WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said today that two Swedish women accusing him of sexual assault overreacted to fears that they might have contracted a sexually transmitted disease from him.
They found they were mutual lovers of mine, Assange said in a BBC interview when asked to explain what he thinks happened. They got into a bit of a tizzy about whether there was the possibility of STD, and they went to the police. It was a ridiculous thing to go to the police about.
I've never had a problem before with women, he said. Women have been extremely helpful and generous with me and put up with me, assisting me in my work, caring for me, loving me and so on. That's what I'm used to.
Assange maintains that the sex was consensual between him and his two accusers and denies the allegations against him, which include rape, molestation and unlawful coercion. He has not been charged with anything yet.
The 39-year-old Australian went on the offensive as the week began, attacking his opponents in a series of newspaper and radio interviews. He accused his onetime strongest media collaborator and supporter, The Guardian, of undermining him on Saturday by publishing the details of the accusations against him. The Guardian has helped Assange edit and publish some of the thousands of leaked U.S. Embassy cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
Assange made the comments about The Guardian in an interview with its rival paper, The Sunday Times (paywall.)
He also told the Times that WikiLeaks has enough material to bring down the bosses of one of the world's biggest banks and will release that data early next year. Bank of America has been rumored to be one of WikiLeaks' targets. On Friday, Bank of America joined the growing list of financial and technology companies that have cut payments or services to WikiLeaks.
They found they were mutual lovers of mine, Assange said in a BBC interview when asked to explain what he thinks happened. They got into a bit of a tizzy about whether there was the possibility of STD, and they went to the police. It was a ridiculous thing to go to the police about.
I've never had a problem before with women, he said. Women have been extremely helpful and generous with me and put up with me, assisting me in my work, caring for me, loving me and so on. That's what I'm used to.
Assange maintains that the sex was consensual between him and his two accusers and denies the allegations against him, which include rape, molestation and unlawful coercion. He has not been charged with anything yet.
The 39-year-old Australian went on the offensive as the week began, attacking his opponents in a series of newspaper and radio interviews. He accused his onetime strongest media collaborator and supporter, The Guardian, of undermining him on Saturday by publishing the details of the accusations against him. The Guardian has helped Assange edit and publish some of the thousands of leaked U.S. Embassy cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
Assange made the comments about The Guardian in an interview with its rival paper, The Sunday Times (paywall.)
He also told the Times that WikiLeaks has enough material to bring down the bosses of one of the world's biggest banks and will release that data early next year. Bank of America has been rumored to be one of WikiLeaks' targets. On Friday, Bank of America joined the growing list of financial and technology companies that have cut payments or services to WikiLeaks.
