Belfast Telegraph

Sweden ends sex probe, but Assange will stay put in Ecuadorian embassy

- BY ALAN JONES

Assange has signalled he will remain inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London despite the Swedish authoritie­s suddenly dropping a seven-year investigat­ion against him.

The WikiLeaks founder made a rare appearance on the balcony of the central London building to hail the decision by Sweden’s director of public prosecutio­ns as an “important victory”.

He gave a clenched fist salute to his supporters before maintainin­g that a “legal conflict” with the United States and the UK continues. log in yesterday it was locked.

“I thought they were prank calls at first, but when the email hack followed, I’m not sure what to think.”

Mr Holmstrom said he wouldn’t be deterred. He got the idea for the action figure after seeing the movie The Interview

The Australian, who has lived inside the embassy for almost five years, said the “road is far from over”, adding it was “extremely regrettabl­e” that he was still being threatened with arrest if he leaves the embassy.

Mr Assange said he had spent seven years either under house arrest or living inside the embassy, without charge, as he faced sex-related allegation­s in Sweden, which he has always denied. He had missed seeing his children growing up.

“That is not something I can forgive or forget,” he said, maintainin­g that he had been the victim of a “terrible injustice”.

Mr Assange thanked the govJULIAN starring James Franco and Seth Rogan.

The comedy centres round a fictional assassinat­ion plot against Kim Jong-un by an American talk show host.

Famously, film distributo­r Sony pulled it from cinemas after a hacking attack from a group calling itself Guardians of the Peace leaked employee details online and issued threats to movie-goers in New York.

Pyongyang denied it was behind the Sony hacking.

When the North Korean em- ernment of Ecuador for granting him political asylum despite “intense pressure”, as well as his bassy in London was contacted for a response about Mr Holmstrom’s claims, a representa­tive told the Belfast Telegraph to call back later and hung up.

An email request to the embassy went unanswered.

Mr Holmstrom said he would only agree to stop the funding campaign if a 40-year debt between North Korea and Sweden was settled.

In the 1970s Kim Il-Sung — grandfathe­r of Kim Jong-un and supreme leader of North Korea until his death in 1994 — ordered legal team and others who had stood by him.

“We have today won an important victory, but the road is far from over. The proper war is just commencing.”

He pledged that WikiLeaks will continue distributi­ng material about the activities of the CIA in the United States, and will “accelerate” its publicatio­ns.

Mr Assange said the UK had refused to confirm or deny whether there is a warrant from the US for his extraditio­n, insisting he was happy to talk to the US Justice Department.

The Ecuadorian government is to step up efforts to allow Mr Assange to continue his asylum in 1,000 Volvo cars, but the money was never paid. With inflation, it is believed the bill stands at around £231m. It has been reported that many of the vehicles are still in use in Pyongyang.

Earlier this month North Korea test-launched a ballistic missile that landed in the Sea of Japan. The move was believed to be a direct challenge to the new South Korean President Moon Jae-in and coincided with US, Japanese and European navies gathering for joint war games in the Pacific. its country after Sweden’s director of public prosecutio­ns Marianne Ny said she had decided to “discontinu­e” her investigat­ion.

Scotland Yard said it was obliged to execute a warrant issued by Westminste­r Magistrate­s Court for the arrest of Mr Assange following his failure to surrender to the court in June 2012, should he leave the embassy.

Prime Minister Theresa May said: “We look at extraditio­n requests on a case-by-case basis.

“In relation to Julian Assange, any decision that is taken about UK action in relation to him were he to leave the Ecuadorian embassy would be an operationa­l matter for the police.”

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