MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Assange applied for asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 out of fear of being sent to Sweden, where he has been accused of sexual assault and rape. Assange has denied all the charges.
Ecuador expressed "great concern" over Swedish prosecutors’ "serious lack of progress" and "lack of initiative" to complete inquiries, as quoted by the West Australian newspaper.
Earlier this month, a lawyer representing Julian Assange filed a request with Stockholm District Court on Wednesday calling for the WikiLeaks founder's arrest warrant over rape allegations to be torn up.
On December 4, 2015, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's (WGAD) ruled that Assange's detention order was arbitrary. The United Kingdom and Sweden have been refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the decision and end Assange's prosecution.
