Sweden to reopen rape case against Julian Assange

 

Swedish prosecutors decided to reopen rape case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Sweden state prosecutor remarked that on Monday she would reopen an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and seek his banishment from Britain.
Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson announced at a news conference that she would persue and conclude a preliminary investigation that was dropped in 2017 without charges being brought as Assange had taken shelter in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, it was reported. 

Assange was seized in Britain last month after spending seven years inside the embassy. The United States is also asking his extradition on charges relating to the public release by Wikileaks of a huge cache of secret documents.
The Swedish prosecutor office said it would shortly appeal Assange be arrested 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 persuaded.

Assange is presently in prison in Britain after being sentenced to 50 weeks in prison last month for jumping bail when he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy.
 “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.
 “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,” a Swedish prosecutor statement said.