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News > World

Sweden Requests Assange Be Extradited To Stand Trial

  • Swedish Vice Chief Prosecutor Persson announces decision about preliminary investigation against WikiLeaks founder Assange in Stockholm

    Swedish Vice Chief Prosecutor Persson announces decision about preliminary investigation against WikiLeaks founder Assange in Stockholm | Photo: Reuters

Published 13 May 2019
Opinion

The Swedish prosecutor's office said it would shortly request Assange be detained in his absence on probable cause for an allegation of rape and that it would issue a European arrest warrant - the process under which his extradition would be sought.

Sweden's state prosecutor said on Monday she would reopen an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and seek his extradition from Britain.

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Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson told a news conference she would continue and conclude a preliminary investigation that was dropped in 2017 without charges being brought asAssange had taken refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Assange was arrested in Britain last month after spending seven years inside the embassy. The Ecuadorean Embassy made the decision to expel him after accusing him of 'espionage' and being an 'ungrateful' guest. 

The Swedish prosecutor's office said it would shortly request Assange be detained in his absence on probable cause for an allegation of rape and that it would issue a European arrest warrant - the process under which his extradition would be sought.

Assange is currently in prison in Britain after being sentenced to 50 weeks behind bars last month for jumping bail when he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy.

The decision to reopen the investigation poses the question of whether Assange will be moved to the United States to face conspiracy charges for hacking into classified information or to Sweden.

"I am well aware of the fact that an extradition process is ongoing in the UK and that he could be extradited to the US," Persson said.

While Sweden is trying to prosecute him for the 2012 allegations, Wikileaks ​​editor-in-chief said the reopening of a Swedish investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will give him a chance to clear his name, WikiLeaks said on Monday.

"Since Julian Assange was arrested on 11 April 2019, there has been considerable political pressure on Sweden to reopen their investigation, but there has always been political pressure surrounding this case," Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief said in a statement.

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