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Justice

Sweden reopens rape probe against WikiLeaks founder

A top Swedish prosecutor says she will reopen the probe into an alleged rape commited by the founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. It's the latest twist in an ongoing investigation.

Julian Assange

A Swedish woman has accused Assange of rape

Sweden's chief prosecutor has said she would reopen a preliminary investigation into rape charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

"There is reason to believe that a crime has been committed. Considering information available at present, my judgement is that the classification of the crime is rape," Director of Public Prosecution Marianne Ny said in a statement.

The case had previously been dropped by a Stockholm prosecutor, who said there was nothing suggesting Assange had raped a Swedish woman who reported him to police.

The alleged victim's lawyer appealed the decision, and on Wednesday Ny announced she would reopen the case.

Swedish residence application

Secret documents leaked via Wikileaks

Sweden plays hosts to many of Wikileaks servers

Assange has denied the charges and claims he was warned by Australian intelligence of plans to discredit his whistle-blower website.

In August, the Australian founder of the controversial website filed an application to the Swedish Migration Board for a permit to stay and work in Sweden.

WikiLeaks made headlines in July when it published thousands of classified documents about the war in Afghanistan. The Pentagon responded angrily and said the information could put soldiers and Afghan informants in danger.

Author: Sarah Harman (dpa/AFP)
Editor: Nancy Isenson

DW.DE

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