NEW YORK — One intriguing story that has come to light as a result of the latest round of WikiLeaks revelations is, to use a somewhat dated term, the sexual politics in Sweden. I, like many, I'm sure, had assumed that Sweden is among the most sexually liberated developed countries. As it turns out, it actually isn't, in some unexpected ways.
Earlier this year, Julian Assange, founder-director of WikiLeaks, went to Sweden and had sex with two women, apparently consensually. The upshot months after the fact was his arrest in Britain that ended in a judge's decision to release him on bail.
What happened? Time magazine has given one reason in "Behind Assange's Arrest: Sweden's Sex-Crime Problem" (Dec 16). The Swedish prosecutors' decisions to bring charges against Assange following the two women's complaints is a result of that country's "internal dialogue." (The Swedish authorities stumbled, with the first prosecutor bringing the charges, then dropping them, followed by the second one reinstituting them. That has invited suspicions of U.S. intervention, which, for all we know, may prove to be true.)