Assange’s condom

By Manuel Alberto Ramy

Taken from A Correspondent’s Notebook

We are witnessing events that go from the dramatic to the bawdy. The pivot point is Julian Assange, the Australian who has stripped naked the little world around us.

And I mean naked. It now turns out that the accusations against the founder of WikiLeaks have gone from forcing two women to have sexual relations to engaging in consensual sex BUT without using a condom. In a hurry? On a dare?

James Catlin, Assange’s former lawyer, revealed that the accusations of sexual assault in Sweden against the visible face of WikiLeaks – we must wonder who’s behind and who’s out front – focus on the allegation that he didn’t use prophylactics during sexual relations.

According to the website Democracy Now!, that’s what the lawsuit says. Consequently, the Interpol has issued an international warrant for the arrest of this practitioner of unprotected sex.

I find it commendable and revealing of the importance of fighting the AIDS virus for Interpol to mobilize in the search for this brazen gentleman who performs without the appropriate coveralls. I imagine the satisfaction experienced by world and pan-American health organizations, such as the WHO and the PAHO, intent as they are on reducing the pandemic.

Of course, the argument helps me to understand the statements of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the effect that WikiLeaks (therefore Assange) constitutes a threat to THE ENTIRE international community.

AIDS is a global threat as the thousands of secret cables that navigate on the Web (though not as globally) might be if they weren’t filtered by five major newspapers that act as prophylactics, blocking news viruses of steep political cost, especially for several U.S. administrations.

According to Democracy Now!, Catlin “says the Swedish justice system will become the laughingstock of the world if the case proceeds.”

I dissent from this lawyer. Why not use a plastic cap over a bodily part? Doesn’t the torture of asphyxiation by plastic bag protect the detainee from the viruses and bacteria polluting the air?

They should have acknowledged George W. Bush’s smarts for having permitted such methods of protection, something he admits and justifies in his book.

Below, the news wire published by Democracy Now! and others, in connection with the WikiLeaks revelations.

Attorney: Assange Accused for Not Wearing Condom During Consensual Intercourse

A former attorney for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has revealed that the sex assault allegations against Assange in Sweden center around his allegedly not using a condom.

James Catlin says Assange has been accused of not using a condom during consensual sex with the two accusers. Catlin says Sweden’s justice system is likely to become “the laughingstock of the world” if the case proceeds. An international arrest warrant was issued for Assange this week.