News.com.au, By Angella Johnson From: The Daily Telegraph, December 13, 2010 12:00AM
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| WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is being set up to stop him releasing more cables, his Swedish lawyer claims / AP |
- Assange's lawyer says rape accusers "lying"
- Claims secret police papers prove innocence
- Says both women have "hidden agendas"
- WikiLeaks: Key points for our region
WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange's lawyer said he has seen secret police documents that prove the whistle-blower is innocent of sex assault claims made against him by two women.
Lawyer Bjorn Hurtig, representing Assange in Sweden where the charges were laid, said the papers reveal both women had "hidden agendas" and lied about being coerced into having sex.
The Australian-born Assange is being held in a London jail while fighting extradition to face the accusations, which his defenders said are part of a plot to stop him releasing more embarrassing information on his WikiLeaks website about governments.
Assange, 39, met both women at a seminar in Stockholm last August. He strenuously denies the allegations and has not yet been charged.
"From what I have read, it is clear that the women are lying and that they had an agenda when they went to the police, which had nothing to do with a crime having taken place," Mr Hurtig said.
"It was, I believe, more about jealousy and disappointment on their part. I can prove that at least one of them had very big expectations for something to happen with Julian."
Mr Hurtig said he had asked Swedish prosecutors for permission to disclose more "sensational information".
"If I am able to reveal what I know, everyone will realise this is all a charade," he said. "If I could tell the British courts, I suspect it would make extradition a moot point.
"But at the moment I'm bound by the rules of the Swedish legal system, which say that the information can only be used as evidence in this country.
"For me to do otherwise would lead to me being disbarred."
One of the women, a political activist in her 30s, claims she was unlawfully coerced and subjected to sexual molestation and deliberate molestation.
The other woman, who is in her 20s, has alleged he had sex with her without a condom while she was sleeping.
Mr Hurtig, a top defence lawyer, is ready to fly to London and present the evidence when Assange appears in court this week - if given the all-clear.
Mr Hurtig said when he met Assange the accused "gave off an aura of someone who was very self-assured and comfortable with himself, the way famous people do".
"He denied vehemently that he had raped or in any way indulged in non-consensual sex," Mr Hurtig said.
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