Swedish prosecutors have reopened an investigation into a rape allegation made against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange in 2010.
The inquiry has been revived at the request of the alleged victim’s lawyer.
Assange, who denies the charges, has avoided extradition to Sweden for seven years after seeking refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2012.
The 47-year-old was evicted last month and sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for breaching his bail conditions.
Swedish prosecutors originally decided to drop the rape investigation two years ago, saying they felt unable to take the case forward while Assange remained holed up inside the Ecuadorean embassy.
But on Monday, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, Eva-Marie Persson, announced that the case would be reopened. “There is still probable cause to suspect that Mr Assange committed rape,” she said.
His release from the embassy, and the subsequent decision to reopen the inquiry, is likely to raise the question of which extradition request should take precedence: that of Sweden or the US.
The US wants to extradite Assange from the UK over his alleged role in the release of classified military and diplomatic material in 2010.
Australian-born Assange is accused of participating in one of the largest ever leaks of government secrets, which could result in a prison term of up to five years.
In a statement, Wikileaks said the reopening of the rape case would “give [Assange] a chance to clear his name”.
Julian Paul Assange computer programmer and the founder and director of WikiLeaks.
“There has been considerable political pressure on Sweden to reopen their investigation, but there has always been political pressure surrounding this case,” its editor-in-chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson, said in a statement
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Ms Persson said that a European Arrest Warrant would now be issued for Assange.
“The prosecutor will shortly request that Julian Assange be detained in his absence suspected on probable cause for an allegation of rape,” she said.
Ms Persson said the UK authorities will then decide on which extradition request to follow if both Sweden and the US are competing.
