The women of London might be advised to take special care when they hear Australian accents after dramatic legal developments this morning meant that two high-profile Aussies accused of serious sexual offences could soon be back on the streets of the capital.
Rolf Harris, more Pom than Aussie, was released from jail early in the morning, just a few hours before Swedish prosecutors announced that they were dropping sexual assault charges and a European arrest warrant against Julian Assange.
Wikileaks founder Assange remains holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy at the rear of Harrods in Knightsbridge as he is still wanted by British police for skipping bail in 2012 but his lawyers were trying to arrange his release after almost five years hiding from British and European courts behind Ecuadorian immunity. Swedish prosecutors said that the obstruction caused by Ecuador’s harbouring of Assange had forced them to reluctantly drop the arrest warrant over sexual offences the 45-year-old allegedly committed in Stockholm in 2012.
Harris, 87, was released from Stafford Prison after serving just under three years of a five year and nine month sentence for a string of sexual offences against women and girls. The TV entertainer, painter and singer will be able to appear in person at Southwark Criminal Court on Monday for a separate trial on four more counts of indecent assault against three teenagers between 1971 and 1983. Famous for his didgeridoo-playing and Aussie themed songs such as “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport”, Harris has lived in the UK since 1952 and was once a favourite of the Royal Family being honoured with a CBE, granted extensive time with the Queen to paint her portrait and invited regularly to perform at Royal command events.
He has denied all the sexual abuse charges, including an allegation in the latest trial that he grabbed a 13-year-old girl’s breast after filming a children’s TV program and asked her: “Do you often get molested in a Saturday morning?” He is also accused of twice groping a 16-year-old girl, after appearing on a 1978 ITV celebrity show, Star Games, and telling the victim that she was “a little bit irresistible.”
Assange has also insisted on his own innocence, claiming that he had only consensual sex with the Wikileaks supporter who later accused him of abuse. Assange’s lawyer Swedish lawyer, Per Samuelson, hailed the decision to abandon his prosecution as “a total victory”, while the woman who accused him of assault told reporters in Sweden that she was shocked and disappointed by the collapse of the case.
But just as Harris could receive more jail time from his current trial, Assange also faces the continuing possibility of a US attempt to extradite him to the US over his role in the publication of classified information by Wikileaks.
Assange had long claimed that the Swedish prosecution was a cover intended to take him into custody and eventually ad him to US authorities, although any such move by the Swedish Government would have been a serious breach of international laws. Marianne Ny, Sweden’s director of public prosecutions, said she was frustrated that Assange’s decision to hide in the Ecuadorian Embassy had stopped Stocvkholm from investigating the assault case properly. “According to Swedish legislation, a criminal investigation is to be conducted as quickly as possible.
In order to proceed with the case, Julian Assange would have to be formally notified of the criminal suspicions against him,” she said. “We cannot expect to receive assistance from Ecuador regarding this. Therefore the investigation is discontinued.”
by Peter Wilson
The post Silly Bloody Aussies: Julian Assange and Rolf Harris appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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