Prosecutors in Sweden said on Friday that they would drop their preliminary rape inquiry against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder.
READ MORE: Swedish prosecutor drops case against Julian Assange
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19 May 2017
“The decision by the Swedish prosecutor only highlights the fact Mr. Assange has been unlawfully detained for years,” Barry Pollack, Assange’s US-based attorney, told RT via email.
“At this point, it is more apparent than ever that the UK should provide Assange safe passage to Ecuador. Recent comments by the United States Attorney General and Director of the CIA demonstrate the obvious need of Assange for asylum. The UK has no legitimate basis to interfere with Ecuador's lawful decision,” he added.
He was repeatedly critical of the European Union and claimed that the UK had been exploited by the process it entered into with the EU.
He reasserted a point, made earlier on Friday via the WikiLeaks Twitter account, that the UK has refused to confirm or deny that a US extradition warrant exists.
Assange claimed that the United States, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the US Attorney General Jeff Sessions have all said Assange and WikiLeaks staff do not have any rights.
“Threats against WikiLeaks and its staff will not be tolerated… It is a right for all people to seek, receive and enjoy asylum.”
He thanked the United Nations, Ecuador and its people and his legal team, who worked without charge to earn this "important victory.”
While he thanked the people of Ecuador, and their asylum system profusely, and acknowledged the intense economic pressure Ecuadorian exporters had been subjected to by the European Union, he concluded with a rather ominous statement:
“The road is far from over. The war, the proper war, is just commencing.”
He described the treatment of whistleblowers and publishers such as WikiLeaks by western governments as a threat to journalists around the world.
“The inevitable inquiry into what has occurred in this moment of terrible injustice is something that I hope will be about more than just me and this situation.”
“Detention and extradition without charge has become a feature of the European Union… In Sweden, indefinite detention is a policy. There is no limit to detention without charge. This is not how we expect a civilised nation to behave,” Assange said as he criticized the governments of Sweden and the UK, as well as the European Union as a whole.
“Extradition without charge is not something that we expect from the rule of law in the United Kingdom.”
Assange described the release of Chelsea Manning, an “alleged WikiLeaks contributor” as a more important victory, after she was released 28 years early. He encouraged the general public to continue to support him and WikiLeaks in the fight for freedom of asylum and freedom of the press.
“Precedents are being set about whether people have the right to seek asylum and whether we have the right to publish information,” he asserted.
“How can it be that a publisher operating and publishing from Europe can be extradited to the United States?” Assange asked.
“Today is an important victory for me and the UN Human Rights system,” Assange told those gathered, adding that he spent “seven years of detention without charge, in prison, under house arrest, almost five years at the embassy without sunlight.”
Assange said this is “not something I can forgive… is not something I can forget.”
Assange is now making his first official statement since Swedish prosecutors dropped their investigation against him on Friday morning. You can watch the stream below.
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The Ecuadorian government has requested that the UK give Julian Assange safe passage so he can seek asylum in the South American nation reports Reuters.
Assange has yet to make an appearance at the Ecuadorian Embassy, though reports are circulating that he will make a statement at 4.30pm local time.
Assange has come out defiant on Twitter with a bold statement, and veiled threat, to those who "detained" him for seven years without charge.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said any decision on arresting Assange if he left the Ecuadorian Embassy would be “an operational matter for the police.”
"We look at extradition requests when we receive them on a case by case basis,” May told Reuters.
“From the point of view of his adviser, the issue now remains the UK arrest warrant and the fact that the UK won’t confirm or deny whether it has a request for extradition by the United States,” said Barns.
In the next few days Barns said he would be contacting Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to canvass for Assange’s safe passage if he leaves the Ecuadorian Embassy.
“Now that the Swedish issue is dealt with, as an Australian citizen, he deserves the protection of the the Australian government.”
Speaking to RT, Greg Barns, an Australian-based member of Assange’s legal team, said that he expects a statement will be made by Assange at some stage today.
Shortly after news broke that the case was being dropped Assange tweeted an image of himself looking pleased.
Reporters are on standby at the Ecuadorian Embassy for any update from Assange.
Defeated French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who voiced his support for Assange, tweeted: “We were right to support him.”
Lawyer for Assange Per Samuelson said the decision was a “total victory.”
"The preliminary investigation has been dropped and the detention order has been withdrawn, and from Sweden's point of view this is now over," he told Reuters.
In a statement from the UK’s Metropolitan Police Service they said they would be “obliged” to arrest Assange if he were to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy due to a warrant.
In a statement from the Swedish prosecutor on Friday they announced the investigation into Assange was “discontinued.”
Chief Prosecutor Ms Marianne Ny is currently giving information about the decision at the press conference in Stockholm.