to mark stephens and jennifer robinson of the assange defense 2-14-11

dear FSI mark stephens, i was extremely moved that you took time to reply to my previous letter and offer of support!!! good work and best of luck!!!! some thoughts towards the defense: as widely circulated are such reports of assange saying "sweden is the saudia arabia of feminism" or the awkward moment in which assange seemed to say rape is a trivial thing (compared to the large scale HR abuses of war) on larry king i think it would behoove the defense to assert a very proactive support of women's safety and equality and in so doing transcend the hyperbuzz which would frame him as misogynist

and if indeed he has behaved as such or spoken as such, he might no longer in the future as can be best advised. i am in sweden now and following the case as well as international comparative law. as a rape survivor and a firm wikileaks supporter, as a feminist and as a libertine, i feel the debate is skewed by negative stereotypes of sweden as well as of consensual polyamorous behavior, which i fully support, despite the puritanical bend of mainstream prurient voyeuristic western culture. i would like to reaffirm my support of your defense. also the twitter skype surveille issue came not as a surprise at all

after studying american surveillance investments in social media. i considered it more a laundering thru the process of tech-slow law, what would be ordinary. your document prep is extensive and astute and i enjoyed following the twitter streams of the evidence. if there is anything i can do from here or anywhere else in the future, i am completely beholden to the wl zeitgeist shift as it ensues. i think the case can be strengthened with extreme expression of support for women, all rape survivors, and towards a future without torture of these various physical and psychological kinds. the impact of the rove strategy as a part of the larger american misogynistic war on women is very clear. i feel the psychological effects of false charges to be irreparable, and the breaches of swedish law and pretense to secrecy to be an extreme abrogation of justice as well as laughably incompetent/malfeasant. i think the activism which would crucify the innocent (for the greater good? of women future tense or for war $$$) operates in the same post-ethical power dynamic as does wl. in this i see us all to win, women, and wikileaks. the case will be watertight when a firm commitment to women is re-established. also an effect towards the los angeles lawyers guild mention of Military Sexual Trauma as a reason to sue to keep military out of university for recruitment---or the high military rape rate---as soliciting for a proven high rape rate in US military

or the famous KBR/halliburton gang rape of a contractor jamie leigh and the forty senators who voted to keep the rape gag clause available for federal contractors could be of note for the larger perspective of which war industries are extremely overtly pro-rape

also a look at rape law in the USA http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=439504 might contextualize the UK's failures to women. and the climate of hostility/minimization of actual harm in the US, previous relations make almost impossible any conviction. as sweden too, fails in the eyes of amnesty. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ACT77/001/2010/en/5ba7f635-f2c34b50-86ea-e6c3428cf179/act770012010eng.pdf i think you are very correct to argue re: extradition esp. in light of US federal rulings supporting extrajudicial assassination and confiscation of assets upon the designation "terrorist" re:the bush six torture lawyers good luck with the next steps. if there is anything i can do i am forever yours and forever grateful for the legal education and the economic political content of the cables and other wl releases. i am learning so much. thank you for your excellent work. mary eng