ASSANGE ‘VICTIM’ SHAMES LABOUR
A WOMAN allegedly sexually assaulted by Julian Assange has issued a stinging rebuke to Diane Abbott. The Labour frontbencher was accused of downplaying the allegations against the WikiLeaks founder. Miss Abbott insisted in a TV interview that Assange had been dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy over cyber crime, saying: ‘It’s all about WikiLeaks.’
But a friend of the Swedish woman – referred to as Miss A – told the Mail: ‘It really is not “all about WikiLeaks”.’ The
friend added: ‘She says it is about him treating people like s***, especially women.’ Assange had been in hiding for seven years after skipping bail in 2012 to dodge being extradited to Sweden over allegations he raped one woman and sexually assaulted another in 2010.
But Miss Abbott and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called his arrest on Thursday politically motivated. In a BBC interview, Miss Abbott, the Shadow Home Secretary, insisted he was targeted because he had embarrassed the American military.
Critics queued up to accuse Miss Abbott of ‘ignoring allegations of sexual violence’ – and even a Labour shadow minister branded her intervention ‘disgraceful’.
The woman’s friend told the Mail that treating Assange as a political victim was ‘not helping the cause – no matter how important’, and suggested Miss Abbott was helping Assange whitewash the claims. They said: ‘He has, all the time, wanted to draw attention away from his own failures and has used the importance of WikiLeaks to wash his own name. It has been painful to watch.’
Vicky Atkins, the minister for women, said: ‘Diane Abbott’s dismissal of rape charges speaks volumes about Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. It’s astonishing that the party which prides itself on fighting for women’s rights is so willing to ignore allegations of sexual violence.’
Even a Labour shadow minister admitted: ‘Championing Julian Assange is the last thing we should be doing. It is disgraceful. Jeremy and Diane seem to have a blind spot.’
Miss A accused Assange of sexual assault in 2010. She claims Assange forced himself upon her after an initial consensual encounter.
The five-year statute of limitations on her allegation has passed. The lawyer of another of Assange’s alleged victims, referred to as Miss W in court documents, has said they will ‘do all we can’ to reopen the investigation in Sweden.
Assange, 47, denies assaulting the two women. Because he spent so long absconding from justice, the sexual assault allegation was dropped in 2017 because of legal time limits. But the rape allegation can be re- opened any time before August next year, and Swedish prosecutors are now deciding whether to renew Assange’s extradition request.
Last night, it emerged more than 70 MPs and peers had written to Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Miss Abbott, urging them to focus attention on the investigation should the case be resumed.
The letter declared: ‘We do not presume guilt, of course, but we believe due process should be followed.’