Assange still in embassy after rape case dropped
WIKILEAKS FOUNDER SEEKS DIALOGUE WITH UK, US AS BRITISH POLICE SAY HE FACES ARREST IF HE LEAVES EMBASSY
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hailed a Swedish decision to drop a rape probe against him, but said he won’t leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has sought refuge for the past five years as long as he remains a target in the US and UK.
Assange, appearing on a balcony at the embassy, said British police continued to seek his arrest for jumping bail in the Swedish probe, and American authorities are targeting him for extradition because of his organisation’s leaks of classified documents.
“While today was an important victory and an important vindication, the war is far from over,” Assange, 45, told the crowd.
Assange and WikiLeaks have become famous over the past decade for disclosing confidential documents about the US government and politics. Assange made the appearance yesterday after Swedish prosecutors dropped the seven-year-old rape case, saying that his steps to evade questioning have made it impossible to pursue the probe.
S wedish prosecutors dropped an investigation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange yesterday over a rape allegation, but British police said he would still be arrested if he left the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he has been holed up for five years.
Assange, 45, took refuge in the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden after two women made rape and sexual molestation allegations against him, which he denies.
He feared Sweden would hand him over to the US to face prosecution over WikiLeaks’ publication of swathes of classified military and diplomatic documents in one of the largest information leaks in US history.
Appearing on the balcony of the embassy after the Swedish announcement, Assange said he was ready to talk to Britain “about what is the best way forward” and with the US Department of Justice, but also defended his right to stay put.
“The road is far from over. The war, the proper war is just commencing,” he told supporters and media after raising a clenched fist in victory.
Police in London said they were still obliged to arrest Assange if he left the embassy for skipping bail. They said this was a much less serious offence than rape, but he could still face up to a year in jail if convicted.
Legal obstacles
Earlier yesterday Swedish Chief Prosecutor Marianne Ny said the rape investigation could not proceed due to legal obstacles. “We are not making a statement about his guilt,” Ny said, adding that the investigation could be reopened if Assange came to Sweden before the statute of limitations deadline for the rape allegation in 2020.
Assange always denied the rape allegations and said they were a ploy to get him whisked off to the US. In January, Assange said he stood by an offer to go to the US providing his rights were upheld and if former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was responsible for a 2010 leak of classified materials to Assange’s anti-secrecy group, was freed.
Manning was released on Wednesday after spending seven years in a US military prison for passing the documents to WikiLeaks.
British Prime May said yesterday it would be “an operational matter for the police” to decide whether to arrest Assange.
On Britain extraditing Assange to the US, she said: “We look at extradition requests when we receive them on a case-by-case basis.”
The Ecuadorean government welcomed the decision and in a statement called on Britain to grant Assange safe passage to Ecuador.
Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said Assange was welcome to stay in the embassy if this was not granted.
“As long as we fear that this is a case of political persecution ... as long as we fear for Mr. Assange’s integrity and human rights, we will continue with our policy of offering him asylum,” Long said in a telephone interview.