The couple of letters under the headline of ‘In Defence of Julian Assange’ contained some curious statements in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable.
Marc Westley brings up the old classic, that of a ‘rarely cited quirk’ in Swedish law which allows for men that don’t wear, or remove, a condom during sex to be charged with rape. This is false. The practice is called ‘stealthing’ and is totally separate to the charge of rape. In any case this is only on the books in the UK, NZ, Germany and Canada (according to wikipedia), Sweden has no laws at all regarding ‘stealthing’ or rape referring to condom use. Rare indeed.
It’s also stated that the US loaned (?) Ecuador $24 million to get them to move him, when his extremely erratic behaviour made the Ecuadorian mob virtually push him out the door.
And the two women involved went ‘on record’ that they were solicited to lodge a complaint so these non-existing laws could be enacted. Seems impossible to enact laws that don’t exist – don’t you reckon Marc? Also, the statute on the rape charge expired in 2017 (Guardian Nov 2019), and for that reason only were the charges withdrawn.
Julian Assange was charged with rape (illegal sexual penetration) of two women on two separate occasions. He alone decided he was above the law and wouldn’t face the Swedish investigation despite the legal conspiracy theories you may believe. That’s on his head, regardless of his supporters’ views, many of whom subscribe to the theory the women involved are liars.
He is in jail because of his evasion of the law, not because he leaked videos of what others were sent to jail for.
Finally to compare Assange to Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela is beyond laughable, but is consistent with the one-eyed zealotry apparent in the region. Many progressives in the area are extremely reluctant to think that their hero could be capable of such a thing but, to be sure, stranger things have happened. Some [just] outright lie in his defence. You cannot criticise Assange without expecting a huge backlash. No one is above the law except Assange. I agree he is being treated harshly, but you must face consequences when you have been accused of a despicable crime. As I stated in my last letter, you reap what you sow.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
