(Newswire.net — December 15, 2015) — Sweden has finally managed to make a deal with Ecuador to ensure that Julian Assange can be questioned in Lodon in regard with the alleged rape that had occured in Sweden, five years ago.
In 2010, Assange was wanted by the Swedish police regarding accusations for sexual assault and rape, made by two women. Swedish authorities let Assange go provided that he returned when called to answer some more questions, but when that moment came, he evaded further questioning and didn’t show up.
Assange went to the embassy of Ecuador in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, and since then (August, 2012), Sweden and Ecuador have been in diplomatic negotiations.
Swedish authorities wanted to get a permission for Assange to be questioned in the embassy, but it seemed that Ecuadorians were not willing to comply with this request. What they wanted was a formal treaty to be made and then to allow the questioning.
According to the documents revealed in October, there was an earlier deal between Sweden and Ecuador which was thwarted by the latter country officials.
So the problem went on in the sense whether Sweden would agree to a new treaty, which Sweden refused to do, calling the new deal ‘redundant and ‘not customary’. As it seems, this week’s deal is supposed to be some kind of a compromise between these two countries. They have made a deal on cooperation in criminal cases and Assange will subject to it.
Cecilia Riddselius, a Swedish justice official told AFP:” This is essentially a deal on legal assistance on a criminal matter and when it is finalised later this week it will open the door for the Swedish state prosecutor to question Mr Assange”.
Leading Swedish Prosecutor, Marriane Ny said that the approaching deadline was the thing that made her change her mind. She said in a statement:” My view has always been that to perform an interview with him at the Ecuadorian embassy in London would lower the quality of the interview, and that he would need to be present in Sweden in any case should there be a trial in the future. Now that the time is of the essence, I have viewed it therefore necessary to accept such deficiences in the investigation and likewise take the risk that the interview does not move the case forward”.
Assange can be questioned only in regard with the rape allegations and not for three counts of sexual misconduct because, while Sweden and Ecuador were in negotiations, the charges for sexual misconduct expired, according to swedish law.
As it turns out, what Mr Assange is basically afraid of is that Sweden might extradite him to the United States, where he could be sentenced to death if found guilty for publishing government secrets. It seems that he will accept Sweden’s offer gladly in order to evade extradition. His lawyer, Per Samuelson, told the Associated Press:” This is something we’ve demanded for over four years. Julian Assange wants to be interviewed so he can be exonerated. So of course we welcome this”.
The United Kingdom welcomed the agreement. A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said:” It is for the Swedish Prosecutor to decide how they now proceed with a legal case”.
The foreign ministry of Ecuador said in a statement:” It is without a doubt, an instrument that strengthens bilateral relations and will facilitate, for example, the fulfillment of judicial matters such as the questioning of Mr Assange”.
Mr Assange will probably be questioned early next year, so it remains to be seen how one of the largest leaks of information in American history is going to end.