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Prosecutors seek Julian Assange interview, DNA in London

By Amy R. Connolly
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrives for the final day of his hearing at the supreme court in London to avoid extradition to Sweden on February 02, 2012. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrives for the final day of his hearing at the supreme court in London to avoid extradition to Sweden on February 02, 2012. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI. | License Photo

LONDON, March 13 (UPI) -- Swedish prosecutors have offered to travel to London to interview WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and get a sample of his DNA in connection to 2010 claims that he raped one woman and sexually assaulted another.

Prosecutors have offered to travel to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where Assange has been living since 2012, to avoid extradition to Sweden. Swedish authorities had previously scoffed at traveling to England to question him.

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Assange has not been charged and denies the sex allegations. He fears if he is sent to Sweden, he would be extradited to the United States, where he is wanted for questioning about leaking classified government information.

Assange's attorney, Per Samuelson, welcomed the chance for Swedish prosecutors to meet Assange at the embassy.

"This is something we've demanded for over four years," he said.

Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny, said the decision the to travel to London, while previously dismissed, came because the charges against Assange would expire in August under the statute of limitations

"My view has always been that to perform an interview with him at the Ecuadorean 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," she said.

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"Now that time is of the essence, I have viewed it therefore necessary to accept such deficiencies in the investigation and likewise take the risk that the interview does not move the case forward."

Last month, London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said the ongoing protection for Assange was costing some $15,000 a day.

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