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Swedish Prosecutors to Drop Julian Assange Preliminary Rape Investigation

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Director of Sweden's Public Prosecution Marianne Ny announced Friday that the authority asked the court to revoke the warrant of arrest issued for Julian... 19.05.2017, Sputnik International

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Swedish Prosecutors to Drop Julian Assange Preliminary Rape Investigation

09:05 GMT 19.05.2017 (Updated: 11:25 GMT 19.05.2017)

© Sputnik / Mikhail Voskresenskiy / Go to the mediabankA video link up with Julian Assange, journalist, founder and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, at the session, End of the Monopoly: The Open Information Age, held as part of the New Era of Journalism: Farewell to Mainstream international media forum at the Rossiya Segodnya International Multimedia Press Center

A video link up with Julian Assange, journalist, founder and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, at the session, End of the Monopoly: The Open Information Age, held as part of the New Era of Journalism: Farewell to Mainstream international media forum at the Rossiya Segodnya International Multimedia Press Center - Sputnik International

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Director of Sweden's Public Prosecution Marianne Ny announced Friday that the authority asked the court to revoke the warrant of arrest issued for Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, bringing an end to the 7-year legal stand-off.

Assange celebrated the news with a tweet.

pic.twitter.com/dDvB1Vekhg
— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) May 19, 2017

"Chief Prosecutor Marianne Ny has today decided to discontinue the preliminary investigation regarding suspected rape concerning Julian Assange," the prosecutors office said in a statement.

BREAKING: Sweden has dropped its case against Julian Assange and will revoke its arrest warrant

Background: https://t.co/UHj8QtwrTh
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 19, 2017

Since 2012, Assange has been residing in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London out of fear of being extradited to Sweden and ultimately to the United States. In the United States, the WikiLeaks founder could face espionage charges for publishing secret US documents through his website.

The investigation carried out by the Swedish authority may not be the end for Assange in terms of prosecution. In April 2017, media reported that US authorities were ready to file charges against Assange for the leaks of confidential documents via his website.