Supporters dismissed rape accusations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange... but the two women involved tell a different story



Fling: WikiLeaks founder faced charges of rape and sexual molestation, but they were withdrawn

It is a story as intriguing and confusing as a Stieg Larsson blockbuster: celebrated internet whistleblower becomes embroiled in a complex sex scandal involving two women, not long after he had masterminded one of the biggest intelligence leaks of all time - against the U.S.

That the action takes place in Sweden, Larsson’s home country, and that the protagonist is the flag-waver for freedom of information Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, provides added piquancy.

Assange, 39, was attending a seminar in Stockholm earlier this month when he found himself facing charges of rape and sexual molestation - charges that were then, amid much confusion, withdrawn and which he strenuously denies.



What does not seem to be in dispute is that he had sex with the two women within four days.

The scandal made headlines around the world, forcing the usually strident campaigner to go to ground in Stockholm, claiming it was a smear campaign, possibly initiated by the CIA or the Pentagon.



His supporters pointed out that the allegations came just a few weeks after WikiLeaks became embroiled in a dispute with the Pentagon over its publication of classified war documents, which the U.S. says endangers the lives of its soldiers and their Afghan allies.



The website plans to release more documents.



Sources in Sweden take a different view - they insist it was Assange’s louche behaviour and his chauvinistic attitude that led to the charges.



One of the women claimed in a Swedish newspaper: ‘The responsibility for what happened to me and the other girl lies with a man who has a twisted attitude to women and a problem taking no for an answer.’

Adding to the confusion was the seemingly speedy decision by the Swedish police and prosecution service to charge Assange and issue a warrant for his arrest, even before formal statements had been taken from the women, only to have the rape charge dropped 24 hours later.

The sexual molestation charge was then reduced to one that is punishable by little more than a slap on the wrist.

As ever when such cases are mired in conflicting claims, the truth can take a long time to surface.

But The Mail on Sunday has managed to obtain copies of the women’s police statements, which are made available to the media in Sweden.

Denial: Mr Assange admitted having sex with two women within four days of each other

Though heavily redacted, with details of the sex allegations blacked out, they make uncomfortable reading.



Assange had flown into Stockholm on Wednesday, August 11, where several of the WikiLeaks internet servers are based, to speak at a seminar organised by the Social Demoratic Party, the equivalent of Britain’s Labour Party, three days later.



It has been reported that the Australian lives a nomadic life, but curiously he applied for a visa to work permanently in Sweden soon after his arrival.



Woman A, who works for the Christian branch of the party, was the main organiser but they had never met before.

The attractive twentysomething, described by friends as hardworking and fun-loving, offered to let him stay in her one-bedroom flat in Sodermalm, Stockholm.



She planned to visit her family on the other side of the country and would be away until the Saturday seminar.

But she returned on the Friday, anxious about the amount of work still to do for the seminar.

According to a police source: ‘They had a discussion and decided it would be OK to share the living space, then went out together for dinner.



'When they got back they had sexual relations, but there was a problem with the condom - it had split.



'She seemed to think that he had done this deliberately but he insisted that it was an accident.’

Whatever her views about the incident, she appeared relaxed and untroubled at the seminar the next day where Assange met Woman B, another pretty blonde, also in her 20s, but younger than Woman A.

In her police statement, Woman B described how, in the wake of the Afghanistan leaks, she saw Assange being interviewed on television and became instantly fascinated - some might even say obsessed.

She said she thought him ‘interesting, brave and admirable’.



Over the following two weeks she read everything she could find about him on the internet and followed news reports about his activities.



She discovered that he would be visiting Sweden to give a seminar, so she emailed the organisers to offer her help.

She registered to attend and booked the Saturday off work.

She appears to have dressed to catch his eye, in a shocking-pink cashmere jumper. But, she says, among the grey-suited journalists who filled the room, she felt uncomfortably out of place.



Undeterred, she bagged a seat in the front row and was asked to buy a computer cable for Assange.



No one bothered to thank her, she later complained.

Assange, dressed in grey jeans and a suit jacket, spoke earnestly for 90 minutes on the theme ‘The first victim of war is the truth’.

He could not have failed to notice the attractive blonde taking photographs of him.

What unfolded could be described as akin to the meeting of a groupie and a rockstar. The woman loitered outside the building before approaching a member of his entourage, who invited her to join a lunch at a modest local eatery called Bistro Boheme.

The party consisted of two Social Democrats, a freelance journalist friend of Assange, the man himself and Woman B - who was the only female.



'He has a twisted attitude to women'

One of the men present recalled her as a person of a seemingly nervous disposition who didn’t fit in.

‘She was a little bit strange,’ he said. ‘Definitely an odd character and keen to get Julian’s attention.’

The woman admitted trying to engage her hero in conversation.



