Assange's refusal to face rape charges harms his cause
Before I wrote the article on Julian Assange (“Assange, rape, free speech”, Solidarity 254) I had a good look at the bourgeois press. The serious mainstream papers and magazines seemed unanimous (based on legal opinions that they had solicited or examined) that the extradition of Assange to the US from Sweden was harder than from the UK to US. Of course, if this is true, Assange’s case for staying here to best avoid falling into the US state’s hands collapses. Paul Field, himself a lawyer, has a different view ( Solidarity 255). And, here-and-there, there are others who should be listened to...