1 - @Suresh. It was a Swedish citizen who initiated the investigation that will look into the recent events. The Swedish system will try to cover up but hopefully we will get the facts in one way or the other.

2 - I wonder if there is written law about this, or is it just this ex-prosecutors own opinion, that just because the question was about a "well known" person that is why an "experienced and well educated" spokesperson should've been picked.

In fact, the terminology used in this article is vague and as such needs some explanation. Similarly, I cannot see why it is "very confusing" that an arrest warrant is withdrawn? For example, if the alleged victim came forward and withdrew the complaint - obviously in a case like this the warrant would've been withdrawn.

3 - I think the problem here is that Mr Alhem is trying to relate to the situation as though it were a criminal case, rather than a transparent smear campaign.

In the latter, evidence and normal procedure is irrelevent, all that is required is to get the allegations into the media in a credible way.

An explaination of why the prosecutors co-operated with this to the extent of ignoring normal procedures (thus obviously with an understanding of what was required) is certainly necessary, but the explaination for the failure of normal procedures in the first place is kind of obvious

4 - Why was the arrest order publicized by the Swedish tabloids? Aren't these arrest warrants meant to stay confidential?

The publicity surrounding this event is the problem. Had the charges remained confidential, they could have been addressed without harm to any of the parties involved.

It appears it was a deliberate smear.

5 - Yes, truly bizarre. I am glad to see that the Swedish system is trying to get to the bottom of this. It should be a thorough investigation and everything should be made public soon and guilty punished.

6 - @Michele. It appears that the tabloid Expressen got the information about the arrest order directly from the person who is accusing Assange for molestation. She has worked for Expressen and if this is the sinister revenge action many believe the goal for all this is to smear Assange.

7 - @Jan. Obviously there is no written law that the prosecutor authority should use an experienced and well versed person to speak to the media, it is common sense. The communications director that have been interviewed during the weekend has been a catastrophe. Of course there can be many reasons for withdrawing an arrest order, and in such a high profile case, it would have been a good idea for the prosecutor's office to name the reason for why the arrest order was withdrawn. The supposed victims of the supposed rape and molestation cannot withdraw a complaint they never made. The women knew very well to not make a complaint, it was the Stockholm City Police that made the complaint on information from the two women.

8 - @Magick. It is a criminal case including serious accusations that might lead to prison and it must be treated as such to protect everyone involved. It is not uncommon for women to use rape accusations as revenge, I will write about those statistics for Sweden later today.

9 - Hmmm, this isn't so surprising seeing that he has leaked important information that could hurt the US government on many levels, including international and national opinion. If the US people can vote for a no-confidence vote for most of those frauds in Washington, we'd probably have a better chance of not being such a hard-ass country.

10 - "@Michele. It appears that the tabloid Expressen got the information about the arrest order directly from the person who is accusing Assange for molestation. She has worked for Expressen..."

@editor: This is the first time I have heard anyone say this. If you please, can you post a link to where you got this information from?

11 - @Jan. Eva Finne closed the rape case and opens a preliminary investigation in the molestation case. Strangely enough she claims that she believes in the woman who told the rape story but she could not see a crime was committed. I think this is a smear campaign instigated by a woman who felt betrayed. Swedish taxpayers are paying for personal vendettas and prosecutor incompetence.

12 - According to Scandinavian law, 'a person is guilty until proven innocent', and the actions of the Swedish prosecutors are truly bizarre going by this !
The 'TRUTH' prevails does'nt it ? Am sure we will get to the bottom of this too.
Julian, keep on with the good work mate !

14 - The US Military has a $5 billion annual budget for 'media' relations. Do you suppose a little bit of scratch bought some of this smearing?

When all else fails, follow the money.

I am the Mad Ape and I approve this message.

15 -

16 - GIVE THAT LITTLE NATZI A MICROCHIP

17 - @editor It might be common sense yes, but in my understanding the governments and their departments are not steered by it. They are steered by the law, rules and regulations.

In this case, were there any regulations etc. which should've been applied in such a situation? Do they have a spokes person/media rep who should've been alerted? What are the methods of identifying a case which requires out the ordinary handling? In general, were they trained to handle a situation like this?

