"In Sweden, [Assange] is wanted for suspected sexual assaults, we do not know if he has done it or not, as he has not been tried yet. If he is released from the Ecuadorian Embassy and given to Sweden, then an investigation will certainly be launched," Peter Ericson said.
He went on to say that if the United States had any complaint against Assange, it could ask Sweden to extradite him.
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"If there is legal ground to it, Sweden can give him to the United States. However, if Assange may face the death penalty in the United States, we will never give him up," Ericson said.
Assange came to notoriety over his whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, where many confidential materials, including classified documents, diplomatic cables and materials related to US involvement in the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War, have been published since its launch in 2006.
While the investigation into the sex-related crimes was dropped in May 2017 and the arrest warrant was officially revoked, the probe can be relaunched if Assange is extradited to Sweden before August 2020, when the statute of limitations expires. Assange's extradition to Sweden may result in his eventual extradition to the United States, where he could face capital punishment over leaking classified documents.
