Sweden drops some sex cases against Assange

Swedish prosecutors said Thursday they have dropped three cases of sexual misconduct against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange because of the statute of limitations, but the prosecutors said they will continue to investigate a rape accusation against him.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said it has been unable to charge the Australian Assange, 44, who escaped a Swedish arrest warrant by taking refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2012, because it could not question him.

"Since the autumn of 2010, I have tried to gain permission to interview Julian Assange, but he has consistently refused to appear," said Marianne Ny, Sweden's director of public prosecutions. "I still hope, however, that I will be able to arrange for an interview, as there are ongoing negotiations between Sweden and Ecuador."

The agency said that time limits passed on Thursday for pressing charges in one case of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion and that a third case, regarding sexual molestation, would be "time-barred on Aug. 18." It added that Assange was still wanted for questioning on an allegation of rape; the deadline for pressing charges in that case is 2020. The allegations stem from a trip to Stockholm that he made in 2010.

Assange has denied all the accusations.

He said in London that he was "extremely disappointed" by the Swedish prosecutor's decision to continue an investigation against him.

"There was no need for any of this. I am an innocent man," he said in a statement issued at the Ecuadorean Embassy.

Assange has said he has no intention of going to Sweden, for fear of being extradited to the United States because of an ongoing investigation into WikiLeaks' dissemination of hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. documents.

Reuters