The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has no “quick way out” of the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he took refuge more than four years ago, Ecuador’s prosecutor has said.
An Ecuadorean state attorney accompanied by a Swedish prosecutor questioned Assange at the embassy on 14 November over allegations that he committed rape in Sweden in 2010.
Ecuador’s prosecutor, Galo Chiriboga, said Ecuadorean officials would send the official transcript of Assange’s evidence to Swedish authorities “in mid-December”.
Assange, who is Australian, has said he fears deportation to Sweden and the United States, where he could be charged for the publication of hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables.
“Four years have passed and we are only at this stage, but that is no longer attributable to Ecuador, it is attributable to Swedish prosecutors. I do not think there is a quick way out,” Chiriboga said.
Assange, who has denied the rape charges, is also wanted by British authorities for violating the conditions of his house arrest, which he fled to seek refuge at the embassy.
Ecuador’s foreign minister, Guillaume Long, has said Assange should receive guarantees that he will not be extradited if he faces justice in Sweden.
A DNA sample had been taken by British police from Assange at the embassy for Swedish prosecutors to use in their investigation against him, Chiriboga said.
“Therefore Sweden will now have to request that DNA sample from the British police,” the prosecutor said.
With Agence France-Presse and Reuters
