Swedish prosecutor finally treks to London to question Julian Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is finally being questioned by prosecutors more than six years after he was first accused of rape in Sweden.

Ingrid Isgren, Sweden's deputy chief prosecutor, arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy this morning, according to The Guardian, ending a stalemate which began in 2012 when the South American nation offered Assange political asylum on the grounds that he faced political persecution from the United States.

Assange claims that the rape accusations, which he denies, are part of a plot to extradite him to the United States that would swing into action were he to answer prosecutors' questions in the Scandinavian country.

The interview suggests some forward movement is being made in the diplomatic deadlock between Ecuador and Sweden regarding the arrangements for Swedish prosecutors to talk to Assange in the embassy.

Those arrangements ultimately resulted in Isgren and Swedish inspector Cecilia Redell showing up in Knightsbridge this morning, to watch an Ecuadorean prosecutor put forward their pre-written questions to Assange. They will be able to get Assange to clarify his responses, but will not be allowed to put forward new questions during the interview itself.

Tomorrow (Monday) Sweden will accept Julian Assange's statement after more than six years of refusing to do so https://t.co/2jOgvSu5bG pic.twitter.com/cdEpM8HLac

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 13, 2016

Assange's team maintains that they have sought to have the interview take place in the UK since 2010. Sweden's chief prosecutor, Marianne Ny, has warned that any procedure involving a foreign prosecutor would affect the quality of the interview.

WikiLeaks maintains that Assange is still under threat from American persecution because of his activities as a publisher of contributions provided by whistleblowers including Chelsea Manning, although recent electoral results suggest he may have won some admirers in the administration too. ®

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