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Good news and bad for Assange: Sweden drops ‘rape’ case, but Brits still want to arrest him

Only an outstanding British arrest warrant for failing to appear in court is stopping Julian Assange leaving the sanctuary of the Ecuadorian embassy.

Only an outstanding British arrest warrant for failing to appear in court is stopping Julian Assange leaving the sanctuary of the Ecuadorian embassy. Photo: PA

Swedish prosecutors have dropped an investigation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a rape allegation, but British police say he’ll still be arrested if he leaves the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he has been holed up.

Assange, 45, took refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over the rape allegation, which he denies.

He feared Sweden would hand him over to the US to face prosecution over WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents, one of the largest information leaks in US history.

The Swedish prosecutor’s office said in a statement it had decided to end its investigation. In a court document seen by Reuters, chief prosecutor Marianne Ny said there were no further avenues to pursue to take the investigation forward.

However, London police issued a statement after the Swedish announcement making clear Assange was still wanted by them.

“Westminster Magistrates’ Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange following him failing to surrender to the court on the 29 June 2012,” the police said.

“The Metropolitan Police Service is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the Embassy.”

Assange’s defence lawyer described the decision as a “total victory for us”.

-AAP

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