Assange Rape Investigation Reopened In Sweden

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Sweden's deputy director of public prosecution Eva-Marie Persson spoke during a press conference on May 13, 2019 in Stockholm to announce the reopening a 2010 rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Фото: Tolga Akmen/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Sweden is reopening an investigation into allegations of rape against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The announcement landed Monday, after the lawyer for the alleged victim requested in early April the Swedish Prosecution Authority look into the case again.

Assange, who denies the rape allegations first made in 2010, has faced numerous legal actions over the last month. Having spent seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he'd taken asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden, Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks for breaking his bail conditions at the start of May. He was also indicted by the U.S. government over an alleged conspiracy with Chelsea Manning to crack the password of a military computer in order to steal sensitive files.

Swedish prosecutors had initially dropped the case in 2017, after deciding they'd exhausted all possible avenues to properly investigate the allegations. That Assange had refused to cooperate was one significant factor in the case being suspended, the prosecutor's office said. "But if Julian Assange was to return to Sweden in August 2020, the preliminary investigation could be reopened," director of public prosecution, Marianne Ny, said at the time.

The Swedish prosecutor will issue a European arrest warrant. With Assange now out of the embassy and in a London prison, he could now face extradition to Sweden or the U.S. Hearings into his possible extradition to America have begun, but will likely take months to conclude.

"In the event of a conflict between a European arrest warrant and a request for extradition from the U.S., U.K. authorities will decide on the order of priority. The outcome of this process is impossible to predict," said deputy director of public prosecution Eva-Marie Persson. "However, in my view the Swedish case can proceed concurrently with the proceedings in the U.K."

Persson said investigators will ask for an interview with Assange in the U.K., but noted it would require the Wikileaks founder to cooperate.

Assange's legal team couldn't be reached for comment at the time of publication.

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