Wikileaks grundare Julian Assange eftersökt för våldtäkt i Sverige

The second recent development, which is already causing some of WikiLeaks' own loyal supports to question whether the group is its own worst enemy is, not surprisingly, the widely publicized sexual-misconduct investigation of Assange in Sweden. WikiLeaks' latest tweet on that subject (at the time this story was written) portrays the most recent developments in the investigation in the most favorable light possible: "WikiLeaks founder cleared of sex allegations | AP" The reality, however, as the wire service story makes clear, and as Declassified reported in greater detail earlier on Wednesday, is that while Swedish prosecutors have indeed terminated an investigation that resulted in a warrant for Assange's arrest in connection with an allegation of rape being issued and then quickly canceled, a Swedish prosecutor is still investigating Assange in connection to an allegation of "molestation" and has determined that there is sufficient reason to order police to interrogate Assange about the allegations.

Most of Assange's public responses to the Swedish investigation have been conspiracy-mongering and bluster. On Sunday, Assange told the Middle Eastern broadcast outlet Al-Jazeera, "It is clearly a smear campaign. … The only question is who was involved. We can have some suspicions about who would benefit, but without direct evidence, I would not be willing to make a direct allegation." He was quoted by Aftonbladet, a Swedish newspaper, as saying, "I know by experience that WikiLeaks' enemies will continue to bandy around things even after they have been renounced. I don't know who's behind this, but we have been warned that, for example, the Pentagon plans to use dirty tricks to spoil things for us."

But the Swedish paper also quoted him as saying, somewhat cryptically, that he had "never, whether in Sweden or in any other country, had sex with anyone in a way that is not founded on mutual consent." And as Declassified reported Wednesday, a lawyer representing two women whose allegations triggered the investigation by Swedish authorities suggests that not only are his clients standing by their claims, but that he may well challenge the decision by prosecutors to close the rape probe of Assange. A person in close contact with other WikiLeaks activists around Europe, who asked for anonymity when discussing a sensitive topic, says that many of them were privately concerned that Assange has continued to spread allegations of dirty tricks and hint at conspiracies against him without justification. Insiders say that some people affiliated with the website are already brainstorming whether there might be some way to persuade their front man to step aside, or failing that, even to oust him. Given that Assange is the person who put WikiLeaks on the map, and given that no one appears more entranced by the aura surrounding WikiLeaks than Assange himself, that could certainly cause the website considerable anguish about its own practice of "transparency," "democracy," and "integrity."