Assange agrees to questioning in London, his lawyer says

The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up inside Ecuador’s London embassy since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden.

April 17, 2015 07:58 am | Updated November 17, 2021 02:56 am IST - STOCKHOLM

Julian Assange has agreed to be questioned at Ecuador’s London embassy over allegations of sexual assault, his Swedish lawyer said on Thursday.

The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up inside the embassy since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations he assaulted two women in 2010. He denies the allegations.

Swedish prosecutors said in March 2015 they wanted to question Mr. Assange in London, backing down from a previous demand it happen in Sweden. Mr. Assange’s lawyers had welcomed the request but had up until now not formally agreed to the arrangement.

“Now we await further word (from prosecutors),” Thomas Olsson, Mr. Assange’s lawyer, told Reuters, adding that he expected prosecutors to get in touch to sort out the details.

The Australian has said he fears that if Britain extradites him to Sweden he would then be extradited to the United States where he could be tried for one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history after publishing U.S. military and diplomatic documents five years ago.

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