WikiLeaks' Assange questioned at Ecuadorean Embassy over rape allegation
LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was questioned by prosecutors Monday at the Ecuadorean Embassy over a rape allegation in Sweden.
The 45-year-old Australian has been holed up in the embassy in central London since he sought political asylum there in June 2012 after a European arrest warrant was issued against him by Swedish authorities. Assange denies the rape allegation, which dates from 2010. He faces arrest by British police if he leaves the embassy.
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An Ecuadorian prosecutor led the interview and also present were Ingrid Isgren, the Swedish assistant prosecutor, and a Swedish police investigator, the Swedish Embassy said. They want to take a DNA sample if Assange consents.
Prosecutors said no immediate decision will be made Monday, and no public statements will be issued after the questioning, which might last several days, according to the Associated Press.
Assange’s Swedish defense lawyer, Per Samuelsson, told Swedish media he has “high hopes” the case will be closed once prosecutors complete the interview, the AP reported.
“I’m not on the list of persons that Ecuador has drawn up and allowed to be present,” Samuelsson told the Swedish national broadcaster SVT, according to the AP. “An Ecuadorean lawyer has taken up this question as a formal issue in the introduction of the hearing.”
Assange fears that if he is extradited to Sweden, he will be sent to the United States for prosecution over the WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of diplomatic letters.
WikiLeaks released a statement also complaining about the Swedish lawyer being excluded and said Assange cooperated “fully” with investigators, the AP reported.
In a bizarre incident Monday, Assange's cat — a gift from his children — was photographed at a window of the embassy wearing a white shirt collar and red-and-white striped tie. The feline's Twitter account, which has been operating since April, has more than 22,000 followers.
