Swedish prosecutors reopened a 2010 rape investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday and revived an extradition request, complicating the U.S. bid to extradite Assange on hacking-related conspiracy charges. Sweden dropped the rape case two years ago after prosecutors decided that Assange's asylum in Ecuador's London Embassy deadlocked their case. London police arrested Assange, 47, and dragged him from the embassy after Ecuador rescinded its asylum protection in April, after seven years. He is currently serving 50 weeks in a British prison for jumping bail.
Sweden's deputy director of public prosecutions, Eva-Marie Persson, said she has "decided to reopen the investigation" because "there is still probable cause to suspect that Mr. Assange committed rape." The statute of limitations on the rape charges expires in August 2020. Second charges of sexual molestation and coercion were dropped in 2015 after the statute of limitations ran out.
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