Swedish prosecutors on Friday said that they would drop a preliminary investigation into an allegation of rape against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, thereby bringing the 7-year legal stand-off to an end.
“Chief Prosecutor Marianne Ny has today decided to discontinue the preliminary investigation regarding suspected rape concerning Julian Assange,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Since 2012, Assange, 45, has been living in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, after taking refuge there to avoid extradition to Sweden over the allegation of rape, which he denies.
On 14 November 2016, the police along with Swedish prosecutors, and Ecuadorian officials had met with Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London about the sexual assault allegations.
