Assange rape claim dropped after nine years

Sweden has dropped its investigation into an alleged rape by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is in prison in Britain, because too much time has elapsed since the accusation was made more than nine years ago.

Assange, who is battling an extradition attempt by the United States so he can face spying charges related to his WikiLeaks work, has always denied the allegations made against him during a visit to Stockholm in August 2010.

“Nine years have gone,” Swedish prosecutor Eve-Marie Persson said. “Time is a player in this. The oral evidence has weakened as time has passed.” Elisabeth Massi Fritz, the lawyer for the rape victim, a Swedish woman who was never identified, told Swedish broadcaster SVT that “the plaintiff’s information is supported by heavy written evidence plus verbal evidence in the form of doctors who examined the plaintiff”. “To me that would be sufficient,” she said.

The decision follows a ruling in June by a Swedish court that Assange should not be detained. Two months earlier, Assange was evicted from the Ecuador Embassy in London where he had been holed up for nearly seven years. He was arrested and is serving a 50-week sentence in Britain for jumping bail in 2012.

Assange faces an extradition hearing next year to the US to face spying charges. He is accused of soliciting and publishing classified information and with conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a Defence Department computer password.