Supplementary Letter to the Swedish Bar Association Regarding a formal complain on lawyer in “Swedish case VS Assange”

Update received from Rafik Saley (general secretary African Committee for Sustainable Development – Sweden), of the letter delivered to the Chairman of the Swedish Bar Association regarding a formal complain on lawyer Ms. Elisabeth Massi Fritz, in the Swedish case VS the founder of WikiLeaks, Mr. Julian Assange

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We have reasons to update the complaint against Elisabeth Massi Fritz as outlined in this supplementary letter.

Since writing to you about Ms Fritz’s political motivation against Mr Julian Assange she has made subsequent comments of a political nature:

http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/uppgifter-assange-atalas-inte-i-usa/

Ms Fritz cannot possibly know that Julian Assange would be safe from extradition to the United States. If that was the case, the prosecution would guarantee what Mr. Assange’s legal team has been asking for, which would bring this despicable case to an end. They have refused to do so and continue to prolong the suffering of all parties involved, excluding the legal profession and politicians. Not only does Ms. Fritz make unwarrantable public statements but her whole strategy appears to be a character assassination campaign against Mr Assange despite him not having been charged with a crime. This is a most improper conduct from a lawyer.

Here is the original Washington Post story to which Expressen alludes and you can see that the Grand Jury investigation is still ongoing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/julian-assange-unlikely-to-face-us-charges-over-publishing-classified-documents/2013/11/25/dd27decc-55f1-11e3-8304-caf30787c0a9_story.html

Further confirmation that an investigation into Wikileaks is continuing comes from Fay Brundage at the attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia, USA.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/us-said-unlikely-prosecute-assange-publishing-leaks-203045509.html#WDToN3b

In the Expressen article, Ms Massi Fritz also makes a statement that “My client will be involved in the case and stick to the story of the serious violation that she believes that she suffered”. However, it would appear from evidence already in the public domain since September 2013 -http://wikileaks.org/IMG/html/Affidavit_of_Julian_Assange.html [see paragraphs 97-99] – that her client’s earliest comments regarding the matter on 20th and 21st August 2010 flatly contradict Ms. Massi Fritz’s statement in Espressen:

According to a phone record of 20th August 2010 (17:06), Ms. S. W. said she was shocked “when they arrested JA because she only wanted him to take a test.” According to the younger woman’s phone records, to whom an allegation of ‘rape’ has been indicated, she wrote at 07:27 on 21st August 2010 that she “did not want to accuse JA for anything”; and at 22:25 that “it was the police who made up the charges”.

It is not credible that Ms. Massi Fritz would be unaware of her own client’s earlier statements, and this makes her public statement on the case made to Expressen last week an infringement of the Bar Association’s rules:

“§2. Lawyers’ conduct must be factual and correct, and such that confidence in the legal profession is maintained.”

Yours sincerely

Okoth Osewe – journalist and author – Kenya and Sweden

Rafik Saley – general secretary African Committee for Sustainable Development – Sweden

John Goss – writer and researcher – United Kingdom

Dr. Selim Y Gool – retired, ex-teacher / academic, Norway