(Thumbnail Image: Mathaba)

BY STEVEN HSIEH

“Sweden’s chief prosecutor is reopening a rape investigation into Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.  The decision to reopen the case follows an appeal by a Swedish woman who accused Mr. Assange of raping her.  Last month, Swedish prosecutors dropped the rape inquiry but continued investigating allegations of molestation.” (ABC)

That’s right—the rape investigation against Wikileaks front man Julian Assange (uh-Sanj) has been re-opened, with Sweden’s prosecutor saying there’s - quote, “reason to believe a crime has been committed.”

With the facts of the case cloudy, the media doesn’t know who to believe, but different outlets have come up with their own theories.

We’re analyzing perspectives from Reason, Gawker, CNN, and Newsweek.  

Assange says the charges against him are part of a smear campaign in retaliation to Wikileaks’ release of top-secret Afghan war documents in July.

But a writer for Reason magazine doubts that assertion.  He points to the Assange’s accuser, who originally filed a complaint against him for refusing to wear a condom during sex.

“The boring truth is that Assange didn’t come up against a CIA conspiracy, but the rather broad Swedish conception of what constitutes a sexual crime.”

And a writer for Gawker agrees.  He says Mr. Assange’s claims against the Pentagon are out of line, and criticizes him for conjuring up a controversy.

“Assange is brilliant, and brilliant people don't learn of rape charges against them, and think, ‘Was it the Pentagon, or those two chicks I was banging?’ and choose the former … Tiger Woods' ego is big, but he at least had the modesty not to paint his sex scandal as a Phil Mickelson smear campaign.”

Newsweek spoke with a confidential source from Wikileaks who says many within the organization are angry and even disenchanted with Mr. Assange’s posturing.

“Insiders say that some people affiliated with the website are already brainstorming whether there might be some way to persuade their front man to step aside, or failing that, even to oust him.”

Finally, CNN’s Ali Veshi says there are lots of questions about this case that haven’t been answered, and may not be for some time.

“Swedish police are sort of just giving out little bits of information, then they pull them back, then they give out little bits of information.  So, we have no idea what the context of the story is, which makes it very difficult for journalists to follow up and find out whether these are allegations or whether people are trying to muscle Julian Assange  -- a lot of people very angry with him and his organization.”

Keep track of all your world news -- on all our formats -- the iPad, iPhone, Droid and Web. SOC