If the answer to any of the above is no, then the ex-prosecutors vague statement was just his own personal opinion - among many others - about how the situation should've been handled.

Absent any directions to handle such a case, is it reasonable to expect that a prosecutor would handle the case in any other way, under sudden and extreme publicity? I'm sure the prosecutor involved did the best she could - in the circumstances.

Do they have some improvements to do for the future? Yes, they have.

18 - Now the parties have named their lawyers. Mr. Assange is represented by Mr. Leif Silbersky and the female whose complaint is still standing by Mr. Claes Borgström. The latter is criticizing the handling of the case in that Mr. Assange has still not been questioned in relation to the open case.

{ Link }

19 - @Editor, well lets wait and see what the investigators and possibly the Court believes.

20 - AMBITIOUS LITTLE BITCH... WANNA BE PROSICUTER

21 - Today it was decided that Mr. Assange investigation will be conducted. This includes questioning of the accused. The prosecutor is leading the investigation.

Can we be fairly sure that this wouldn't happen if there was the slightest doubt in relation to the complainants story? Yes we can.

Mr. Assange of course still believes that this is part of the so called smear campaign.

22 - @Kevin Smith, perhaps in the same world but with a different scope as to our views?

What I'm saying is that the official statement from Mr. Assange which in substance says that the question is about a smear campaign run by the USA in Sweden, is simply and completely lacking any evidence.

Such a campaign obviously would require some secretive co-operation between the governments and their officials. In particular, it would require the involvement of the Swedish prosecutor(s). Moreover, it would require creation of fictitious documents to succeed.

On the other hand, in Sweden one can get his/her hands on basically all the documents that are being created along the way in such a process. Maybe not yet, but sooner or later yes. Every single paper will be studied by dozens if not hundreds of journalists alone and questions will be asked. Faking such documents is practically impossible, without being caught.

Mr. Assange simply appears to close his eyes from any other plausible explanation, such as that he bumped into someone who wanted 15 minutes of fame? Why is this out the question in Mr. Assanges mind? Is this too far fetch? No it isn't. It just doesn't fit into Mr. Assanges agenda, which involves blaming governments of everything.

Wouldn't it be rational to keep all the scenarios on the table until they can be ruled out?

In any event, and this is just my opinion, to suggest that the USA hired two 'femme fatales' from Sweden and asked the to blame Mr. Assange of raping them? I mean, please...

23 - @Jan, "Mr. Assange of course still believes that this is part of the so called smear campaign."

And you appear to be convinced that no such campaign exists. Why is that?

"It might be common sense yes, but in my understanding the governments and their departments are not steered by it. They are steered by the law, rules and regulations."

I don't think we live in the same world then - in the world I live in it is plain to see that governments routinely ignore rules and regulations when they have an agenda to follow.

Perhaps I am just too cynical, but I don't find it any stretch of the imagination that Swedish officials would be complicit in a smear campaign. The way this 'investigation' has been handled so far suggests that media coverage was the goal, but you're right, the truth will come out when (if) any formal charges are ever pressed against Assange. I wonder how much slander he will have to endure in the meantime.

24 - Please show your support by joining the group on facebook(click on the website)

25 - WL is the most effective project against hetrosexual power. Keep suporting WL economicaly lets make an end to hetrosexual sociatys. Buy only from homosexual producers. If you work in a shop – help brothers buy giving them free stuff. Every social group based om hetrosexual rules should be destroyed, infiltrate them and brake them apart.

26 - I have seen a picture of Sweden's chief prosecutor Eva Finne. She looks mad to me!

27 - I bet the swedish authorities is a part in this smear attack against Assagne. The smear attack was engineered by the CIA Operations in Europe. The US Government wants to silence Wikileaks by any means; the CIA would shoot to kill Assagne and any contributor to Wikileaks if it is not for the public outcry such an act would bring about. I salute Mr. Assagne to his courage and everyone contributing to Wikileaks. As a Muslim, Mr Assagne is the first Westerner that impresses me with his acts. I hope Mr. Assagne can continue his crusade against the wicked doers in the US and Europe and everywhere in the world exposing the ills of Western governments!!