Stockholm: Swedish prosecutors offered yesterday to question WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London over rape allegations, in a U-turn that could provide a breakthrough in the deadlocked case.
One of Assange’s lawyers welcomed the prosecutors’ proposal, saying the interview would be a first step in clearing his client who took refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden and has been there ever since.
“He will accept” to be questioned in London, lawyer Per Samuelsson said, adding that Assange was “happy” about the development.
“We are cooperating with the investigation,” he said.
Britain’s Foreign Office pledged its help, said: “As we have made clear previously, we stand ready to assist the Swedish prosecutor, as required.”
Up to now, Swedish prosecutors have refused to go to London to question the 43-year-old Australian over the allegations.
And Assange has refused to go to Sweden to be questioned over the allegations, which he has vehemently denied, saying the sexual encounters were consensual.
Statute of limitations
But the prosecutor in charge of the case, Marianne Ny, said she was dropping her opposition as some of the alleged offences will reach their statute of limitations in August.
Ny’s office said in a statement she had always believed that interrogating Assange at the Ecuadorean embassy would “lower the quality of the interview, and that he would need to be present in Sweden in any case should there be a trial.”
“This assessment remains unchanged,” she said, but added “now that time is of the essence, I have viewed it therefore necessary to accept such deficiencies ... and likewise take the risk the interview does not move the case forward, particularly as there are no other measures on offer without Assange being present in Sweden.”
Ny has also asked to take a DNA sample from Assange.
Ecuador lashed out at Swedish prosecutors Friday for their delay in agreeing to question WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its embassy in London in their case against him on rape allegations.
“If they had accepted Ecuador’s offer to question him [at the embassy] 1,000 days ago, it would have saved us all a lot of money and trouble,” Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino tweeted.
Sweden issued an arrest warrant for Assange in 2010 following allegations from two women in Sweden, one who claimed rape and another who alleged sexual assault.
A lawyer for one of the women urged Swedish authorities to question Assange as soon as possible. “For my client, possible charges must come before August,” her lawyer Claes Borgstrom said, who noted the statute of limitations in Sweden is five years for sexual assault and 10 years for rape.
Assange fears that Sweden would pass him on to the US, where an investigation is ongoing into WikiLeaks’ release in 2010 of 500,000 classified military files and 250,000 diplomatic cables, which embarrassed Washington.
—AFP
