assangewatch.blogspot.com
The Swedish Bar Association is investigating Julian Assange's Swedish lawyer, Björn Hurtig, after Judge Howard Riddle said that Hurtig was unreliable and gave misleading information during Assange's extradition proceedings about Swedish Prosecutor Marianne Ny's attempts to contact Assange for questioning.
Judge Riddle said in his ruling:
"It would be a reasonable assumption from the facts that Mr Assange was deliberately avoiding interrogation before he left Sweden."
Assange has been fighting extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning by the Swedish police. Judge Howard Riddle ruled last week that Assange could get a fair trial in Sweden and that his extradition to Sweden would not violate his human rights.
The Swedish police have not charged Assange with anything, but want him extradited to face questions about accusations of rape and sexual molestation made against him by Sofia Wilen and Anna Ardin, which he denies.
After Judge Riddle gave his verdict Hurtig spoke with The Local and said:
"I'm a reliable person. I'm a reliable witness."Anne Ramberg, secretary-general of the Swedish Bar Association described Judge Riddle's statements as an "extremely serious critique" of Hurtig and said:
"We sent Hurtig a letter last week and asked him to explain himself."Hurtig has until March 14th to reply to the Bar Association's inquiry.
"If I'm not satisfied with Hurtig's explanation, I may go to the bar association's governing board, and after that the disciplinary committee, which has the final say on any possible consequences."
Hurtig’s “mistake” – falsely stating that Prosecutor Ny had not contacted him about arranging an interview date before Assange left Sweden on 15 September – has been very damaging to Julian Assange.
ReplyDeleteApparently, Julian Assange was told he was free to leave Sweden on 15 September 2010. It is of crucial importance who communicated this information to him: Hurtig or Ny. I don’t know.
There is another aspect to the undermining of the credibility of Hurtig. He is the only person outside the Swedish state to have seen the text messages between Anna Ardin and Sofia Wilen, messages which apparently undermine their allegations against Assange.