Advertisement

Pamela Anderson says Sweden reopening case against Julian Assange is 'an insult to all real rape victims'

As Swedish authorities reopen their investigation into a rape allegation made against Julian Assange, Pamela Anderson is speaking out on his behalf.

Pamela Anderson defends Julian Assange as Sweden reopens rape case against him. (Photo: Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
Pamela Anderson defends Julian Assange as Sweden reopens rape case against him. (Photo: Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

The former Baywatch star, who has had a long friendship with the WikiLeaks founder and has supported him publicly many times, posted several tweets Monday. In them, she wrote that she’s “not surprised” the case — for which an arrest warrant was issued against Assange in 2010 — is being reopened. Because he “took on governments,” including the U.S., which is trying to extradite him after his arrest last month, he’s a target, she wrote.

Anderson went on to say that Assange’s accuser is “a victim of the system” and said “her testimony proves there was no rape.” The former Playboy pin-up and animal rights activist noted that the charge is suspicion of “rape minor” — or “minor rape” — which she called “an insult to all real rape victims in the world.” She added that reopening this case is “not helping the fight against sex crimes,” and she wished “feminists could see that.”

She also included Assange’s account of the alleged rape.

The initial warrant for Assange’s arrest was for four offenses involving two women, including the so-called “minor rape.” The warrant detailed: “On 17 August 2010, in the home of the injured party [SW] in Enköping, Assange deliberately consummated sexual intercourse with her by improperly exploiting that she, due to sleep, was in a helpless state. It is an aggravating circumstance that Assange, who was aware that it was the expressed wish of the injured party and a prerequisite of sexual intercourse that a condom be used, still consummated unprotected sexual intercourse with her. The sexual act was designed to violate the injured party’s sexual integrity.”

Assange’s attorney at a 2011 hearing said that after three "utterly consensual" sex acts, the accuser objected to Assange having sex with her again without a condom, but "she let him continue” and noted that, "It's not natural to call this rape." The lawyer said that so-called "minor rape" allegedly committed by Assange would not be an extradition offense in English law.

Assange has a mountain of trouble at the moment. Last month, the fugitive was arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had been seeking refuge to avoid extradition on Sweden’s earlier investigation into the rape case. He was sentenced to 50 weeks for jumping bail in the U.K. and U.S. law enforcement authorities immediately began extradition proceedings for his alleged huge breach of classified data. The conspiracy charge — for one of the biggest leaks of classified materials in U.S. history — is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Sweden reopening the investigation could delay any extradition to the U.S. Assange would serve at least 25 weeks of his sentence in the U.K. before potentially being transported to Sweden, according to the Swedish prosecutor.

In a new interview with Spiegel Online, Anderson talked about recently visiting Assange in prison in London. She described the experience as “horrible,” saying she had to have her fingerprints taken and remove her socks and shoes. “Eventually, we sat in a little interrogation room with cameras all over. Total surveillance,” she detailed.

As for Assange, she said he is “much thinner” than he was the last time she saw him at the Ecuadorian Embassy a year ago. She said he’s “confined to a little cell for at least 23 hours a day.” Anderson claimed he can’t get books at the library or send letters and guards took his TV away.

Read more on Yahoo Entertainment:

Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle’s newsletter.