Sweden will reopen rape case against WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

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By Patrick Smith

A rape case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be reopened, Swedish authorities announced Monday.

Eva-Marie Persson, the country’s deputy director of public prosecutions, said that in her view “there is still probable cause to accuse Mr. Assange of rape.”

The Australian national is currently in jail in the U.K., where he is serving a 12-month sentence for skipping bail in 2012, when he was fighting extradition to Sweden in connection with the same case.

Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, speaks at a press conference in Stockholm on Monday.Anders Wiklund / AP

Persson said Sweden will issue a European arrest warrant and request that Assange is brought to Stockholm for trial after he has served his British prison sentence.

The decision leaves Britain facing a decision on whether to extradite him to the Scandinavian country or the U.S.

Persson said that her team would also seek to interview Assange. “It is my assessment that a new questioning of Assange is required,” she added.

Assange was arrested by police and carried out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he sheltered for almost seven years, on April 11.

The U.S. also is seeking the extradition of Assange, 47, so he can face charges relating to the release of hundreds of thousands of classified military documents provided by former Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning.

That means a complex legal fight is certain to take place over his future, potentially involving a lengthy appeals process.

“When deciding which has precedence, a Swedish or U.S. extradition request, this decision will be left entirely to the British authorities,” Persson said.

However, the clock is ticking: The statute of limitations on the rape charge expires in August 2020 and Persson confirmed that if the investigation would end if there was no conviction by this point.

source: nbcnews.com