Swedish human rights activist Anna Ardin is glad Julian Assange is free.

But the claims she has made about him suggest she would have every reason not to wish him well.

Ardin is fiercely proud of Assange’s work for WikiLeaks, and insists that it should never have landed him behind bars.

“We have the right to know about the wars that are fought in our name,” she says.

Speaking to Ardin over Zoom in Stockholm, it quickly becomes clear that she has no problem keeping what she sees as the two Assanges apart in her head - the visionary activist and the man who she says does not treat women well.

She is at pains to describe him neither as a hero nor a monster, but a complicated man.

  • Flying SquidM
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    2545 months ago

    How dare she not view the world in stark black-and-white terms!

    • @Chee_Koala
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      5 months ago

      She’s throwing out the whole playbook and trying this new thing the hipsters are calling: “Nuance” . This lady has some balls, what’s next?? CONTROLLING YOUR EMOTIONS???

      • @OldManBOMBIN
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        235 months ago

        I love me a lady with huge balls.

      • @Sanctus
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        145 months ago

        I would assume most rapists aren’t government whistle blowers and their victims most likely have no reason to hold a nuanced view.

    • Optional
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      95 months ago

      A(n actual) Christian deacon who believes in forgiveness???

      ObViOuSLy HeS iNnOcEnT!/1!