Swedish Prosecutor Stresses Absence of US Pressure Over Assange Investigation

The US authorities did not put any pressure on Swedish law enforcement in the case of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks whistleblowing organization that released many US classified documents, prosecutor Marianne Ny said Friday.

STOCKHOLM (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Swedish prosecutors confirmed that rape charges against Assange were dropped, following a seven-year investigation, for the large part of which Assange had been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fearing that in case of the arrest in the United Kingdom or in Sweden, he might be extradited to the United States.

"There has been no pressure [from the United States]. There has been no pressure in any form," Ny told reporters.

Assange has been staying in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012, but he may have to remain there even longer as the UK police said earlier in the day that they would still have to arrest Assange if he left the embassy.