Assange seemed pleased to have such an ardent admirer fawning over him and, she said, would look at her ‘now and then’. Eventually he took a closer interest.



She explained in her statement that he was tucking into cheese served on Swedish crispbread when she asked if he thought it was good.



Assange looked at her directly and started to feed her.

His next move was pure computer geek - he told her that he needed a charger for his laptop, and she eagerly offered to help.



Assange smiled, put his arm around her back and said: ‘Ah yes, it was you who gave me a cable.’



They went on a vain search for the charger. She bought him a travel card for the metro because he said he didn’t have any money.



On the train he was recognised by a young man who gushed in admiration about WikiLeaks.



If she felt a thrill from this brush with fame, Woman B doesn’t say.

They ended up at the city’s Natural History Museum, where Assange headed to a computer console and, to the woman’s clear annoyance, twittered about his day.



At 6pm they entered a bijou cinema to watch a short film about the ocean, called Deep Sea. In the darkness Assange became amorous.



At one point they moved to the back row, where it is clear from the woman’s statement that the pair went far beyond kissing and fondling.



After the show, they wandered towards a park. He turned to her and said: ‘You are very attractive ... to me.’

Assange said he had a traditional Swedish crayfish party to attend and needed a power nap, so they lay side by side on the grass and he fell asleep.



She stayed awake and woke him about 20 minutes later. When she asked if they would meet again, he replied: ‘Of course.’

What he did not tell her was that the party was being hosted by the woman he had slept with two nights before and whose bed he would probably be sleeping in that night.



By the time she had arrived home, 46 miles outside Stockholm, and charged her mobile phone, there was a message from Assange asking her to call.



He was still at the party.



The next day Woman B tried to call him but his phone was turned off. She eventually spoke to him on the Monday when he agreed to meet her in the evening and suggested they spend the night at her flat.



She wanted to go to a hotel, but he said he would like to see her home.



Again she bought his £10 train ticket because he had no cash and said he didn’t want to use his credit card in case his movement was being tracked.



He spent most of the 45-minute journey surfing the internet on his laptop, reading stories about himself and twittering or texting on his mobile phone.



‘He paid more attention to the computer than to me,’ she said bitterly.

It was dark by the time they arrived in her suburb and the atmosphere between them had cooled.



‘The passion and attraction seemed to have disappeared,’ she said.

Most of what then followed has been blacked out in her statement, except for: ‘It felt boring and like an everyday thing.’

One source close to the investigation said the woman had insisted he wear a condom, but the following morning he made love to her without one.

'The passion seemed to have disappeared'



This was the basis for the rape charge. But after the event she seemed unruffled enough to go out to buy food for his breakfast.



Her only concern was about leaving him alone in her flat. ‘I didn’t feel I knew him very well,’ she explained.

They ate in an atmosphere that was tense, though she said in her statement that she tried to lighten the mood by joking about the possibility that she might be pregnant.

They parted on friendly terms and she bought his train ticket back to Stockholm. When she asked if he would call, he said: ‘Yes, I will.’

But he did not and neither did he answer her calls.

The drama took a bizarre and ultimately sensational turn after she called the office of Woman A, whom she had briefly met at the seminar.

The two women talked and realised to their horror and anger that they had both been victims of his charm.

The issue of unprotected sex left a fear of disease. It is believed that they both asked him to take a test for STDs and he refused.



Woman B was especially anxious about the possibility of HIV and pregnancy.

And it was in this febrile state that the women, who barely knew each other, walked into a police station and began to tell their stories.

Woman A said afterwards that she had not wanted to press charges but had gone to support the younger woman, who wanted police advice on how to get Assange to take a medical test.

In any event, the police woman at the reception and two male officers, one from the sex crimes unit, believed there was enough evidence to call the female duty prosecutor, who issued the warrants.

The story was leaked to a Swedish tabloid and Assange’s high profile led to the case being taken over by a senior female prosecutor who, after reading the statements, concluded there was no evidence of rape.

She agreed to the sexual molestation charge related to the first woman, but even that was watered down last week. Some legal observers now believe that will also disappear.

Claes Borgstrom, the lawyer representing the women, said they were upset about the way the case had been handled.



‘This case is a regressive sign for women that it’s not worth reporting when something like this happens,’ she said.

‘I was struck by the senior prosecutor’s statement that it’s not that she didn’t believe it but that she didn’t feel it was a crime.



'That’s why I’m going to a higher prosecutor to demand that the case is reopened.’

Assange’s lawyer Leif Silbersky said yesterday that he was unable to comment about the case until Tuesday.



It is expected that the Swedish prosecution service will issue a statement about the case then.

Whatever the outcome, one thing is certain – Assange’s attempts to portray himself as an online saint, exposing the secrets of the superpowers, has been dealt a damaging blow.