Why doesn't Sweden interview Assange in London? (Anya Palmer)

[struggle4progress]

9. Prior to Assange's flight from Sweden on 27 Sep 10, Swedish authorities repeatedly attempted

ithrough his lawyer to schedule a second interview

In UK court, Assange's lawyer originally misrepresented the facts regarding that, and he was forced to retract some of his testimony

Assange had also communicated to the prosecutors that he would return to Sweden and become available for an interview in mid-October. That never happened either

The simplest explanation is that Assange has just been playing games with everyone

That is true, in particular, of the attempts to slur the two women. Less than two weeks after Assange allegedly had sex with the first woman, there is a coordinated smear against both. It shows up on Counterpunch as a hit piece by "Israel Shamir." The Counterpunch piece exhibits two different strategies: the women are called extreme feminists, and they are accused of CIA involvement. At least one of these strategies can be attributed to Assange: as soon as he landed in the UK, Assange was accusing the women of being extreme feminists. Since the Counterpunch article author is a close Assange associate, the simplest guess is that the smear campaign was coordinated with Assange's help, especially if it was quickly worked out somewhat before the Counterpunch piece was published