1. An open letter to the new Nobel Laureates
The honourable 2012 Nobel Prize Laureates will on the 10th December receive their awards in
Oslo and Stockholm from the hands of royalty and watched by a global audience in a ceremony
the focus of which falls particularly on the Kingdom of Sweden. Far away from the razzmatazz, and
unjustly treated by the Kingdom of Sweden, is the Wikileaks founder and Editor In Chief, Julian
Assange. He has for the past six months been in refuge at the embassy of the Republic of Ecuador
in London. Mr. Assange was formerly granted political asylum by the Ecuadorian government in
June this year. You may be aware that Mr. Assange is a prizewinner too. Among other awards he is
a recipient of the 2011 Sydney Peace Foundation Gold Medal and the Martha Gellhorn Prize for
Journalism.
You may know Mr. Assange is wanted for questioning on sexually-related allegations in Sweden.
Swedish prosecutors are demanding his handover backed by a warrant issued by Interpol in order
to question him over the allegations. The warrant was issued in a timely manner to coincide with
the 2010 leaking of US diplomatic cables and information regarding misconduct and crimes during
the US occupation of Iraq. A grand jury in Virginia has already prepared a case against the
Australian-born Assange for espionage and a secret sealed indictment has purportedly been
issued. Swedish prosecutors have in the past questioned suspects abroad for serious crimes like
murder and massive financial fraud without requesting extradition. Mr. Assange has for the past
two years made himself available for questioning in the UK to no avail. The prosecutors have
refused to use the standard available EU Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty as would be normal
procedure. The Government of Ecuador has offered the use of its embassy in London for this
interview to take place but to no avail.
Over the last decade Sweden has circumvented its own legal system to accommodate USA
demands. The country has actively participated in illegal extraordinary rendition flights to CIA-
controlled torture centres as documented in the case of two Egyptian nationals, Ahmed Agiza and
Muhammad al-Zery, in December 2001. No one in the Swedish government has been made
accountable for sending innocent people to brutal torture. At the time Tomas Bodström was
the Swedish minister for justice, who, together with foreign minister, Anna Lindh, was
informed of US/CIA complicity in the rendition the day before the two men were deported
and tortured." Bodström is in partnership with Claes Borgström, the man who resurrected
allegations against Assange on which Assange had already answered questions and the Wikileaks
founder was dismissed without charge. Sweden has still to come clean on its involvement in
rendition flights. Mr. Assange has made himself available for questioning in Sweden over the past
two years as long as diplomatic guarantees are assured that he would not be extradited to the
USA. The Swedish Government has the final say on the matter and to date has not provided any
such assurances.
The UK government refuses Assange free passage to Ecuador citing its responsibility to Sweden as
a fellow EU member state. The same UK government had no qualms in declining an extradition
request of the former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, wanted by EU member state Spain in
connection with allegations of genocide, torture and the murder of 4,000 persons in Chile and in
many other countries, including Argentina, Paraguay, the US, Italy, France and Portugal. Pinochet's
victims also accused him of rape and rape by dogs.

2. The Peoples Republic of China in dignified diplomatic posture in May this year allowed
dissident Chen Guangcheng free passage to the USA. For centuries dignified diplomatic protocol
has been the normal channel of procedure. Instead, for Assange, the UK government threatened
to storm the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
The Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt has made degrading statements questioning Ecuadorian
democracy and freedom of speech, calling into question the so-called neutrality of Sweden, which
for decades has been deeply Russophobic, hypocritical and anything but neutral. The same applies
to press freedom in Sweden where the media is controlled by one single big business
entity. Sweden, a country of some nine million inhabitants, is per capita the biggest exporter of
arms in the world. Given this cold fact and the falseness of its acclaimed neutrality it is indeed
shameful that this country today is associated with the prestigious Nobel awards.
Ecuador has the full backing from ALBA countries of Latin America including power houses
like Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela in support for Assange. India , South Africa, Brazil, China and
Russia as a member of the developing BRICS nations, seek to create a new and long-
needed equitable world system incorporating as well urgently-required new financial
mechanisms must come out clearly in support of the brave stand taken by Ecuador in granting
Julian Assange political asylum. Many people globally have grave doubts about the Swedish
judicial system which is riddled with political interference. Sweden has showed itself committed to
preserving the current oppressive global status quo to benefit its arms industry and cosmetic
international image.
We welcome the call by Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Mairead Corrigan-
Maguire, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu for an immediate stop to the US persecution of
private Bradley Manning who is accused of allegedly disclosing information to Wikileaks resulting
in the exposing of atrocities made by the US military in the name of the US people.
We likewise call upon the Nobel Laureates in Sweden this week to take a stand for global justice
and support a resolution for the freedom for Julian Assange.
Signatories:
Rafik Saley is general secretary of the African Committee for Development in Stockholm, Sweden
Okoth Osewe writes for Kenya Stockholm Blog
John Goss, researcher, United KIngdom
Patrick Haseldine, United Kingdom