Serious questions are being asked about one of Julian Assange's
accusers, write Andrew West and Sarah Whyte.
ANNA ARDIN, the Swedish political activist who has accused WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange of rape, posted a flippant comment on her
Twitter account: "CIA agent, rabid feminist/Muslim lover, a Christian
fundamentalist, frigid & fatally in love with a man, can you be all
that at the same time …"
It was the sort of comment designed to deflect, with irony or humour,
the stories that have swirled around the woman who has levelled three
charges of sexual misconduct at Assange.
But her attempt to disarm her critics - referring, perhaps jokingly,
to the Central Intelligence Agency - has only provoked further
questions. Could Ardin, 31, really be a spy and the charges against
Assange part of a conspiracy to discredit him after he began
publishing on WikiLeaks 250,000 classified documents from the US State
Department? We know from Ardin's own words that, at various times, she
has been infatuated and infuriated with Assange.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Alleged victims ... Anna Ardin, left, and Sofia Wilen.
Alleged victims ... Anna Ardin, left, and Sofia Wilen.
According to a timeline compiled by Australian journalist Guy Rundle
in London, the day after Ardin's mid-August assignation with Assange -
the assignation she later said involved rape - she tweeted that she
wanted to take him to a ''crayfish party'', a popular summer social
activity in Sweden.
Another tweet has her being with ''the world's coolest, smartest
people, it's amazing!''
At the same time as Assange was enjoying her company, he became
involved with another Swedish woman, Sofia Wilen, 26, a photographer
whom he met at a public meeting he addressed and Mr Ardin organised.
When Ardin learnt of Assange's encounter with Wilen - after Wilen
approached her worried she may have become pregnant after unprotected
sex - both women complained to the Swedish police.
Ardin alleged three counts of misconduct, while Wilen laid one charge.
The Swedish laws define rape broadly, so that pressing an erect penis
against a woman's back the morning after consensual sex and not
wearing a condom can count as sexual offences.
Nevertheless, any charge of rape is serious.
In 2006, Assange, using the pseudonym Harry Harrison, wrote on the
OKCupid website: ''Passionate, and often pig headed activist
intellectual seeks siren for love affair, children and occasional
criminal conspiracy.'' He also admitted to being ''87% slut''. It
would appear that he is a man with adventurous tastes.
But rumours suggesting an ulterior motive for the charges, which
Swedish prosecutors initially dismissed, then revived, have ricocheted
around the internet.
The rumours focus principally on Ardin. In September, the left-wing
online magazine Counterpunch hinted that she could be a spy,
especially considering her connections with Cuba and the Cuban emigre
community in Miami that is fanatically opposed to former president
Fidel Castro.
''Anna Ardin … is often described by the media as a 'leftist','' wrote
Israel Shamir and Paul Bennett. ''She has ties to the US-financed
anti-Castro and anti-communist groups.''
Ardin is, indeed, a political activist but her views would appear to
run counter to the idea that she was an anti-communist zealot in the
pay of the CIA.
She is a member of Sweden's Social Democratic Party and secretary of
the Swedish Association of Christian Social Democrats, known
colloquially as ''the Brotherhood''. As a Christian socialist
organisation, it draws much of its inspiration from the left-wing
gospel theology that inspired many Latin American revolutionaries.
But Ardin, who also goes by the name Anna Bernardin, has also evinced
strong anti-Castro views. The articles in 2008, translated by Google,
are not ''diatribes'', as Shamir and Bennett argue, but they do
speculate on Cuba's future after Castro dies and push the idea of an
anti-Castro Left.
The Miami Herald reported that Ardin had ''ties to Cuban dissidents''
and had visited the country on four occasions between 2002 and 2006,
while representing the Swedish Social Democrats. But the paper
disputed Counterpunch claims that she was linked to militant
anti-Castro figures and groups, such as Carlos Alberto Montaner and
the Ladies in White.
Rundle reported that she had interned with the Swedish embassy in
Washington, DC, wrote her thesis on Cuban opposition groups and was
advised to leave Cuba. ''The reports,'' he wrote last week, ''have
helped fuel wider conspiracy theories about the nature of Ardin's
involvement with WikiLeaks and Assange''.
The swift and efficient disappearance of many of her Twitter and blog
posts (some were cached) also led to suggestions that any material
that was incriminating - or complicating to her case - had been
professionally cleansed.
Australian journalist and expert on espionage Philip Knightley, who is
backing Assange in his battle with the British courts, does not
believe Ardin is a CIA agent.
''There's no direct evidence,'' he told The Sun-Herald. But he said
that decades of dealing with spy agencies had led him to suspect that
she fitted the model of someone who could be useful to intelligence
agencies.
''She's someone they would consider an asset. I do not think she has
been recruited for this mission but once she realised she was in this
position, she might have known the right people to contact.''
