Swedish prosecutor questioning Assange in London

A senior Swedish prosecutor has begun interviewing Julian Assange at Ecuador’s embassy in London, six years after a woman in Stockholm accused the WikiLeaks founder of rape.

The interview follows years of stalemate since he sought political asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy.

In 2010, Swedish authorities issued an worldwide arrest warrant after two women accused the 45-year-old Australian of sexual misconduct.

She said support for Mr Assange remained strong.

The hearing is expected to last several days, according to Per Samuelsson, Swedish attorney to Australian journalist Julian Assange.

“I welcome the fact that the investigation can now move forward via an interview with the suspect”, said director of prosecution Marianne Ny, who is responsible for the investigation. One of them claims he coerced and raped her. Assange denies the allegations. He was represented by a lawyer from Ecuador.

WikiLeaks continued to make waves during the USA presidential contest this year between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. After spending roughly 90 minutes together the pair made a brief statement to reporters. “We hope the investigation will be closed then”, he added.

No charges have been filed yet, but Julian Assange is the subject of an arrest warrant.

If Sweden drops its investigation, Assange may still face charges for violating conditions of his bail in the United Kingdom.

Assange believes that were he to leave the embassy he would be extradited to the USA for questioning over his WikiLeaks activities. It isn’t known if he faces a secret grand jury indictment in the U.S.

She said the Assange legal team was pleased that six years after the rape allegation Mr Assange finally had the chance to put his evidence. Assange allegedly demanded to have unprotected sex with each of the women, despite their insistence that he use condoms. A second woman said Assange had sex with her without a condom while she was asleep.

Authorities allowed a Swedish prosecutor into the embassy Monday to formally question Assange.

“The question we have to ask is why have the Swedish prosecutors taken so long to come here and ask him those questions, even though they were rebuked way back in 2014 by the Swedish courts for the delays and hesitations”. He has not been indicted or charged but is the subject of an global arrest warrant.

Banners outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, demanding freedom for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. We are not Democrats first. The questioning will be carried out by an Ecuadorean prosecutor, putting questions that have already been submitted by the Swedish prosecution authority on the table.