Wikileaks founder Julian Assange raises his fist prior to addressing the media on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London on May 19, 2017. Ecuador urged Britain today to “grant safe passage” out of the country to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after Sweden dropped a warrant that drove him to take refuge in Ecuador’s London embassy. / AFP PHOTO / Justin TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Prosecutor says country will not proceed with investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was accused of rape, The Guardian reported.
“After conducting a comprehensive assessment of what has emerged during the course of the preliminary investigation I then make the assessment that the evidence is not strong enough to form the basis for filing an indictment,” the deputy chief prosecutor, Eva-Marie Persson, said.
The investigation against Julian Assange began in 2010 in Sweden shortly after his arrival. Two women declared violence on his part; Assange did not deny any connection with them, but claimed that everything happened by mutual agreement.
In August 2017, the Swedish prosecutor’s office terminated the investigation in most cases brought against Assange due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. However, in May 2019, the preliminary investigation was resumed. In June, Uppsala district court refused to arrest Assange in absentia, which would enable the authorities to ask Britain to extradite the founder of WikiLeaks, who was imprisoned after being deprived of his right to asylum at the Embassy of Ecuador in London.
Extradition of the founder of WikiLeaks is sought by the US authorities, where Assange is accused of publishing names of secret sources and conspiracy with an informant, former military intelligence analyst Bradley Manning. In May, the US Justice Department issued a criminal charge under which Assange faces up to 175 years in prison.
