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Assange questioning in London ends after two days

By AFP
15 November 2016   |   3:43 pm
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's questioning at the Ecuadoran embassy in London over a longstanding rape allegation ended on Tuesday, Swedish prosecutors said.
Swedish prosecutor Ingrid Isgren (C) leaves the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on November 14, 2016 where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was being questioned over a rape allegation against him. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was being questioned by prosecutors on Monday at the Ecuadoran embassy in London in the latest twist in the long-running legal battle over a rape allegation against him. Swedish prosecutor Ingrid Isgren, who will be present while Assange is questioned by an Ecuadoran prosecutor, entered the embassy building shortly before 1000 GMT, an AFP photographer said. / AFP PHOTO / DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS

Swedish prosecutor Ingrid Isgren (C) leaves the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on November 14, 2016 where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was being questioned over a rape allegation against him. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was being questioned by prosecutors on Monday at the Ecuadoran embassy in London in the latest twist in the long-running legal battle over a rape allegation against him. Swedish prosecutor Ingrid Isgren, who will be present while Assange is questioned by an Ecuadoran prosecutor, entered the embassy building shortly before 1000 GMT, an AFP photographer said.<br />/ AFP PHOTO / DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s questioning at the Ecuadoran embassy in London over a longstanding rape allegation ended on Tuesday, Swedish prosecutors said.

The results of the questioning by an Ecuadoran prosecutor, which began on Monday, will not be provided immediately as the matter still “subject to confidentiality,” the Swedish prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

“After this report, the prosecutors will take a view on the continuation of the investigation,” it added.

The 45-year-old Assange sought refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London in June 2012, fleeing allegations of rape and sexual assault in Sweden dating back to 2010.

Assange has always denied the claims, saying they were politically motivated.

The former computer hacker, an Australian national, refused to travel to Sweden for questioning, saying he feared he would then be extradited to the United States over WikiLeaks’ release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A first hearing scheduled for October with the prosecutor Toainga Wilson was postponed at Assange’s request, citing “his rights to the protection and defence of his person,” according to Ecuadoran prosecutors.

Swedish prosecutors dropped their sexual assault probe into Assange last year after the five-year statute of limitations expired.

But they still want to question him about the 2010 rape allegation, which carries a 10-year statute of limitations.

Assange insists the sexual encounters in question were consensual.

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