Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to be questioned for rape

ECUADOR and Sweden have reached an agreement that will see the Australian founder of Wikileaks questioned over longstanding rape allegations.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaving Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in London, 07/02/2011 file photo. A long-awaited memoir by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is finally being published _ without his approval.

AUSTRALIAN Julian Assange could face questioning within days over longstanding rape allegations against him after Ecuador and Sweden signed an agreement over the issue. Negotiations began in June and the agreement was reached on Thursday, Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it will enter into force “in the coming days.”

Assange, an Australian citizen, sought refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy in London in June 2012 after losing a long battle in the British courts to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Assange, who denies the accusations, has said that once he is in Swedish custody, US prosecutors will indict him for espionage and Washington will pressure Stockholm into handing him over.

Determined ... Julian Assange has been holed up at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since June 2012.

Politicians in the United States have called for Assange to be prosecuted after his WikiLeaks website disseminated thousands of US diplomatic cables as well as a video that showed an American military helicopter crew killing a press photographer and several other civilians in Iraq.

The statute of limitations on unlawful coercion and sexual molestation allegations against Assange expired in August.

But a fourth accusation of rape, which like the others stemmed from Assange’s encounters with two women in Sweden in 2010, will not expire until 2020.