Four years after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange took refuge in the Ecuador embassy in central London, Swedish prosecutors have agreed to his demand that he be questioned in a sexual assault case inside the mission.
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Now, in a potential breakthrough to the long-running standoff, Ecuador says it will set a date for Swedish prosecutors to question Assange inside the embassy, NPR’s Frank Langfitt tells our Newscast unit.
“In the coming weeks a date will be established for the proceedings to be held at the Embassy of Ecuador in the United Kingdom”, according to a communique released by Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry, as quoted by Telesur media outlet.
Assange had previously offered to be interviewed in the Ecuadorian embassy, but Swedish authorities objected to the idea, saying that the interview needed to be conducted in Sweden.
Ecuador has granted Assange asylum due to “fears of political persecution” against him, but he has been unable to leave the embassy building in London because he could then be arrested.
“Assange is anxious that if he returns to Sweden for questioning, the government there will extradite him to America to be prosecuted for leaking secret US government documents”.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in February.
“The family welcomes any and all information that could lead to the identification of the individuals responsible, and certainly welcomes contributions that could lead to new avenues of investigation”, said Brad Bauman, a spokesperson for the Rich family in a statement to Business Insider.
Prosecutors in Sweden want to interview Assange in connection with a 2010 rape allegation against him. Swedish and British authorities dismissed the United Nations ruling, which was made a day before the former requested to interview Assange in London.
The UK government said that Assange was avoiding “lawful arrest” by choosing to remain at the embassy and that the government had a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden.
Quito has said it would support Assange’s transfer if Stockholm could provide guarantees that he would not be sent to the United States for prosecution over WikiLeaks’ release of 500,000 secret military files.
The Ecuadorian attorney general delivered a document agreeing to a request by the Swedish authorities to question Assange at the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where he has been hiding out since the 44-year-old sought political asylum from Ecuador four years ago.
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His 15 feet by 13 feet (4.6 by 4 meter) room is divided into an office and a living area. “Mr Assange is free to leave the embassy at any point”, the Swedish government said at the time. Both countries angrily disputed the group’s findings.
