The announcement leaves Britain facing a decision on whether to extradite him to the Scandinavian country or the U.S. after he completes a prison sentence.
By Patrick Smith
A rape case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be reopened, Swedish authorities announced Monday.
Eva-Marie Persson, the country’s deputy director of public prosecutions, said that in her view “there is still probable cause to accuse Mr. Assange of rape.”
The Australian national is currently in jail in the U.K., where he is serving a 12-month sentence for skipping bail in 2012, when he was fighting extradition to Sweden in connection with the same case.
Persson said Sweden will issue a European arrest warrant and request that Assange is brought to Stockholm for trial after he has served his British prison sentence.
The announcement leaves Britain facing a decision on whether to extradite him to the Scandinavian country or the U.S.
Persson said that her team would also seek to interview Assange. “It is my assessment that a new questioning of Assange is required,” she added.
Assange was arrested by police and carried out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he sheltered for almost seven years, on April 11.