Julian Assanges sexual assault accuser speaks of incident for the first time in tell-all book – NEWS.com.au

A woman who accused Julian Assange of sexual assault a decade ago has broken her silence, detailing the alleged attack for the first time in a tell-all book.

Anna Ardin, a church deacon who was previously referred to as Miss A, alleged the WikiLeaks founder tricked her into having sex without a condom in 2010 while staying at her apartment in Sweden.

In the book, called In the Shadow Of Assange: My Testimony, she admits having a crush on Assange and offered him her spare bedroom.

Back in 2010, the WikiLeaks boss was being thrust into the international spotlight as his website revealed secret government cables about the war in Iraq and a video showing the US military killing civilians.

In the book from which details and excerpts have been published by Swedish media Ardin writes that she had considered sleeping with him at the time, in part out of revenge on an ex-partner who she knew would notice if she was successful.

She recalled thinking: It might be a pretty fun thing, and no big deal to score with Julian Assange.

She claims she helped Assange arrange seminars as she worked to make the plan a reality, However, she claims events turned sinister at her apartment one night alleging Assange pushed her down roughly after they agreed to have sex, then sabotaged his condom and coaxed her into have unprotected sex.

She also said the 49-year-old refused to shower during his stay and left turds floating in the toilet.

She wrote that by the time he left, her apartment smelled strongly of unwashed body, of dried-in sweat.

In promoting the book, she told Swedish media: Julian is definitely not a monster. But he crossed my boundaries.

Ardin wrote that she and Assange went to a party the following night and that she continued to let him stay in her apartment.

The Julian who took part in the (party) is totally different from the one who humiliated and abused me the previous evening, Ardin wrote in her book, adding that Assange is in many ways a fantastic person.

Ardin told Swedish media she feels as though she was sexual abused, but admitted others might see the incident as a grey zone.

It feels like society is ready to talk about these grey areas now, she said.

Ardin wrote she had no plans to report Assange to the police but did so after another Swedish woman, known only as Miss W, contacted her a few days after the alleged incident with a similar story.

Miss W claimed that she had been sexually assaulted by Assange who had forcibly penetrated her without a condom, The Timesreported.

Assange has denied all allegations of sexual assault and has accused Ardin of working with the CIA to set him up after he spilled US secrets, a claim she has adamantly denied.

Anne Ramberg, the former head of the Swedish Bar Association, tweeted against Ardin, writing that comments by the aggrieved lady who provided her home and bed to Assange were extremely worrying.

Ms Ramberg, who supports Assanges innocence, said the new book does not tell the full story.

Anyone who has not read the preliminary investigation should do so, she tweeted. To now write a book and make a career of what is described as abuse seems extremely questionable.

Two years after the alleged assault took place, in 2012, Assange hid in the Ecuadorean embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden over the charges. He claimed that Sweden could then extradite him to the US where he said he would not face a fair trial over charges linked to WikiLeaks.

He remained at the embassy for seven years until Swedish prosecutors dropped the case in 2019, saying evidence had weakened due to the considerable amount of time that had passed since the alleged assaults.

A British court ruled last month that Assange will not be extradited to the US after a judge found his mental health was so fragile he was likely to kill himself if he is sent overseas to face espionage charges.

But the United States immediately confirmed they will appeal this decision, in a last-ditch attempt to force Assange to face the US justice system.

He is now in Belmarsh Prison in London awaiting the decision.

See the rest here:

Julian Assanges sexual assault accuser speaks of incident for the first time in tell-all book - NEWS.com.au