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> 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 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> The Swedish state prosecutor investigating rape allegations against Julian Assange filed a request for him to be arrested, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement.

"I request the District Court to detain Assange in his absence, on probable cause suspected for rape," Swedish state prosecutor Eva-Marie Perrson said. "If the court decides to detain him, I will issue a European Arrest Warrant concerning surrender to Sweden."

Swedish state prosecutor Eva-Marie Perrson announced last week that she planned to reopen an investigation into rape allegations against Assange.

Ecuador withdrew Assange's asylum in April which made reopening the investigation possible. Assange is currently serving jail time in the United Kingdom.

Assange is also charged in the United States with conspiracy to commit "computer intrusion" by helping former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning with "cracking a password" to access classified documents.

“In the event of a conflict between a European Arrest Warrant and a request for extradition from the US, UK authorities will decide on the order of priority," Perrson said. </s> May 20 (UPI) -- A Swedish prosecutor filed a request to arrest WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange Monday for allegedly raping a woman in her sleep.

The request by Sweden's deputy director of public prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson comes a week after she held a press conference stating that the prosecution would be reopening a 2010 rape case against the Australian national.

According to the court documents, the prosecution alleges that Assange had sex with a woman while she was asleep in her home in August 2010, The Local reported.

The documents state that it is an "aggravating circumstance" as he allegedly did not use a condom, which was the "plaintiff's express will and prerequisite for sexual intercourse."

Persson said in a statement if the arrest warrant is granted, she will then issue a European arrest warrant to have Assange extradited to Sweden from England, where he is serving a 50-week jail sentence for breach of bail in 2012.

The original investigation into the allegations against Assange was shelved after he found refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, but after Ecuadorian authorities turned him over to British police April 11, Persson said last week that "the circumstances" in the case had changed.

The United States has also filed an extradition warrant for Assange where he faces up to five years in prison on charges he conspired with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack 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 via video from London's Belmarsh Prison. </s> Swedish prosecutors are dropping the investigation of the allegation of rape against Julian Assange the Wikileaks founder, ending a 7-year legal stand-off.

Assange who is 45 has lived at the Ecuadorean Embassy in Knightsbridge, London since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over the alleged allegation of rape.

Assange feared that Sweden would in fact hand him over to the United States as they want to prosecute him over the wikiLeaks publication of thousands of classified and sensitive military documents.

The Swedish prosecutor said in a statement: “Director of Public Prosecution, Ms Marianne Ny, has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding suspected rape by Julian Assange.”

Assange posted this picture of him on his Twitter account just after the announcement.

However, the Metropolitan Police said that Assange is still wanted for a “much less serious” offence as he is wanted for breach of bail in June 2012.

In a statement the Metropolitan Police said: “Following today’s decision by the Director of Public Prosecution, Ms Marianne Ny, in relation to the Swedish authorities investigation into Julian Assange the Metropolitan Police Service’s position is:

“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. The Metropolitan Police Service is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the Embassy.

“Whilst Mr Assange was wanted on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for an extremely serious offence, the MPS response reflected the serious nature of that crime. 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 will not comment further on the operational plan.

“The priority for the MPS must continue to be arresting those who are currently wanted in the Capital in connection with serious violent or sexual offences for the protection of Londoners.”

Assange’s Swedish lawyer, per Samuelsson filed a new motion calling for his client’s arrest warrant to be lifted last month, he cited a comment made by the US attorney general, Jeff Sessions the arrest of Assange “is a priority.”

Samuelsson said to 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 so that Julian Assange can fly to Ecuador and enjoy his political asylum.”

Jeff Sessions the US attorney general said last month that arresting Assange is “priority,” he said to reporters: “This is a matter that’s gone beyond anything I’m aware of.”

“We have professionals that have been in the security business of the United States for many years that are shocked by the number of leaks and some of them are quite serious.”

“So yes, it is a priority.” </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> 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.
The Swedish prosecutor files an arrest warrant against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a rape allegation. Assange is serving a 50-week prison sentence in the United Kingdom for skipping bail.