Julian Assange agrees to meet with Swedish prosecutors in UK

[bemildred]

Source: CNN

(CNN)WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to be interviewed by Swedish prosecutors in London, his lawyer in Sweden told CNN.

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him about 2010 allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another.

According to the lawyer, Thomas Olsson, Swedish prosecutors will now have to reach out to British and Ecuadorian authorities to request permission to conduct the interview at the embassy.

The prosecutors previously balked at coming to Britain to question Assange.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/europe/sweden-uk-julian-assange/

[Little Tich]

1. Good to see the Swedish government doing the right thing for once. n/t

[hack89]

3. Assange not jumping bail would have been the right thing to do.

nothing has changed. He will be interviewed, the Swedes will want to arrest him, and Assange will ...... do what? Do you think he will surrender?

[Little Tich]

4. He didn't jump bail.

He was interviewed by police the 30th of August 2010, and the prosecutor dropped the case due to lack of evidence. The case was reopened again by another prosecutor, and Assange waited a few weeks in Sweden, until that prosecutor gave him the green light to leave the country.

It wasn't until Assange had actually left Sweden, that the prosecutor changed her mind, and demanded a new interview to be held in Sweden.

There will probably be no attempt to arrest him, as there is no evidence yet that warrants an arrest. The prosecutor claims she wants to be thorough, and she demands the interview to be held to see if his story matches the other evidence.

[hack89]

5. He jumped bail in England

remember how he lost his extradition fight.

Your Swedish timeline is wrong. Once they got everyone under oath in a British court, the truth came out. His lawyer testified that the prosecutor notified him that she wanted to interview Assange - while Assange was still in Sweden. Assange left Sweden the day before the interview was suppose to happen.

The prosecutor explained to the court that she intended to arrest Assange immediately after the interview. The Swedish system is not like ours - the interview is not to get his side of the story. It is to present her case before arresting and indicting him.

[hack89]

2. I wonder if he agreed to surrender if the Swedes decide to arrest him.

that is real issue here.

[joshcryer]

6. They should not make that a condition.

They should interview him, pull out handcuffs, then Assange will call for embassy staff to kick them out.

Since the arrest will be in effect they might be able to trigger something treaty wise.