Swedish Prosecutors Seek Julian Assange's Detention

Copenhagen: Swedish prosecutors on Monday requested that the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, be detained to face questioning over rape allegations he had originally evaded by seeking diplomatic asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for almost seven years. Deputy Director of Public Prosecution Eva-Marie Persson submitted an application for a detention order to Uppsala District Court in which she requested the court to detain the Australian who is currently in custody in the UK.

"I request the District Court to detain Assange in his absence, on probable cause suspected for rape," said Persson. "If the court decides to detain him, I will issue a European Arrest Warrant concerning surrender to Sweden," she added, reported Efe news. The Australian is currently serving a 50-week sentence in the UK's Belmarsh prison after he was found guilty of breaching the terms of his bail relating to allegations, including "lesser-degree rape," lodged in Sweden, where an investigation was reopened following his dramatic arrest in London on April 11, 2019. Sweden had put the investigation on hold and revoked its arrest warrant in May 2017.

The investigation was reopened at the request of Swedish lawyer Elizabeth Massi Fritz who represents one of the women who accused Assange of rape when she hosted him in Stockholm in 2010. The statute of limitations for three lesser allegations against him expired. However, the allegation of "lesser-degree rape" is not due to expire until 2020. (IANS)

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