Don’t Forget About the Julian Assange Rape Allegations
The WikiLeaks founder’s sexual assault case has been clouded in disinformation for a decade. We have to understand it now to keep history from repeating itself.
It is almost impossible, in the post-#MeToo, post-“believe survivors” age of 2019, to fathom how ugly the Julian Assange rape case was the first time around. I say “first time,” because we are now living through the second iteration. The now 9-year-old case was dropped seven years ago when Swedish courts determined they would be unable to prosecute Assange while he was under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. But now that the embassy has kicked Assange out (he was, among other things, reportedly smearing his feces on the walls), a lawyer for one of the alleged victims has successfully requested to move the case forward, and on Monday Swedish authorities announced they would be reopening the case.
When Assange’s rape allegations first made headlines, in late 2010, the WikiLeaks founder had an army of defenders who mobilized to smear the two victims, and even to endanger their lives. Much of the progressive media signed on to that campaign, too eager to believe and support Assange, the Progressive Icon, to realize the harm they were doing, or even…
