Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Guardian reports:
Swedish prosecutors are to drop their preliminary investigation into an allegation of rape against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, bringing an end to a seven-year legal standoff.
The decision was taken after prosecutors concluded that “at this point, all possibilities to conduct the investigation are exhausted”, Sweden’s director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, said on Friday.
“In order to proceed with the case, Julian Assange would have to be formally notified of the criminal suspicions against him. We cannot expect to receive assistance from Ecuador regarding this. Therefore the investigation is discontinued. “If he, at a later date, makes himself available, I will be able to decide to resume the investigation immediately.”
There’s also this:
In London, the Metropolitan Police have said there is still a warrant for Assange’s arrest on the “less serious offence” of “failing to surrender to the court” in June 2012. It would be “obliged to execute the warrant” if Assange leaves the Ecuadorian embassy, it said.
It is not known whether US authorities are seeking Assange’s arrest for his role at the head of WikiLeaks, which has published tens of thousands of leaked classified US documents. There may be a sealed indictment.
WikiLeaks has tweeted after the Swedish announcement: “UK refuses to confirm or deny whether it has already received a US extradition warrant for Julian Assange. Focus now moves to UK.”
This morning Assange posted a gloating photo.
— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) May 19, 2017