New Witnesses Heard in WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange’s Rape Case

(Bloomberg) -- Swedish law-enforcement officials investigating rape allegations against Julian Assange will decide whether to revive efforts to question the WikiLeaks founder after interviewing two witnesses who hadn’t given statements before.

During the summer, investigators talked to seven witnesses about the rape, which is alleged to have taken place in 2010, the prosecutor, Eva-Maria Persson, said in a statement.

“Once we have analyzed the interviews, I will decide how to proceed with the case,” Persson said. “The investigation may then be discontinued or I may decide to conduct further inquiries. If I make the assessment that the next step is to interview Julian Assange, I will issue a European Investigation Order, in which case I shall write to the British authorities with a request to conduct an interview.”

The WikiLeaks founder, who is currently serving a 50-week sentence in the U.K. for skipping bail, is facing separate U.S. charges for endangering national security by conspiring to obtain and disclose classified information. The Swedish prosecutor was dealt a setback in court earlier this summer when a local district court rejected her request to detain Assange.

To contact the reporter on this story: Niclas Rolander in Stockholm at nrolander@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net, ;Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Niklas Magnusson

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