Wikileaks founder, Assange, will know if he'll face charges in about a week

More than seven weeks after Julian Assange of Wikileaks was first accused of rape and sexual molestation Swedish prosecutors still have not decided whether to charge him with a violent sex crime.

Last week he briefly left Sweden, where he has based his operations because of laws guaranteeing the safety of whistle blowers, to meet with journalists in Britain. He didn't miss much back in the Land of the Midnight Sun.

The investigation concerning Mr. Assange is still ongoing. According to the prosecutor responsible for the investigation, Ms. Marriane Ny, there are only a few more steps to be taken before she decides on whether to prosecute Mr. Assange or not. She cannot estimate the exact period of time, but probably we will have a decision in about a week, Karin Rosander, spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, told dscriber.com today.

Assange has been on a roller coaster since rape and sexual molestation accusations were first leaked by the prosecutor's office to a Swedish tabloid. The day after the story broke a senior prosecutor said the rape charge had been withdrawn but the lesser charge was under investigation. A few days later the top prosecutor said the rape case had been reopened.

In the meantime, the floodgates of outrage had been opened. People claiming to be members of Wikileaks called Assange an "attention whore" in online postings ranging from rants to slanderous.

Mainstream media outlets around the world, particularly in the Washington Beltway, reported the affair had seriously damaged the credibility of Wikileaks. It turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Those with a more alternative view of the world, such as Counterpunch.org, questioned whether some of the people quoted criticizing Assange were even who they said they were. Reporter/writers Israel Shamir and Paul Bennett also raised questions about whether there was a Judas whose betrayal was aimed at bringing Assange down.

The Counterpunch report says the CIA warned Swedish intelligence that it would cut ties with agents if Wikileaks was allowed to operate from its territory.

Wikileaks still plans to release another trove of classified documents soon. The first document dump was called the Afghan War Diary. The new documents are said to be from the Iraq war.