Swedish prosecutors said Tuesday they have dropped their investigation into jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a 2010 rape allegation, even though they found the plaintiff's claim "credible".
The decision likely ends the threat of extradition to Sweden for the whistleblower, who is wanted by the US on espionage charges and is currently being held at a British high-security prison. Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison in May for breaching bail conditions when he took up residence in Ecuador's London embassy, where he lived for seven years in order to avoid being sent to Sweden.
The extradition order centred on the rape allegation as well a separate sex assault claim - but the statute of limitations expired for the second allegation in 2015.
The rape investigation was launched after a woman who met Assange at a Stockholm conference in August 2010 accused the Australian of having unprotected sex with her while she was sleeping. She said she had repeatedly refused to have unprotected sex with him.
Assange has always denied the allegation.
Swedish deputy director of public prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson told reporters on Tuesday said that, in part due to how many years had passed since the incident, "the evidence has weakened in such a way that there is no longer reason to continue the investigation".
"My assessment is that all investigative measures that can be taken have been taken. But... the evidence is not strong enough to file an indictment," deputy director of public prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson told reporters.
Prosecutors had struggled for years to interrogate Assange in person, but an interview was carried out with the help of an Ecuadorian prosecutor at the embassy in 2016.
Persson said she didn't think another interview with Assange would add to the investigation in a meaningful way.
But she stressed that "the plaintiff has given a credible and reliable account."
"I have... determined that it cannot be proven that a crime has been committed. But it would be totally wrong of me to say that it is the plaintiff's fault," Persson told AFP.
Swedish authorities closed the rape investigation in 2017, saying it was not possible to proceed as Assange could not be reached. But the case was reopened following his arrest in London.
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