Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

RAPE

Assange prepares for Sweden extradition fight

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will on Tuesday begin his appeal against a UK court ruling to extradite him to Sweden to face rape and sexual assault allegations.

Published: 11 July 2011 07:31 CEST
Assange prepares for Sweden extradition fight

The 40-year-old Australian will take his legal battle to the High Court in London for a two-day hearing, in the hope of reversing the February ruling.

A judge rejected arguments by Assange’s defence team that he would face an unfair trial in Sweden that would breach his human rights.

He was arrested in December after two Swedish women accused him of sexual assault, allegations that Assange denies, as his whistleblowing website was in the process of releasing a huge cache of leaked US diplomatic cables.

It was the site’s latest dump of American government documents and infuriated Washington.

Swedish authorities want to quiz him over the sex assault claims, although he has not been formally charged.

Scores of journalists attended his previous court hearings as well as celebrity supporters including socialite Jemima Khan and human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger.

After judge Howard Riddle rejected his lawyers’ arguments during the extradition hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court in London, Assange lashed out at the decision and blamed the European warrant system under which he was arrested.

“It is a result of the European Arrest Warrant system run amok. There was no consideration during this entire process as to the merits of the allegations against me,” he told reporters after the ruling.

Even if he loses this week’s appeal, Assange has signalled he is prepared for a lengthy legal battle and could take his challenge all the way to the Supreme Court.

The former computer hacker has been living under strict bail conditions, including wearing an electronic ankle tag and a curfew, at a friend’s mansion in eastern England since December.

Despite the restrictions, on Sunday he managed to celebrate his 40th birthday, which was on July 3rd. He held a party to which more than 100 guests were invited, according to Vaughan Smith, who owns the country estate where Assange is staying.

He has claimed his greatest fear is eventual extradition to the United States, where his lawyers argued he could be sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility or face the death penalty.

US authorities opened a criminal investigation against Assange in July 2010 but are yet to formally bring any charges against him.

WikiLeaks infuriated Washington with its release of classified documents, including around 250,000 US diplomatic cables and thousands of secret files about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

American soldier Bradley Manning has been accused of leaking documents to the whistleblower site and is in a US military prison awaiting a possible court martial on charges that include “aiding the enemy.”

US Vice President Jo Biden has slammed Assange as a “hi-tech terrorist”, but he has also won many admirers — his website is among the nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, due to be announced in October.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

REAL ESTATE

EXPLAINED: What’s happening to house prices and rents in Germany amid the coronavirus crisis?

There's an increased demand on the real estate market in Germany at the moment, and there's drama looming for tenants in Berlin. Here's a look at what's going on.

Published: 10 August 2020 11:17 CEST
Updated: 22 August 2020 12:59 CEST
EXPLAINED: What's happening to house prices and rents in Germany amid the coronavirus crisis?
Frankfurt am Main. Photo: DPA

Ever dream of owning your own home in Germany? Well, sadly, it has become more expensive since the beginning of the pandemic.

In the second quarter (April to June), condominiums were on average 1.3 percent more expensive than at the beginning of the year. Compared to the second quarter of 2019, the increase was 5.9 percent. That's according to Research and Consulting Company for Housing, Real Estate and the Environment (F+B), which Spiegel reported on Monday.

Surprisingly, the price increase for single and two-family houses was even higher than that of apartments. Compared to the previous quarter, the prices of houses increased by 2.9 percent – and even by nine percent year-on-year.

This is unusual because prices for condos in Germany have almost always risen much faster than those for houses over the past 10 years.

Experts said more people are choosing to buy homes in Germany.

“In view of historically unparalleled low lending rates, it seems to be more economical for many buyers to invest in owner-occupied properties instead of renting,” said F+B Managing Director Bernd Leutner.

READ ALSO: Housing in Germany – here's where demand and prices are soaring

It is not known for definite whether the sharp rise in the price of single-family homes is due to increased demand resulting from the coronavirus crisis, for example because families are looking for more space and gardens – but it could be a factor.

The F+B Residential Index measures the rent and price developments on the German real estate market. The index is based on the supply data of more than 30 million properties throughout Germany.

What's happening to rent?

Unlike homes, rents have hardly risen at all in the past two years. Even in the second quarter, there was only a minimal increase in new contract rents, researchers found. Compared to the previous quarter, rents rose by 0.4 percent and by one percent year-on-year.

Rents for existing properties rose by 1.3 per cent year-on-year. “On a national average, the increase in rents is therefore manageable,” said Leutner.

Berlin tenants face paying back millions of euros

There could be major problems looming for Berlin tenants

The controversial rent freeze came into force on February 23rd this year which resulted in lower rents for many tenants. But experts say it could be overturned at any moment, leaving tenants liable to pay pack the difference.

The core issue being debated in courts is whether the state of Berlin is allowed to legislate in this area.


Housing in Berlin. Photo: DPA

If the Constitutional Court overturns the rent cap, many tenants in Berlin will face paying back huge amounts, according to F+B.

Due to the still unclear legal situation, there is currently a split rental market in the city. There are “shadow rents”, i.e. “the market rents”, which are usually higher than the price of the rent cap.

And on the other hand, there's the “official” rent costs corresponding to the rental price cap. The research company analysed the advertised rental apartments before and after the law came into force and “observed the existence of two rent indications in one and the same apartment advertisement”.

READ ALSO: Berlin's district court rules in favour of rental price cap

This is often associated with the remark that “the landlord reserves the right to retroactively claim the difference between the rent cover rent and the market rent”. The tenant has to agree to this in the rental contract.

SEE ALSO: The complete guide to how you can (still) live cheaply in Berlin

According to F+B the difference is clear to see: for 3,133 apartments offered between February 23rd 2020 and June 30th, F+B assumes a capped average rent of €7.05 per square meter

However, the market rent for the apartments is an average of €13.63 per square metre – a difference of €6.58 per square metre. With an average apartment size of 60 square metres, this would mean a total difference of €1.2 million per month which tenants would have to cough up.

“The longer the decision drags on, the greater the threatening additional claims,” says F+B managing director Leutner. At the same time, the massive difference in costs shows the advantages of the new rent freeze for tenants.

In any case, a quick clarification would be in the interest of all parties involved, said the research firm.

READ ALSO: 'We're setting a clear stop sign': Berlin passes five-year rent freeze law

Despite receiving the support of Berlin's state parliament, the law is opposed by Germany's federal government which argues that regulating housing costs is a federal rather than a state matter.

 

SHOW COMMENTS