Assange's arrest – the mist begins to clear

[peteryoung]

While I have no doubt the US will still be leaning heavily to get their hands on Julian Assange, this report from Reuters sets out a detailed timeline of the events, as far as can be reasonably establish, that led up to his arrest. It looks like something awkward and personal between three people that has taken on unanticipated extra dimensions, but so far Assange doesn't appear to have behaved completely recklessly or without at least a personal (if perhaps limited) code of conduct, and however compatible or incompatible that may have been with some of the finer points of Swedish law regarding sexual assault (and please note I am not defending someone who is facing allegations of rape by merely dismissing them). The fact is, at the moment no one has any reliable public knowledge of what went down. Also of interest is this rather necessary Salon post on the rush to smear Assange's accuser – a good journalistic balancing exercise.

Thanx to major_clanger.