WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (R) and Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino attend a press conference at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Britain, Aug. 18, 2014. (Xinhua/Press Association/John Stillwell)
STOCKHOLM, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Swedish Prosecution Authority announced on Friday that it would drop its case against WikiLeaks-founder Julian Assange, who has been under investigation of sex crimes allegedly committed in Sweden.
Sweden's director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, filed a request to the Stockholm District Court to revoke Assange's arrest warrant that was issued seven years ago.
Assange, Ny said in a statement, "has escaped all attempts by the Swedish and British authorities to execute the decision to surrender him to Sweden in accordance with the EU rules concerning the European Arrest Warrant. My assessment is that the surrender cannot be executed in the foreseeable future."
Assange, 45, has been holed up in Ecuador's London embassy since 2012, trying to avoid extradition to Sweden. He feared being extradited to the U.S. if sent to Sweden as he could face trial there over the leaking hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. military and diplomatic documents.
"In view of the fact that all prospects of pursuing the investigation under present circumstances are exhausted, it appears that it is no longer proportionate to maintain the arrest of Julian Assange in his absence," Ny said. "Consequently, there is no basis upon which to continue the investigation."
