Julian Assange releases 19-page statement on rape allegation

LONDON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Julian Assange released a 19-page statement he read to Swedish investigators when he was questioned about a rape allegation.

Assange, 45, was questioned last month while living in Ecuador's London embassy, where he was granted asylum in 2010. The interview, by Swedish authorities, concerned a rape allegation made against him, although he has not been formally charged. Assange has said he fears a return to Sweden to face the charges could result in extradition to the United States to answer charges he hacked into U.S. government websites and published his findings on the website WikiLeaks.

As Swedish prosecutors awaited transcripts of the November interview from the Ecuadorian embassy, Assange published his own, 19-page statement Wednesday. It includes a detailed account of what Assange calls "consensual and enjoyable" sex, adding, "I could not believe my eyes when five days later I saw a headline in a Swedish tabloid that I was suspected of a crime and arrested in my absence. I immediately made myself available to Swedish authorities to clarify any questions that might exist, although I had no obligation to do so."

In the statement, Assange added, "I want people to know the truth about how abusive this process has been."

Swedish prosecutors hoped the personal aspects of the case would remain confidential.

"We know that Julian Assange has published his statement but we can't give any comments about that," a spokesman for the Swedish prosecutor said. "We await the transcripts of the interviews that were conducted at the Ecuadorian embassy and when we receive them from the Ecuadorian authority we will take action."

After Assange published his statement on the Internet on Wednesday, he read it to journalists from the balcony of the embassy.