Swedish prosecutors have decided to end a rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The state's Director of Public Prosecutions Marianne Ny announced they would be dropping the case over an alleged attack seven years ago.

It clears the way for Mr Assange to leave the Ecuadorian embassy, where he has been living for almost five years to avoid extradition for questioning.

He has claimed that Sweden is likely to extradite him to the US over his leaking activities.

A brief statement ahead of today's press conference said: "Director of Public Prosecution, Ms Marianne Ny, has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding suspected rape (lesser degree) by Julian Assange." </s> Swedish prosecutors said Friday they would drop a preliminary investigation into an allegation of rape against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, bringing to an end a seven-year legal stand-off.

"Chief Prosecutor Marianne Ny has today decided to discontinue the preliminary investigation regarding suspected rape concerning Julian Assange," the prosecutors office said in a statement.

Assange took refuge in Ecuador's Embassy in London in 2012 to escape extradition to Sweden to answer questions about sex-crime allegations from two women. He has been there ever since, fearing that if he is arrested he might ultimately be extradited to the United States.

Friday's announcement means Assange is no longer under any investigation in Sweden.

But shortly after Swedish prosecutors announced they were dropping the investigation, British police said the 45-year-old Australian national would still be arrested if he left the Ecuadorian Embassy.

"Westminster Magistrates' Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange following him failing to surrender to the court on the 29 June 2012," London police said in a statement. "The Metropolitan Police Service is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the Embassy."

Assange however could face trial in the US over the leaking hundreds of thousands of secret US military and diplomatic documents.

He was questioned in November in the presence of a Swedish prosecutor. He has repeatedly reiterated his innocence and said the sex was consensual.

The investigation has suffered from endless procedural complications since it began in 2010.

The statute of limitations on the rape allegation was due to expire in August 2020. </s> Swedish prosecutors on Friday dropped a preliminary probe into an allegation of rape against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, bringing to an end a seven-year legal standoff.

The announcement came after a letter sent to the Swedish government by the government of Ecuador saying there had been a "serious failure" by the prosecutor, including a "lack of initiative" to complete inquiries.

“Chief Prosecutor Marianne Ny has today decided to discontinue the preliminary investigation regarding suspected rape concerning Julian Assange,” the prosecutors office said in a statement.

Assange has been living in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012, trying to avoid extradition to Sweden. He fears if he went to Sweden he could face extradition to the US over WikiLeaks’ release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. </s> Sweden is dropping its investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on rape allegations, according to a prosecution statement released Friday. Assange has been holed up at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012. </s> May 20 (UPI) -- A Swedish prosecutor filed a request Monday to arrest WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange for a rape case nearly a decade ago that began his several years of living under asylum.

The request by Swedish Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson came a week after she said Sweden is reopening the 2010 rape case. Assange is accused of sexually assaulting a woman while she slept in her home.

Persson said she will issue a European arrest warrant to have Assange extradited to Sweden, where he's serving a 50-week jail sentence for jumping bail in 2012 related to the rape case.

The documents say the assault includes an "aggravating circumstance" because Assange did not use a condom, which was the "plaintiff's express will and prerequisite for sexual intercourse."

The original investigation was dropped when Assange was granted asylum by the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Swedish authorities began to restart the case last month after the embassy expelled him and he was arrested by British police.

Assange also faces extradition to the United States over a computer hacking charge. He faces up to five years in prison on charges he conspired with former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to break into Department of Defense computers.

On May 2, Assange told a British court that he would fight extradition.

"I don't wish to surrender myself for extradition for doing journalism that has won many, many awards and protected man people," he said. </s> The Swedish prosecutor heading an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday filed a request for his arrest, the Prosecution Authority said.The warrant, if granted, would be the first step in a process to have Assange extradited from Britain, where he is serving a 50-week sentence for skipping Sweden reopened an investigation into the rape allegation, first made in 2010, on May 13.

Register to advertise your products & services on our classifieds website Digger.co.ke and enjoy one month subscription free of charge and 3 free ads on the Standard newspaper. </s> Sweden's top prosecutor said Friday she's dropping an investigation into a rape claim against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after almost seven years because there's no possibility of arresting him "in the foreseeable future."

The announcement means the outspoken WikiLeaks leader no longer faces sex crime allegations in Sweden, although British police say he is still wanted for jumping bail in Britain in 2012.

Friday was the deadline for the Swedish prosecution to send a request to Stockholm District Court in the Assange case.

