#2 The prosecutor in the Assange case, Ms. Ny, is also involved in law-making in the area of sexual offences. In many countries, this would have disqualified her from acting as a prosecutor in a sexual offences case, I am informed.
Following a Government resolution on 17 July 2008, a Commission was set up to evaluate the application of the Sexual Offences Reform of 2005. Judge Nils Petter Ekdahl was appointed Commissioner, to be assisted by a group of advisory experts. Ms. Ny was one of the experts.
We are informed in the preface to the report (
http://www.regeringen.se/content/1/c...5/e59efb2d.pdf) from the Commission that
[i]n all significant respects, the experts stand behind the considerations and proposals in the report. For this reason, the word ”we” is used throughout the report. / Experterna har i allt väsentligt ställt sig bakom utredningens överväganden och förslag. Betänkandet har därför formulerats i vi-form. /
The Commission’s general conclusions are that the stricter sexual offences laws introduced in 2005 have worked well, but that even stricter laws are needed. Such stricter laws are proposed.
Ms. Ny has made several remarkable statements relating to the prosecution of sexual offences. For example, in an official publication from The Swedish National Courts Administration (
http://www.domstol.se/Publikationer/...fridslagen.pdf), we read that
Marriane Ny argues that prosecution has a good effect when it comes to protecting the woman, even when the perpetrator is charged but not convicted. / Marianne Ny menar att lagföringen har god effekt som skydd för kvinnan, även i de fall gärningsmannen åtalas men inte döms. /
A prosecutor who takes the presumption of innocence seriously will not talk about a ”not convicted perpetrator”; the choice of words suggests a non-professional bias. Also, the law gives prosecutors the power to initiate a judicial process only for the purpose of trying a suspect. The prosecutor is not allowed to use a judicial process with a view to other purposes, be it protection of women or harassment of (certain) men.