"A murderous system"

The Swedish former editor-in-chief and media mogul Arne Ruth is "appalled at how the Swedish authorities have treated the website Wikileaks' founder Assange for almost ten years now". Ruth has a long management practice from Swedish major newspapers such as Dagens Nyheter. Based on an interview with the UN's Nils Melzer in the Swiss magazine Republik (January 31), Ruth became interested in how the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture commented on the case:

"Melzer makes strong accusations against Sweden and demands a response from the government – as his UN mandate is designed. He has concluded that the trial against Assange is based on deliberate, misleading allegations of rape. "

Conservative Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung also followed Sweden / Melzer with a smashing characteristic on February 4: "Sweden's investigation into the Julian Assange case gives no reason for pride for this Nordic country."

Based on deliberate, misleading allegations of rape.

On Monday 1 June, Ruth delivered a petition to Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde – currently signed by more than 3000 people, including many Swedes. They all demand answers to the serious accusations of the UN and Melzer.

Ruth also refers to the Norwegian Class Struggle's article on the Assange case on 20 February this year, mainly based on the Republic's conversation with Melzer on 31 January: "But the Class Struggle is too cautious when they say that the authorities' case is' full of serious mistakes'. According to Melzer, the police have criminally changed one of the two women's testimony. "

One can have Shakespeare's Hamlet in mind that something is rotten in the country (Denmark), where UN rapporteur Melzer describes that on the other side of the Sound "a murderous system is growing before our eyes".

When Melzer and both a psychiatrist and forensic pathologist visited Assange a year ago in Belmarsh Prison, they independently concluded that he had symptoms one might expect to find in someone who has been mentally tortured for a long time. Melzer compared Assange to victims of mental torture – he has seen many of them among political prisoners in the Middle East and the Balkans.

To Ruth and others' campaign setjulianfree.org Melzer says he appreciates initiatives that work for “states to live up to their international legal obligations. The public must be made aware of the dangers threatening that governments refuse to cooperate with UN mechanisms and respect the principles of transparency, justice and the law's inviolability. "

The UN accuses Sweden

Arne Ruth's concern is that Sweden must respond when the UN official special reporter Melzer presents evidence that the country has fabricated rape charges against Julian Assange. Melzer documents this with emails between British intelligence and Swedish police as a conspiracy against Assange.

According to Melzer (in Republic), "Sweden has spent almost ten years deliberately characterizing Julian Assange as a sex abuser […]. No evidence has been presented that anything criminal has taken place. Meltzer wants answers to 50 points. Among them: "How was it possible that the press was informed of the charges against Assange despite the fact that this is forbidden? How was it possible to present a case to the public when Assange was not even questioned? How was it possible to establish that a rape had taken place when the victims in question themselves disputed it at this time? For over ten years, the Swedes have presented Assange as a sex abuser and then suddenly put the case to death. What was the reason for that? ” To Melzer's several letters, the Swedish foreign minister replied that they "had nothing to add". Melzer then asks the Republic how this can be interpreted by e-mail between British intelligence and Swedish police?

"Yes, how to interpret it," Republik repeats, and Melzer replies briefly, "It's an admission of guilt."

The Swedish authorities are therefore in no hurry to investigate what has gone wrong. No, they pushed Elinor Hammarskjöld in front of them in the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (used by UN Dag Dag Hammarskjöld's niece) with the letter signed by her on 12 July 2019 – where the ministry abruptly rejects the accusations as unfounded.

The government's argument is that it "is constitutionally barred from commenting or influencing independent decisions made by Swedish prosecutors". But the UN rapporteur's dialogue must necessarily go through the government, Melzer points out. It is the channel he is committed to using. The Swedish Government's responsibility is to contact the parties concerned to clarify what has been going on and then report back. Melzer points out that the Swedish authorities may not have understood what international conventions lay down guidelines. As Melzer replies in the September 12, 2019 apologies with new documents and reinforces the charges, things are even worse.

The Swedish government simply chose to ignore him.