Assange, 45, took refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London in 2012 to escape extradition to Sweden to answer questions about sex-crime allegations from two women. He has been there ever since, fearing that if he was in custody he might ultimately be extradited to the United States for his role at the helm of WikiLeaks, which has enraged governments around the world by publishing tens of thousands of leaked classified U.S. documents.

"This is a total victory for Julian Assange. He is now free to leave the embassy when he wants. We have won the Assange case. He is of course happy and relieved. He has been critical that it has lasted that long," Per E. Samuelsson, his lawyer in Sweden, told Swedish Radio.

It's not known if U.S. officials are seeking Assange's arrest because of a possible sealed indictment. Last month President Donald Trump said he would support any decision by the Justice Department to charge Assange.

WikiLeaks 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."

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said Friday that chief Marianne Ny "has decided to discontinue the investigation" and Ny said she will call back the European arrest warrant on Assange.

Ny told reporters that the WikiLeaks founder had "tried to dodge all attempts at arrest" by British and Swedish authorities. She said prosecutors had been unable to make a full assessment of the case and were not making a finding on whether Assange was guilty of the allegations.

She said the case could be reopened if Assange returns to Sweden before the statute of limitations expires in 2020.

Prosecutors frustrated by Assange's refusal to return to Sweden for questioning eventually came to London to meet with him at the Ecuadorean Embassy last year.

Samuelsson, the lawyer in Sweden, told Swedish Radio he had been in touch with Assange via text message and the Australian had written, "Serious, Oh My God."

British police said despite Sweden's decision to drop a rape investigation, Assange still faces arrest if he leaves Ecuador's embassy in London. The Metropolitan Police says there is a British warrant for Assange's arrest after he jumped bail in 2012, and the force "is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the embassy."

But it added that Assange is now wanted for a "much less serious offense" than the original sex crimes claims, and police "will provide a level of resourcing which is proportionate to that offense."

British police kept up round-the-clock guard outside the embassy until December 2015, when the operation was scaled back, in part because of the cost, which had exceeded 11 million pounds (over $17.5 million at the time).

Assange and WikiLeaks have repeatedly infuriated U.S. officials with the widespread release of sensitive secret documents related to military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and diplomatic relations around the world. WikiLeaks also had a provocative role in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign when it published emails written by Hillary Clinton campaign officials.

Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning served seven years in prison for giving classified material to WikiLeaks. She was freed Wednesday, having had her sentence commuted by outgoing President Barack Obama before he left office.

Katz reported from London. Jill Lawless in London and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this story. </s> Stockholm: The Swedish prosecutor heading an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange filed a request with a local court on Monday for him to be detained in absentia.

If granted, the court order would be the first step in a process to have Assange extradited from Britain, where he is serving a 50-week sentence for skipping bail.

Sweden reopened the rape investigation last week. It was begun in 2010 but dropped in 2017 after Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Assange, who denies the accusation, was arrested in London last month after spending seven years inside the embassy. </s> Swedish prosecutors are to reopen an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, deputy director of prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson announced.

That leaves the UK with a decision to make on whether to extradite Assange to the Scandinavian country or the United States.

Swedish prosecutors filed preliminary charges against Assange after he visited the country in 2010.

Seven years later, a case of alleged sexual misconduct was dropped when the statute of limitations expired.

That left a rape allegation, which could not be pursued while Assange was living at the embassy. The statute of limitations in that case expires in August 2020.

The case was opened following complaints from two Swedish women who said they were the victims of sex crimes committed by Assange. He has denied the allegations, asserting that they were politically motivated and that the sex was consensual.

A police officer who heard the women's accounts decided there was reason to suspect they were victims of sex crimes and handed the case to a prosecutor.

Assange left Sweden for Britain in September 2010. In November that year, a Stockholm court approved a request to detain him for questioning.

The Australian took refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden.

He was arrested by UK police on April 11 after Ecuador revoked his political asylum, accusing him of everything from meddling in the nation's foreign affairs to poor hygiene.

Currently, Assange is in London's Belmarsh Prison serving a 50-week sentence for jumping bail in 2012.

He is also being held on a US extradition warrant for allegedly hacking into a Pentagon computer.

If there are competing extradition requests from Sweden and the US, UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid is expected to have the final say over which claim takes priority.
Swedish prosecutors drop a seven-year sexual assault investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.