Dirty Tricks: Sweden seeks Wikileaks founder arrest in rape case

AP

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is suspected of rape in Sweden, where authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest, officials said Saturday.

The 39-year-old Australian denied the allegations on WikiLeaks' Twitter page, saying they "are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."

Assange, who has sought Swedish legal protection for the whistle-blower website, is suspected of molestation and rape in two separate cases, said Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Prosecution Authority.

"He should get in contact with police so that he can be confronted with the suspicions," Rosander told The Associated Press.

She said a prosecutor in Stockholm issued the arrest warrant on Friday. The move means police are ordered to seek his arrest as part of an investigation but doesn't necessarily mean that criminal charges will be filed.

"The next step is that we interrogate him," Rosander said. "Then we'll see what happens."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/08/21/international/i030704D57.DTL#ixzz0xFKlv3xY