Sweden drops investigation into Assange rape charges

Sweden’s investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for an alleged rape has been discontinued, The Associated Press reported Tuesday. 

“I want to inform about my decision to discontinue the preliminary investigation,” Deputy Chief Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson said at a news conference, according to AP. 

Persson pointed at “weakened” evidence as a cause for ending the investigation while saying the woman who made the allegation was credible and reliable.

{mosads}“The evidence has weakened considerably due to the long period of time that has elapsed since the events in question,” Persson said.

She added that the woman “submitted a credible and reliable version of events” and said that her “statements have been coherent, extensive and detailed,” according to AP. 

Swedish authorities had reopened the rape case in May. 

A Swedish court ruled in June that Assange should not be detained, AP reports. 

The reopened case came just two months after Assange was evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he had been living since 2012. 

Assange is currently serving a 50-week sentence in a London prison for skipping bail in 2012. 

A Swedish case of alleged sexual misconduct against Assange was dropped in 2017 when the statute of limitations expired, but a rape allegation remains. Assange has denied wrongdoing and said the allegations were politically motivated. 

Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, said in response to the announcement of the dropped case, “Let us now focus on the threat Mr. Assange has been warning about for years: the belligerent prosecution of the United States and the threat it poses to the First Amendment,” Fox News reports. 

Assange is wanted in the U.S. on charges unrelated to the rape case.

Updated at 9:12 a.m.