Swedish prosecutor reopens Assange's sexual assault case

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Swedish prosecutors said Monday they were reopening a 2010 rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, hoping to bring him to justice before the statute of limitations expires in August 2020.

"I have today decided to reopen the investigation... There is still probable cause to suspect that Mr. Assange committed rape," the deputy director of public prosecutions, Eva-Marie Persson, told reporters.

"The previous decision (in May 2017) to close the investigation was not based on difficulties related to evidence, but on difficulties that blocked the investigation," she explained.

Swedish Vice Chief Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson announces that the prosecutor will reopen the preliminary investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden, May 13, 2019. /VCG Photo

The Australian whistleblower, who holed himself up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London for seven years to avoid a British extradition order to Sweden, was arrested on April 11 after Ecuador gave him up.

A London court sentenced him on May 1 to 50 weeks in jail for breaching the British order.

"Now that he has left Ecuador's embassy, the conditions in the case have changed and I am of the opinion that the conditions are in place once again to pursue the case," the prosecutor said.

The 47-year-old has always claimed the Swedish allegations were a pretext to transfer him to the United States, where he fears prosecution over the release by WikiLeaks of millions of classified documents.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stands on the balcony of Ecuador Embassy in London, UK, May 19, 2017. /VCG Photo

Lawyer: Assange only fears U.S. extradition

Assange wants to help put Swedish rape allegations to bed and only fears being extradited to the U.S., his Swedish lawyer said on Monday, calling Sweden's decision to reopen the investigation "an embarrassment."

"I'm surprised. It's embarrassing for Sweden to reopen the investigation," Per E Samuelson told Swedish TV. "He has always wanted to help solve this Swedish issue; his big predicament in life is that he risks being extradited to the United States because of his journalistic work."

Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said on Monday that the reopening of the investigation will give Assange "a chance to clear his name."

Hrafnsson also said in a statement that there had been "political pressure" on Sweden to reopen the case into Assange.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters