Julian Assange Lawyer: Is Toe Sucking Also Rape in Sweden?

Julian Assange's extradition hearing came to a close today as lawyers argued over the hot-potato issue hanging over the proceedings: the definition of rape.

The 39-year-old founder of WikiLeaks is wanted for questioning in Sweden on four different allegations of sexual misconduct with two women during two brief liaisons he had with them last August.

The most serious and controversial allegation, having sex with one of the women while she was asleep, is considered "minor rape" or "third-degree rape" in Sweden.

Carl Court, AFP / Getty Images

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange approaches microphones before addressing the media Friday as he leaves Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in southeast London. He will find out on Feb. 24 if a judge has ruled that he can be extradited to Sweden.

The high-profile prosecutor representing Sweden, Clare Montgomery, disputed the opinion held by defense lawyers that Assange had consensual sex with the women and that nothing he did constitutes rape, at least under British law, according to Britain's Politics website.

"If Sweden says it's rape, it's rape," she said.

Not surprisingly, Assange's Australian lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson, disagreed.

"If Sweden were to say sucking toes without washing them first is rape, then that would be an extradition offense? No," he told the court, according to the website and tweets by a New York Times reporter inside the courtroom.

Robertson added that it was "crystal clear" that the sex had been consensual -- at least in the case of one of the alleged victims, who claimed that Assange pinned her down with his body weight.

That, he said, "describes what is usually termed the missionary position."

Montgomery insisted that the Swedish definition of rape was "Pan-European."

"If you penetrate a sleeping woman, there's an evidential presumption that she did not consent," she said.

Ever since Interpol issued a warrant for Assange's arrest in late November on sexual misconduct charges, the nature of the allegations have been parsed online, in newspapers and on television.

The public discussion involved some high-profile names like Michael Moore, Keith Olbermann and Naomi Wolf, who questioned if the allegations against Assange involved violent rape.

But the controversy has quieted considerably since some young U.S.-based feminists organized Twitter protests and blogged about their outrage that the alleged victims in Sweden were being mocked and denigrated.

In Sweden, however, Twitter discussions about what constitutes sexual assault have driven a new Twitter hashtag involving "bedroom gray zones," Australia's News Digital Medis reported today.

Robertson wrapped up his arguments today by contending that Assange should not be extradited to Sweden because he could not get a fair trial there. Robertson cited Sweden's tradition of conducting rape trials in secret.