Julian Assange, 47, faced accusations of sexual assault and rape relating to a 10-day trip to Sweden in 2010. Photo / Getty Images
Julian Assange, 47, faced accusations of sexual assault and rape relating to a 10-day trip to Sweden in 2010. Photo / Getty Images
Ten days in Sweden almost a decade ago was all it took to create a scandal that could be the undoing of Julian Assange.
It was August 2010, and WikiLeaks had catapulted to fame after publishing reams of confidential material obtained from the United States government by whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
During his visit to Stockholm, one woman accused the Australian of sexual assault and another of rape, both of which he has always denied.
But the accusations were to become the question on which his whole future would hang.
A woman known only as Miss A told Swedish prosecutors that she had invited Assange to stay at her home while he visited the city to speak at various events.
After they returned to her apartment following a meal at a restaurant, she claimed he "ripped off her clothes", and she had tried to put some clothes back on because it was moving "too quickly and too uncomfortably", according to documents seen by The Guardian.
She claimed she then let him undress her and he tried to have unprotected sex, holding her arms and pinning down her legs when she reached for a condom, the newspaper reported.
Miss A said he then agreed to use a condom, but had "done something" with it so it ripped, and ejaculated without withdrawing.
Police bundle WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy into a police van in London. Photo / AP
Assange told police at the time that they had had sex, but he had not torn the condom. His supporters pointed out that Miss A held a party for him the next day and let him stay at her home for another week.
A friend of Miss A's told police the alleged victim had told her "not only had it been the world's worst screw, it had also been violent".
A few days later, Assange went out with Miss W before they went back to her apartment. She told police that they started to have sex, but the WikiLeaks founder would not wear a condom, so she refused to continue.
During the night, they both woke up and had sex after "he agreed unwillingly to use a condom".
In the morning, she said, she woke to find him having sex with her, and when she asked whether he was wearing a condom, he said no.
Assange denied any wrongdoing in relation to Miss W, saying she never indicated that she did not want to have sex, and in a text to a friend only said she had been "half asleep".
Julian Assange, 47, faced accusations of sexual assault and rape relating to a 10-day trip to Sweden in 2010. Photo / Getty Images
Her ex-boyfriend told police they had never had unprotected sex in two and a half years because it was "unthinkable" for her.
The two women spoke to each other and contacted Assange to ask him to take an STD test. But the WikiLeaks founder's lawyer told The Guardian their messages suggested they wanted money from a tabloid newspaper and were motivated by a desire for revenge.
In November of that year, Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for the UK-based Assange on allegations of sexual assault and rape.
Assange has consistently denied the "politicised" allegations, contending that they are a tactic to get him extradited from Sweden to the US.
He was arrested in London in December 2010 and released on bail with an electronic tag as he fought extradition proceedings. After he failed in May 2012, he sought refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy, triggering a seven-year stand off.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor of WikiLeaks, (center right), and barrister Jennifer Robinson speak to the media outside Westminster magistrates court. Photo / AP
In August 2015, Swedish prosecutors dropped three cases of alleged sexual offences against Assange, but said the investigation into a suspected rape was ongoing. In May 2017, prosecutors dropped the investigation into the rape allegation because the case could not progress because of his protected status at the embassy.
His charge for breaching bail in the UK remained, however, and he was arrested on Thursday at the embassy after Ecuador withdrew its protection.
He will now face extradition proceedings to the United States on one charge of conspiracy to disclose classified information capable of being used to harm the US. He will claim press freedom and the legal wrangling could drag on for years.
But he could also face another charge, as the Swedish Prosecution Authority is considering whether to resume the inquiry into the rape allegation before the statute of limitations runs out in August 2020.
Elisabeth Massi Fritz, lawyer for the unnamed woman, said "we are going to do everything" to have the case reopened "so Assange can be extradited to Sweden and prosecuted for rape".
