An agreement between Ecuadorian representatives, Julian Assange and Swedish authorities has apparently been reached, that may see him questioned by Swedish police without having to leave the safety of his diplomatic immunity bunker in London.
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The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy for more than three years to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him over rape allegations from two female WikiLeaks volunteers. Assange allegedly wrote that he had “never been formally charged with an offence or a common crime” and that “by welcoming me, it would be a humanitarian gesture by France”.
The questions are expected to relate to the ongoing sexual assault charges that were levied against Assange back in 2012.
The deal between Ecuador and Sweden to ease “judicial procedures”, which is due to be formalised later this week, is regarded as a potential breakthrough in the deadlocked case against Mr Assange.
Assange has been couch-surfing in Ecuador’s London embassy for 1832 days, at the time of writing.
Sweden’s director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, said in March this year that she would allow Assange to be interviewed in London if agreement could be reached with Ecuador.
The co-ordinator of Mr Assange’s worldwide legal defence team, Baltasar Garzon said, “Julian Assange’s rights need to be respected by Sweden and the United Kingdom”.
But the fact that the statute of limitations for some of his alleged crimes were set to expire this year spurred Swedish authorities to change their approach.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said, “It is for the Swedish prosecutor to decide how they now proceed with the legal case”.
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A possible end to Assange’s residency at the embassy in London would be welcome news to Scotland Yard, who recently ended their 24-hour guard outside the Knightsbridge address.
