Swedish prosecutors will shortly submit a new request to question WikiLeaks founderJulian Assange at the Ecuadorean embassy in London over rape allegations, the Prosecution Authority has said.
On Sunday, the Quito government said Ecuador and Sweden had signed a pact after half a year of negotiations that would allow Assange to be questioned at the embassy, where he has been holed up for more than three years.
Assange, 44, took refuge there in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he committed rape in 2010, which he denies.
Assange says he fears Sweden will extradite him to the United States, where he could be put on trial over WikiLeaks’ publication of classified military and diplomatic documents five years ago, one of the largest information leaks in US history.
Swedish prosecutors, who first asked to interview the Australian computer programmer in June, said in a statement that when the necessary permits and arrangements were ready the chief prosecutor, Ingrid Isgren, and a police investigator would question Assange, but that it was not clear when this would happen.