Swedish Prosecutor Cancels Interview With Assange

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny cancelled a Wednesday meeting with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during which she was due to take his statement, Assange said on his website.

In 2010, Swedish authorities accused, but did not charge, Assange of unlawful coercion and rape. Since 2012, the whistleblower has been residing at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, fearing extradition to the United States where he could face espionage charges for publishing secret documents.

“I have now been detained without charge for 1650 days. This afternoon, the Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny cancelled a prospective appointment to take my statement today,” a statement, published on Assange’s website, reads.

Assange added that Ny led him and his lawyers to believe that the meeting would take place on Wednesday but only applied for permission from the Ecuadorian authorities to hold the meeting in their embassy on Monday. According to Assange, such and application is likely to take weeks to proceed.

“To behave in such a way seems reckless and it is hard to imagine that it was more than a public relations exercise. It is impossible to maintain confidence in this prosecutor under such circumstances,” Assange wrote.

In 2006, Assange, who is an Australian national, launched the WikiLeaks website, through which he has released thousands of classified diplomatic and military documents from around the world.