Julian Assange defiant as Sweden drops rape investigation
19 May 2017
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said he will not forgive and forget attempts to arrest him over rape allegations which led him to seek asylum in Ecuador's London embassy. Hailing an "important victory", he said he was prepared for dialogue with the US and UK authorities. Mr Assange, 45, is wanted in the US over the leaking of military and diplomatic documents. Sweden said on Friday it had decided to drop its rape investigation. Meanwhile Ecuador urged the UK to allow him safe passage out of the country. The Wikileaks founder has chosen to remain in the embassy as he fears extradition to Sweden would lead to extradition to the US. "Today is an important victory for me and the UN human rights system, but by no means erases seven years of detention without charge... while my children grew up. That is not something I can forgive or forget," he told journalists from a balcony at the embassy. Standing by the Ecuadorian flag, on the balcony which in recent years has become his podium for addressing the media, Julian Assange delivered a characteristic and vitriolic attack on Western Governments and the European Union. He spoke slowly to the street below, full of microphones and cameras. There were no questions for the journalists. In short, he will not be leaving the Ecuadorian embassy any time soon. In his words: "The war is just commencing". That seemed to be a colourful characterisation of his battle with British justice, now that the arrest warrant from Sweden has gone away. If the founder of Wikileaks were to walk out of the embassy then British police would still be compelled to arrest him. That is because he failed to answer bail when he took up residence at the embassy nearly five years ago. The offence of failing to surrender to bail carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison. "My legal staff have contacted the UK authorities and we hope to engage in a dialogue about what will be the best way forward," he added, saying he was also "happy to engage" with the US. Police in London have said they would still be obliged to arrest Mr Assange if he left the Ecuadorean embassy, despite the Swedish prosecutors' decision. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said Mr Assange still faced the lesser charge of failing to surrender to a court, an offence punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine. But the UK has not commented on whether it has received an extradition request from the US, where Mr Assange could, potentially, face trial. The plaintiff in the rape case was "shocked" by the decision, her lawyer said, and maintained her accusations against Mr Assange, Agence France-Presse reported. Sweden's decision coincided with the release by Wikileaks of another tranche of documents about the US Central Intelligence Agency's technical capabilities. BBC security correspondent Gordon Correra says previous leaks, of what look like highly sensitive secret documents, have been damaging to the agency. Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said that the UK should now grant Mr Assange safe passage, as the European arrest warrant against him "no longer holds". "Ecuador welcomes the decision to drop the charges," Mr Long added, quoted by AFP, while criticising the time it took Sweden to send an investigator to London to interview Mr Assange. "Ecuador regrets that it took Swedish prosecutor more than four years to carry out this interview. This was a wholly unnecessary delay." Earlier a source at the ministry told the Press Association that Ecuador had "fully co-operated with the Swedish justice system". The source added that Ecuador would now intensify its diplomatic efforts with the UK so that Julian Assange could "enjoy his asylum in Ecuador". At a press briefing on Friday, Sweden's top prosecutor Marianne Ny said that by remaining in the embassy in London Mr Assange had evaded the exercise of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) that would have seen him extradited to Sweden. She said that under Swedish law a criminal investigation needed to be conducted "as quickly as possible". Sweden did not expect Ecuador's co-operation in formally notifying Mr Assange of the allegations against him, a necessary step in proceeding with the case, she added. But she said: "If he were to return to Sweden before the statute of limitation on this case expires in August 2020, the preliminary investigation could be resumed." She said it was "regrettable we have not been able to carry out the investigation", and added: "We are not making any pronouncement about guilt." The rape allegation followed a Wikileaks conference in Stockholm in 2010. Mr Assange always denied the allegations against him, saying sex was consensual. He also said the case was politically motivated, as it followed massive Wikileaks dumps of secret US military reports that year. Later that year he was arrested in London after Sweden issued an international arrest warrant against him. He spent the following months under house arrest in a small rural town in England. Then, in June 2012, after exhausting legal avenues to prevent his extradition, Mr Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy, where he remains to this day. After the news was announced on Friday, Wikileaks tweeted that the "focus now moves to the UK", but Mr Assange's fate still seems unclear. The MPS issued a statement saying that its actions had been based on a response to a "European Arrest Warrant for an extremely serious offence". It went on: "Now that the situation has changed and the Swedish authorities have discontinued their investigation into that matter, Mr Assange remains wanted for a much less serious offence. The MPS will provide a level of resourcing which is proportionate to that offence." The MPS said it would "not comment further on the operational plan". Last month, Mr Samuelson filed a new motion calling for his client's arrest warrant to be lifted. He cited a comment by new US Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the arrest of Mr Assange would be "a priority". Mr Samuelson told Agence France-Presse: "This implies that we can now demonstrate that the US has a will to take action... this is why we ask for the arrest warrant to be cancelled."
Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said that the UK should now grant Mr Assange safe passage, as the European arrest warrant against him "no longer holds". "Ecuador welcomes the decision to drop the charges," Mr Long added, quoted by AFP, while criticising the time it took Sweden to send an investigator to London to interview Mr Assange. "Ecuador regrets that it took Swedish prosecutor more than four years to carry out this interview. This was a wholly unnecessary delay." Earlier a source at the ministry told the Press Association that Ecuador had "fully co-operated with the Swedish justice system". The source added that Ecuador would now intensify its diplomatic efforts with the UK so that Julian Assange could "enjoy his asylum in Ecuador".
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What does Ecuador say?
At a press briefing on Friday, Sweden's top prosecutor Marianne Ny said that by remaining in the embassy in London Mr Assange had evaded the exercise of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) that would have seen him extradited to Sweden. She said that under Swedish law a criminal investigation needed to be conducted "as quickly as possible". Sweden did not expect Ecuador's co-operation in formally notifying Mr Assange of the allegations against him, a necessary step in proceeding with the case, she added. But she said: "If he were to return to Sweden before the statute of limitation on this case expires in August 2020, the preliminary investigation could be resumed." She said it was "regrettable we have not been able to carry out the investigation", and added: "We are not making any pronouncement about guilt."
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Why has the case been dropped?
The rape allegation followed a Wikileaks conference in Stockholm in 2010. Mr Assange always denied the allegations against him, saying sex was consensual. He also said the case was politically motivated, as it followed massive Wikileaks dumps of secret US military reports that year. Later that year he was arrested in London after Sweden issued an international arrest warrant against him. He spent the following months under house arrest in a small rural town in England. Then, in June 2012, after exhausting legal avenues to prevent his extradition, Mr Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy, where he remains to this day.
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How did Mr Assange end up where he is?
After the news was announced on Friday, Wikileaks tweeted that the "focus now moves to the UK", but Mr Assange's fate still seems unclear. The MPS issued a statement saying that its actions had been based on a response to a "European Arrest Warrant for an extremely serious offence". It went on: "Now that the situation has changed and the Swedish authorities have discontinued their investigation into that matter, Mr Assange remains wanted for a much less serious offence. The MPS will provide a level of resourcing which is proportionate to that offence." The MPS said it would "not comment further on the operational plan". Last month, Mr Samuelson filed a new motion calling for his client's arrest warrant to be lifted. He cited a comment by new US Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the arrest of Mr Assange would be "a priority". Mr Samuelson told Agence France-Presse: "This implies that we can now demonstrate that the US has a will to take action... this is why we ask for the arrest warrant to be cancelled."
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What will happen to Mr Assange now?