Swedish media is silent

In Norway, the Assange case is covered extensively in several media. For example, covered Klassekampen Sweden's response duly. But what do Swedish media do – the national watchdogs of democracy and the rule of law? Swedish police and prosecutors are accused of fraud, of sabotaging Assange's legal security and delaying legal proceedings against all laws and regulations, national and international. Where is the Swedish media when the government even refuses to answer the accusations? They are mostly silent.

In England, the BBC has followed Sweden's example by not broadcasting an interview they did with Nils Melzer, but in Germany the newspapers engage with multi-page reports and eager debaters. And more than 100 have so far supported author Günter Wallraff, who is demanding the release of Assange. Major newspapers such as Die Zeit and Süddeutche Zeitung have reproduced Melzer's letters to the Swedish authorities in their entirety. And they have discussed Assange's fate in the German Bundestag. In Switzerland, Assange is being discussed in parliament.

Arne Ruth has not managed to remain silent, and was inspired by his friend Wallraff to formulate the appeal Setjulianfree.org. The former editor-in-chief cannot live with the fact that his government disapproves of the UN's authority by remaining silent in an attempt to smooth over its own actions. In a letter addressed to Foreign Minister Ann Linde, delivered by Ruth on behalf of the June 1 campaign, the message is clear: "The logic of your office will make all Swedish international cooperation powerless and irrelevant. And especially everything that has to do with the UN and UN sub-organizations. "

Call for Assange

Called "Set Julian Free!" addresses Sweden's role and responsibilities. It is pointed out here that UN rapporteur Melzer states that the international torture convention will hold Sweden responsible for what happens to Assange both in the UK – where Assange is very ill in the coronal Belmarsh prison – and in the event of a feared extradition to the United States.

Assange has already completed the sentence he received after breaking the bail order by hiding in Ecuador's embassy. So why is he still incarcerated, Ruth asks, adding that Sweden "owes Assange an apology, an uprising and a great compensation".

Famous Norwegian people who support Ruth's initiative setjulianfree.org are corruption hunter and politician Eva Joly, former editor Harald Stanghelle, NUPI's and PRIO's former director Sverre Lodgaard, leader of Norwegian PEN Kjersti Løken Stavrum, sociologist and peace researcher Johan Galtung and cultural personalities such as William Nygaard and Erik Hillestad. They are in celebrity company with international names such as Noam Chomsky, Richard Falk, John Pilger and Denis Halliday.

Ruth was surprised that the Swedish PEN, the Swedish Writers' Union, Dagens Nyheter and Aftonbladet were among those who did not want to support when he made contact. However, the magazine Folket i Bild / Kulturfront followed up on its proud whistleblower tradition and supported the appeal. The TV channel Öppna Kanalen in Stockholm did the same. Ruth is also optimistic considering that well-known Swedish names such as Sven Britton, Jan Myrdal, Kaisa Ekis Ekman, Sven Hirdman, Carl Tham, Kjerstin Käll, Mikael Wiehe and Sven Eric Liedman support the appeal.

As of today, more than 3000 have joined the appeal in a campaign that is far from over. Ruth concludes: “It is not just about the fate of a sick and vulnerable Julian Assange in a health-threatening prison. It is about Sweden's soul – as a democracy and as a society governed by the rule of law. "

On www.netjulianfree.org See all the source documentation mentioned in this article. Please note that the author of the article has collaborated with Ruth on the campaign, which MODERN TIMES has also supported. Both Ruth and Jones are sitting
in MODERN TIMES 'editorial board

Arne Ruth

Arne Ruth (pictured) came to Sweden from Germany with the White Buses in 1945, with his Swedish mother and siblings. The father was a German soldier who dropped them off at the Bernadotte buses before disappearing into the final darkness of the war. Ruth has chaired the Swedish PEN and the Swedish Rushdie Committee. He has been an editor for 22 years in the largest Swedish newspapers. He fought against corruption in the Skandia giant and won. He has demanded asylum cases resumed and won. Ruth took over as editor-in-chief of Dagens Nyheter and left when the Bonnier owners got involved in the editorial.