Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the Australian-born operator of the whistle-blower site, was momentarily charged with rape and molestation by Swedish prosecutors late last week, although officials say the charges have been dropped.
Assange has alleged the latest controversy is somehow related to Wikileaks’ recent move to publish thousands of secret Pentagon documents relating to the Afghanistan war.
Swedish officials told The Telegraph that charges have been dropped after new information was made available to them, although some of the charges are reportedly still under investigation.
Wikileaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told the publication he suspected there is some questionable activity occurring.
“To me it seems rather strange that the police and prosecutor have revealed the information to media before they even tried to contact Julian,” he said.
“We have received information that a slander campaign against Wikileaks or Julian Assange should be launched this week. We have received the information by trustworthy sources and prominent journalists who know how Pentagon works.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
