What do mockumentary filmmaker Michael Moore and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have in common? A lot, apparently.
Moore has rushed to the defense of the WikiLeaks founder, even going so far as to reportedly help finance Assange’s bail and to aid in his defense of some serious rape charges that had surfaced.
Ironically, Assange is the subject of a newly leaked 68-page confidential Swedish police report, which includes detailed allegations of sexual misconduct.
The report traces events that Assange has described as consensual sexual relationships with two Swedish women. However, in the document, the women state that their encounters with him began consensually but became nonconsensual when Assange persisted in having unprotected sex with them, defying their demands that he use a condom.
In one instance, the leak mastermind is alleged to have continued to engage in sex after a condom ruptured, and in another incident he is alleged to have had unprotected sex with a woman who was asleep.
The UK Guardian reported that Assange had pinned down one woman’s arms and legs to prevent her from reaching for a condom. When a prophylactic was eventually used, the woman claimed he had “done something” with the condom, which resulted in its tearing.
Details in the police report suggest that the Swedish case could be less flawed than Assange’s defenders, including Moore, have claimed.
Assange left Sweden after the initial interviews with authorities were conducted, and he has refused to return for further questioning.
In a subsequent odd turn of events, one of the WikiLeaks documents has actually been found to have dealt with Moore himself.
According to a cable that was leaked by Assange’s group, Moore’s “Sicko” movie had been banned by the Cuban government.
The reason? Moore had misrepresented the Cuban healthcare system as having been so stellar that it was somehow preferable to the healthcare system of the United States.
Evidently, Cuban officials feared a backlash as a result.
The leaked cable indicated that the Cuban regime had banned Moore’s movie because totalitarian leaders feared that the public would realize “the film is a myth,” and the leaders did “not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them.”
According to the memo, the film was shown to a group of Cuban doctors, some of whom became so “disturbed at the blatant misrepresentation of healthcare in Cuba that they left the room.”
Now, in an apparent attempt to counter the WikiLeaks document, Moore is claiming that the leaked cable is false. He insists that the Cuban government promoted and distributed the movie.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A. in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, commentator, media analyst and law professor. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and has made several appearances there on various landmark decisions. Hirsen is the co-founder and chief legal counsel for InternationalEsq.com. Visit: Newsmax TV Hollywood: www.youtube.com/user/NMHollywood