Swedish prosecutors have dropped their investigation into two sexual assault charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. They announced Thursday that they were doing so because they had run out of time to question him on said charges due to a statute of limitations, CNN reports.
A separate investigation into a rape charge is still pending. Prosecutors have until the year 2020 to investigate that allegation.
Assange handed himself over to London police after two women accused Assange of rape and sexual assault during a visit he made to Stockholm in August 2010. After he was freed on bail, Assange sought asylum at the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where he has remained for three years. Swedish lawyers first refused to question Assange in the UK, but changed tactics as the statute of limitations deadline loomed. They were then unable to reach an agreement with the Ecuadoran government on the terms on which they would interrogate Assange, leading them to this predicament.
The UK Foreign Office called on Ecuador to end their “abuse of diplomatic relations” and released Assange into UK custody so that he could be extradited to Sweden.
After the charges were dropped, Assange criticized the prosecutors building a case against him in a statement: “I am extremely disappointed. There was no need for any of this. I am an innocent man. I haven’t even been charged.”