The 186-page document lodged by Mr Assange's lawyers with Swedish police on Sunday reviews evidence of US intelligence and criminal investigations targeting WikiLeaks, including details disclosed in the trial of US Army private Bradley Manning (now known as Chelsea Manning) who last month was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment for leaking hundreds of thousands of secret US military and diplomatic reports. The affidavit also highlights previously unreported events including physical surveillance of Mr Assange by US military intelligence at a conference in Berlin in December 2009 and the suspected illegal seizure on September 27, 2010 of the WikiLeaks publisher's suitcase while he was flying from Stockholm to Berlin in September 2010. Mr Assange alleges the lost luggage carried three laptops containing WikiLeaks information, data and communications between WikiLeaks and the organisation's lawyers. Mr Assange believes his suitcase may have been “seized unlawfully, as part of an intelligence operation with the purpose of gathering information about me, WikiLeaks, and/or our upcoming publications and in an attempt to unlawfully establish the identity of WikiLeaks' sources”. Mr Assange refers to reports that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation assisted the US FBI espionage probe directed against himself. He further alleges that an Australian intelligence organisation provided information to the Swedish Security Service – SAPO – in August 2010. Mr Assange does not identify the agency, but it is understood he is referring to ASIO. It is a matter of public record that the US government began a criminal investigation focused on WikiLeaks and Mr Assange in 2010. Australian diplomatic cables released to Fairfax Media under freedom of information laws revealed that senior US Justice Department officials described the investigation as being “unprecedented in scale and nature”.

Mr Assange has been identified by US prosecutors as an alleged co-conspirator, guiding and directing Private Manning's disclosure of classified information. The US Justice Department recently confirmed that its investigation of WikiLeaks is active and ongoing. Mr Assange's complaint has been lodged by his lawyers with Swedish police to seek an “effective remedy” to alleged illegal activities directed against himself and WikiLeaks. “I am informed by my legal advisers that this formal document may trigger an investigation and that independent judicial bodies may seek explanations of the responsible authorities as a result,” Mr Assange says. “I file this affidavit in the knowledge that there will likely be pressures for this matter not to be investigated, but in the knowledge that the law requires an investigation. I request that Swedish judicial authorities act swiftly to question and arrest if necessary those who are likely to have information about or bear criminal responsibility for the actions taken against WikiLeaks and my person as detailed in this affidavit.” Mr Assange notes that US President Barack Obama is scheduled to travel to Sweden on Monday and that his delegation in likely to include senior officials from the White House and the State Department which have been directly involved in the US response to WikiLeaks' publications. “Members of the delegation may have information relevant to an investigation of this matter,” Mr Assange suggests.

It is understood that Mr Assange intends to lodge a similar request for a criminal investigation in Germany, and that a related complaint may also be lodged in Australia. Since June 2012 Mr Assange has resided at Ecuador's London embassy where he has been granted political asylum by Ecuador on the grounds that he is at risk of extradition to the US to face conspiracy or other charges. British police are on guard outside the embassy 24 hours a day, waiting to arrest Mr Assange so he can be extradited to Sweden to face questioning about sexual assault allegations. Mr Assange's lawyers have advised that his extradition to Sweden could facilitate his extradition to the United States. The British and Swedish governments have declined to provide assurances that Mr Assange would not be extradited to the United States. The Australian government has declined to comment on any intelligence and law enforcement co-operation with the US or Sweden concerning Mr Assange or WikiLeaks. Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr has dismissed Mr Assange's claims that he is at risk of extradition to the US as “sheer fantasy” and said he will not “overservice” the WikiLeaks publisher's consular needs. Mr Assange is the lead WikiLeaks Party candidate for election to the Senate in Victoria.