WHAT A CREEP!
After leaking secrets, dodging sex charges and costing UK £13m, Assange marks end of rape probe... with a human rights lecture
‘The proper war is just commencing’
JULIAN Assange lectured Britain on human rights last night while showing no sign of leaving his embassy bolthole.
‘I do not forgive or forget,’ he said, blaming everyone but himself for his five years of self-imposed detention.
The 45-year-old WikiLeaks chief has been free to leave his Knightsbridge sanctuary at any time and yesterday Sweden withdrew a warrant for his arrest on a rape allegation.
Elisabeth Fritz, who represents Assange’s accuser, said the woman was shocked by the decision and stood by her claims.
‘It is a scandal that a suspected rapist can disregard the judiciary and thus avoid trial,’ she added.
The £13million farce is set to carry on because the US wants Assange for leaking secrets. In a display of astonishing arrogance, Assange emerged from the Ecuadorean embassy in London yesterday, posing on its balcony for photographs with his fist raised in a victory salute.
The pale-looking Australian computer hacker gravely claimed to be the victim of a ‘terrible injustice’. He said the Swedish decision was a victory for human rights and attacked the British government for threat-travel ening to enforce the now withdrawn extradition request.
‘It does not erase seven years of detention without charge in prison, under house arrest and almost five years here in this embassy without sunlight,’ he said. ‘Seven years without charge while my children grow up without me. That is something that I cannot forgive and something that I cannot forget.’
The day of drama began when Sweden’s top prosecutor said an investigation into allegations that Assange raped a woman during a visit in 2010 had been ‘discontinued’. Marianne Ny told a press conference that it was effectively a lost cause because there was no way of getting Assange to properly answer questions. She said since there was no prospect of bringing Assange to Sweden it was ‘no longer proportionate’ to maintain a European arrest warrant.
The Metropolitan Police said it would still arrest Assange under a warrant issued for breaching bail when he fled to the embassy in 2012. He had spent two years in prison or under house arrest as he took his battle against extradition to the High Court.
A police spokesman said the Met was obliged to execute the warrant but pointed out that Assange was wanted for a ‘much less serious offence’.
Although the penalty for the bail offence might only be a fine or a day in the cells, the arrest would allow the US authorities to serve extradition papers.
This would prevent Assange being able to to Ecuador, where he has been granted political asylum.
Scotland Yard has already been lambasted for spending more than £12.5million on a security operation around the Ecuadorean embassy. This high-profile watch was abandoned in October 2015. But the cost continues to rise because of the police operation and legal and diplomatic negotiations.
More than 200 journalists, as well as a handful of supporters, gathered outside the embassy, which is close to Harrods.
Criticising the European arrest warrant system, Assange said: ‘The UK government changed the law to prevent further extradition without charge from the UK.
‘But it is still a problem for the rest of the European Union. I would like to thank the UN, particularly its human rights organisation. Today is an important victory and important vindication the road is far from over. The war, the proper war is just commencing as the UK has said it will arrest me regardless.’
Miss Fritz said: ‘Proof of evidence in the case is available and that evidence should have been tried in court. The wait has been long.’ She said prosecutors should not have given up on the case before it reached court.