Swedish Court Rejects Request to Detain Assange in Rape Case
- Court ruling means Sweden won’t seek to extradite Assange now
- Swedish prosecutor will attempt to question Assange in prison
Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson comments on the Uppsala District Court's decision not to detain Wikileaks founder Julian Assange during a press briefing in Uppsala, Sweden, on June 3.
Photographer: Fredrik Sandberg/AFP/Getty Images
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Swedish prosecutors were dealt a court setback that may force them to question Julian Assange in the U.K., where the WikiLeaks founder is serving a prison sentence.
The Uppsala District Court ruled Monday that Assange can’t be detained by local prosecutors, who have been contemplating extradition on nine-year-old rape allegations that he denies. That means the only existing request for Assange comes from American investigators, who have charged him with endangering national security.