Assange Faces Extradition Hearing
The Telegraph reports:
Marianne Ny, the public prosecutor who issued an international arrest warrant for Mr Assange on sexual assault allegations last year, is motivated by "sexual politics", one of her own colleagues claimed.
Mr Assange, 39, who denies any wrongdoing, is fighting the attempt to extradite him to Sweden, where lawyers have confirmed for the first time they intend to prosecute, him for "minor rape", which carries a maximum sentence of four years.
The Australian argues that he will not receive a fair trial in Sweden, where he is accused of assaulting two women during a visit last year.
On the first day of a two-day extradition hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates Court in South East London, Brita Sundberg-Weitman, a former Swedish Appeal Court Judge, described the behaviour of Miss Ny as "extremely peculiar".
Giving evidence on behalf of Mr Assange’s legal team, Mrs Sundberg-Weitman said the Swedish prosecutor could have interviewed Mr Assange by telephone or via the internet video service Skype, without the need to force his return to Sweden.
She said: "Miss Ny has a rather biased view against men in the treatment of sexual offence cases. They seem to take it for granted that everyone under prosecution is guilty. I honestly can’t understand her attitude. It looks malicious … I think maybe she wants to make him suffer.”
