Julian Assange's Lawyers Say He Will Agree to be Interviewed in London by Swedish Prosecutors Over Rape Allegations
- Swedish prosecutors offer to come to London to question Julian Assange
- Wikileaks founder currently holed up at Ecuadorian embassy in London
- Wanted in Sweden for questioning as part of a probe into rape allegations
- 43-year-old has refused to return to Sweden to refute the charges
- Australian's lawyer welcomes decision by the Swedish authorities
Daily Mail UK, 18 March 2015
The costly legal standoff over Julian Assange took a dramatic turn when Swedish prosecutors said they were prepared to question the WikiLeaks founder in Britain.
For almost three years Assange, pictured, has been claiming asylum in London’s Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape allegations.
The 43-year-old faces arrest if he steps outside, and taxpayers have spent more than £10million on police who monitor him 24 hours a day.
Swedish Prosecutors have offered to travel to London to question Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
Swedish officials until now refused to question him in London over the allegations of rape, sexual assault and illegal coercion.
But yesterday lead prosecutor Marianne Ny announced that they will now travel to Britain – because time is running out. Under Swedish law they only have until August to pursue the claims relating to sexual assault and illegal coercion.
Miss Ny said that an interview conducted at the embassy would be of lower ‘quality’, but added: ‘Now that time is of the essence, I have viewed it therefore necessary to accept such deficiencies.’
Her team will also seek a DNA swab.
Assange, who is currently holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy, is wanted for questioning in Sweden over sexual assault allegations
Today one of the Australian's lawyers welcomed the offer by Swedish prosecutors to travel to the UK and said it was likely their offer would be accepted.
'This is something we've demanded for over four years,' said Per Samuelson.
'Julian Assange wants to be interviewed so he can be exonerated. So of course we welcome this.'
However, Assange may stay in the embassy for another five years until the more serious allegation of rape also expires in Swedish law. By then the bill for Scotland Yard’s sentry duty would be around £30million.
Assange’s spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson has repeatedly said that the activist – who denies the accusations – has no intention of turning himself in. Yesterday, Mr Hrafnsson called the offer by Swedish prosecutors ‘a victory for Julian’, but insisted the delay had been ‘absolutely outrageous’.
He said: 'I assume this is because it is extremely likely that Julian will win a case in the Supreme Court in Sweden, determining that the arrest warrant be dropped.
Assange's lawyers welcome the move by the Swedish prosecutors to travel to London to quiz him
The surveillance operation outside the Ecuadorian Embassy has so far cost the UK taxpayers £10million
'The court has recently announced it will hear the case, and it is quite obvious it will rule in Julian's favour.'
Mr Hrafnsson said the Swedish prosecutor had 'done nothing' to move the case forward for years.
Assange has been fighting extradition to Sweden since it issued a warrant for his arrest in August 2010. Two years later he was granted political asylum by Ecuador.
He believes that if he goes to Sweden, he will be extradited to the US and questioned over classified state documents that were published by WikiLeaks.
Last month Stephen Greenhalgh, London deputy mayor for policing, said the cost of guarding the embassy was ‘eye-watering’.
Police have been station outside the embassy building in Knightsbridge round the clock since Assange arrived in June 2012.
He has been granted asylum by the government of Ecuador but cannot travel there because he will be arrested first.
In that time he has given a series of speeches from the balcony of the building and 'attended' conferences around the world by video message.
Assange Calls Prosecutors' Offer to Travel to London a 'Victory'
His Lawyer Responds