Ecuador, Sweden working on arrangement to question Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may soon be questioned over allegations of sexual assault after the Ecuadorian government this week said it’s ready to cooperate with Swedish prosecutors concerning an investigation stemming from 2010.

Sweden’s state prosecutor’s office said Wednesday that it has asked for permission to question Mr. Assange, a 44-year-old Australian hacker who has resided at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since being granted political asylum in 2012.

“We will cooperate with the Swedish authorities so they can take some statements. We have said that from the beginning,” Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino responded to the news site Ecuadorinmediato.

While Mr. Assange has never been formally charged with any crimes, he has said that he fears any questioning conducted with regards to the longstanding rape allegations could serve as a pretense for extraditing him to the United States, where prosecutors may then announce charges in relation to his role with WikiLeaks, the secret-spilling group responsible for publishing hundreds of thousands of classified government documents.

Swedish prosecutors dropped their sexual assault probe against Mr. Assange in August after the statute of limitations expired, but have said they still want to question him over rape allegations, and can do so until 2020. In December. Sweden and Ecuador signed an agreement establishing general legal cooperation between the two nations before any questioning can be conducted.

Mr. Patino, Ecuador’s foreign minister, told reporters that Sweden’s decision to take “so long” to agree to interview Mr. Assange had fueled “suspicions.”

“We believe there really is a process of persecution,” he added. 

Reuters had initially reported this week that any questioning regarding the sex accusations would be done by Sweden Chief District Prosecutor Ingrid Isgren and a police investigator. Mr. Patino has since said that any interrogation will be done by Ecuadorian prosecutors, however, though perhaps in the presence of Swedish authorities.

Any questioning concerning the allegations would take place under Ecuadorian law because Mr. Assange “is under our country’s jurisdiction,” the foreign minister added.