Swedish prosecutors will reopen an investigation into a rape allegation against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Deputy director of prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson made the announcement at a press conference in Stockholm today.
She said circumstances had changed following Assange‘s arrest last month, when he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he had lived for almost seven years.
He claimed asylum in the embassy while on police bail in an attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden, and ultimately the US.
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Swedish prosecutors dropped the rape investigation in 2017 because they were unable to proceed while he remained inside the embassy.
Assange had also faced investigation for a second sex-related allegation in Sweden, which was dropped in 2017 because the statute of limitations had expired. He denies both allegations.
The Australian national is currently in jail in the UK after being found guilty of breaching his bail conditions.
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Assange also faces extradition to the US after authorities charged him with allegedly conspiring with former US military analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a US government computer to obtain secret information in March 2010.
Picture: Victoria Jones/PA Wire
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