do it. If my neighbour hands me her husband's bank statements and I publish them on the internet, am I not committing a crime? Just because I have access to information (which I shouldn't be able to access) doesn't make it right for me to publish that info.

I'm not entirely convinced that the charges are trumped up, either - but I am fairly comfortable with the assertion that they are pursued with so much vigour because of who he is rather than what he did way back when he was in Sweden. It appears that his "victims" have been sidelined and are among the least fervent campaigners against Assange.

All in all, then, I thank Ms Dalton for a vigorous opinion piece. I suspect that the opening sentence sums up the purpose of the article nicely - it's meant to be shocking and unpopular rather than accurate or insightful.

For someone who suggests that we don't get involved with conspiracy theories she spent three pages doing just that or rather convincing us that Julian Assange is probably guilty.

I guess someone was bound to support the women in Sweden who have not yet emerged from their hiding places and whose statements, lies or otherwise have not yet hit the headlines except to say that they did have sex with Julian Assange. As for your idea that how could this be conspiracy, Marian, please address the reality of 2010 where we live with false flag activities avery day, where the US / Israel consortium conspires to commence a war Iran, where lies commenced wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and all the other devious activities occurring under your nose, daily. The US is capable of anything.

The point I think that the world is making. Marian, including Judges in case you are not aware, is that he has been charged, no bail, he is being called a terrorist by the extremist US politicians and finally, that he didn't actually steal the documents.

Once we have agreed on those points, may I respectfully suggest that you save yourself the trouble of writing three more pages on the same subject, wait for the charges to be identified.

Until then, point you pen at the arrogance of US politicians, the lawlessness of US politians, the fact that there is a strong move in this country by Arbib and Gillard to sell out our independence to the US military for bases on our soil and then ask yourself if you would want to be part of, or perhaps even controlled by a country that has such pathetic values and deranged politicians.

The insignificant tail on the ugly US dog.

I think there are items there that would warrant your time and effort but not today's wording of 'much ado about nothing' and innuendo. If he is truly guilty, you’ll get your chance to gloat which appears to be your main interest in the matter. But how would one ever know?

In the meantime, Go Wikileaks!

otokonoko - that's a very good point "Just because I have access to information (which I shouldn't be able to access) doesn't make it right for me to publish that info."

which seems to be lost here .. the general opinion on the other OLO article fora is that wikileaks MUST publish everything and it is only democratic if we know everything and only a moron would want to limit what is published.

Extreme, but you get a range of views here as anywhere. If more embarrassing facts are leaked about Australia, there might be a change of tune ..

As you say, it's all good fun, (right up until it's you in the leaks)

Whereas I agree that it is unlikely that the whole thing is a conspiracy by the US to get its hands on Assange, you cannot blame people for thinking so.

The fact that you have people like Tom Flanagan, Sarah Palin, a whole host of FOX network commentators calling for him to be killed, gives many people a reason to believe in a conspiracy.

Government documents have been leaked ever since governments have existed and there has never been such a fuss on a global scale to "find" one man.

Even after 9/11 did you see such rabid talk coming from politicians over Bin Laden (whom that Americans still haven't caught).

The charges against Assange were dropped back in August and have now suddenly been resurrected. Surely you would have to question why.

Whereas I believe the conspiracy theorists are wrong at the extreme end, I believe you are wrong with you blatant dismissal that this is just an ordinary case of sexual assault with no other agendas in play.

Regardless of what any of our opinions are, the most relevant issue is that Assange is entitled to due process and fair treatment under the law. He is entitled to see the charges against him (even the British judge said he wants to see the charges).

He should also receive all the support the Australian government can must as an Australian who is in trouble overseas.