London, February 09: A Swedish legal expert said yesterday there were serious irregularities in the way prosecutors built their sex crimes case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Sven-Erik Alhem, a former chief prosecutor in Sweden, said prosecutor Marianne Ny “should have made sure Assange was able to give his version of events in detail.”
Assange’s lawyers say prosecutors have rebuffed his offer to be questioned from London about rape and sexual misconduct claims by two Swedish women. Assange denies wrongdoing.
Alhem, a defence witness, also said it was “extraordinary” that a prosecutor had leaked Assange’s name to the media.
Assange’s lawyers claim publicity about the case and the Swedish custom of hearing rape cases behind closed doors mean he would not get a fair trial if he is sent to Sweden. His attorney, Geoffrey Robertson, said on Monday that closed-door hearings would be “a flagrant denial of justice.
Fair hearing
But the British lawyer representing Sweden, Clare Montgomery, countered that Swedish trials were based on the principle that everyone deserves “a fair and public hearing.” Evidence is heard in private in some cases, but it will often be published after the trial and recited in the judgment. Montgomery said Ny had issued an arrest warrant for Assange only after making repeated unsuccessful attempts to arrange an interview with him.
In a court document read aloud by Montgomery, Ny said that “it must have been crystal clear to Julian Assange… that we were extremely anxious to interview him.”
But, Ny said, an interview could not be set up and at one point Assange’s Swedish lawyer was unable to contact him for several days. Ny said given this background, “We consider Julian Assange is an obvious flight risk and it cannot be considered an overreaction to detain him.”
–Agencies