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19th May 2017
11:18am BST
Sweden's director of public prosecutions has dropped the rape investigation into Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
A brief statement ahead of a press conference by the prosecutor later on Friday said: "Director of Public Prosecution, Ms Marianne Ny, has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding suspected rape (lesser degree) by Julian Assange."
Since the news was confirmed, a visibly happy Assange sent this photo via Twitter. The Wikileaks account have also raised their concerns about the potential of extradition.
https://twitter.com/JulianAssange/status/865496201839337472 https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/865497032722530304 https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/865506318966075393 Mr Assange, 45, has lived in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012, trying to avoid extradition. He feared being extradited to the US if sent to Sweden because if Assange is extradited to the US, he could face trial after leaking thousands of secret and highly sensitive US military and diplomatic documents. In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: "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 Metropolitan Police Service is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the Embassy. "Whilst Mr Assange was wanted on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for an extremely serious offence, the MPS response reflected the serious nature of that crime. Now that the situation has changed and the Swedish authorities have discontinued their investigation into that matter, Mr Assange remains wanted for a much less serious offence. The MPS will provide a level of resourcing which is proportionate to that offence. "The MPS will not comment further on the operational plan. "The priority for the MPS must continue to be arresting those who are currently wanted in the Capital in connection with serious violent or sexual offences for the protection of Londoners." https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/865503047966797827?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.phpExplore more on these topics:
