Assange agrees to take DNA test over rape claim
BRITAIN: Julian Assange has agreed to take a DNA test over an allegation that he raped a woman in her sleep, after he was questioned at the Ecuadorean embassy in London yesterday.
Assange, 45, who founded the whistleblower website Wikileaks, has taken refuge at the embassy since losing an extradition battle in 2012. There has been a four-year stalemate over his demand to be interviewed there.
Swedish authorities wanted to question him in Stockholm, where two women lodged complaints of rape and sexual assault against him in 2010. The five-year statute of limitations for one of the women’s claims has now passed.
Assange insists that his sexual encounters with the women were consensual. He has argued throughout that he faces onward extradition to the United States, where he believes he could be jailed for sedition and espionage after Wikileaks released thousands of US military and diplomatic secrets.
Ingrid Isgren, a Swedish prosecutor, was made to submit written questions to be put to Assange by an Ecuadorean prosecutor. Isgren observed the interview with a Swedish police inspector.
Per Samuelsson, Assange’s Swedish lawyer, was not present but said he expected the questioning to last at least three days.
A source said the arrangement had been agreed during negotiations between Ecuador and Sweden. ‘‘It is totally extraordinary,’’ the source added. ‘‘Everything about this case is.’’
The complainant, referred to only as Miss W, had consensual sex with Assange the night before the alleged rape. In her submissions, she claims that she insisted on using a condom but awoke to find that Assange was having sex with her without wearing one.
Elisabeth Fritz, the lawyer for one of the alleged victims, said she expected the prosecutor to announce charges leading to a trial in a Swedish court. - The Times