The essence of Knightley's theory is that Ardin is someone whose
high-level political activity inside Sweden's historically dominant
party - and her ability to travel to contentious destinations such as
Cuba and make connections with hostile emigre communities as part of
her academic research - would make her a valuable source for Sweden's
boutique spy agency.
''They are always on the lookout for people with what you might call
'interesting friends','' he said. ''The Swedes have a small but very
active intelligence agency that was energetic during the Cold War.
''Sweden was a major site for anti-Russian activities during the Cold
War and there was certainly considerable contact with the CIA.''
Ardin's family is also involved with the military and NATO forces in
Afghanistan, adding another layer to the conspiracy theory.
Yet another factor, reported by Crikey, is that Ardin was in the
Palestinian border town of Yumoun, working on a project for the
''Brotherhood''. While such news may undermine the alleged CIA
relationship, the history of espionage suggests it could be a cover.
The theory that Ardin may be an active spy - or even just a naive
participant in a conspiracy involving a Swedish intelligence agency
trying to get close to its American counterpart - could obscure a more
simple proposition: that she is a spurned lover who has seized the
chance to go after a man who has made himself the No.1 enemy of the
US.
In January this year, well before WikiLeaks began dumping US
diplomatic cables on the web and long before she had ever met Assange,
she published a manual on how to ''systematically take revenge'' on
''someone who cheated or who dumped you''.
She wrote: ''Do a brainstorm of appropriate measures for the category
of revenge you're after … You can sabotage your victim's current
relationship, such as getting his new partner to be unfaithful or
ensure that he gets a madman after him.''
Assange may not be the prey of a ''madman'', such as an aggrieved
husband or boyfriend, but the WikiLeaks founder is certainly the
target of an angry superpower.
WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange said it was "increasingly likely''
the US would try to extradite him on charges related to leaked cables
as he savoured his first day on bail.
The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange says he fears the United
States is getting ready to indict him
The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange says he fears the United
States is getting ready to indict him
18 December 2010Sky News
Mr Assange said he was concerned about potential moves from US authorities.
"The big risk, the risk we have always been concerned about, is
onwards extradition to the United States. And that seems to be
increasingly serious and increasingly likely,'' the Australian said.
The 39-year-old founder of the whistle-blowing website is fighting
extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over
allegations that he sexually assaulted two women, which he denies.
But Mr Assange said his lawyers believed a secret US grand jury
investigation had been started into his role in WikiLeaks' release of
thousands of leaked US diplomatic cables - a probe he condemned as
"illegal''.
Looking relaxed, he said the mansion was a "big improvement'' on the
London jail where he was held in solitary confinement for nine days
before his release on bail Thursday.
Media reports suggest that US prosecutors are trying to build a case
against Assange on the grounds that he encouraged a US soldier,
Bradley Manning, to steal US cables from a government computer and
pass them to WikiLeaks.
"I would say that there is a very aggressive investigation, that a lot
of face has been lost by some people, and some people have careers to
make by pursuing famous cases,'' Mr Assange said.
The renewed push to snare Assange comes as Prime Minister Julia
Gillard admitted the WikiLeaks founder had not breached Australian law
in the leaking of US diplomatic documents on the website.
The admission was an embarrassing backflip from Ms Gillard, who last
month condemned the publishing of embarrassing US cables as "an
illegal thing to do".
Yesterday, she stood by those comments and branded WikiLeaks as being
"grossly irresponsible". "I know there are a number of people who are
fans of WikiLeaks," Ms Gillard said.
"Let me make it very, very clear - I am not. The release of all of
this documentation has been grossly irresponsible."
Meanwhile Manning, who spent his 24th birthday behind bars yesterday,
has already served more than four months jail since being charged with
disseminating a US military video showing a US helicopter attack that
killed 17 people in Iraq, including two Reuters employees.
He is also suspected of leaking military logs about other incidents in
Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 250,000 diplomatic cables to
WikiLeaks, which has created a diplomatic nightmare for the US
Government, and he faces 52 years in jail if convicted.
However in reports yesterday, authorities were hoping to enter a plea
bargain with Manning whose health is said to be declining in jail, if
he names Assange as a co-conspirator. After securing his release from
custody in the UK yesterday Assange said he feared he may have already
been indicted in the US for espionage.
Arriving at the mansion home of journalist Vaughan Smith in Suffolk,
Assange said he considered rumours of US legal action as "extremely
serious".
"We have heard today from one of my US lawyers that there may be a US
indictment for espionage for me coming from a secret grand jury
investigation," he said.
The US Justice Department has refused to comment on any grand jury activity.
US prosecutors would be able to form a much stronger case if Manning
gave evidence that Assange had encouraged and helped him disseminate
classified material.
Adrian Lamo, the former hacker who turned Manning over to the
Government after the soldier bragged to him about his role in the
leaks, is thought to have told the FBI that Assange had spoken to the
soldier over an encrypted internet service while he was downloading
government files.
Manning's supporters have maintained he is not co-operating with authorities
No comments:
Post a Comment