Prosecutors in Sweden have dropped their rape investigation into Julian Assange

• Prosecutors in Sweden said on Tuesday that they will formally drop an investigation into allegations of rape against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
• "Deputy Director of Public Prosecution Eva-Marie Persson has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding Julian Assange," a statement from the Swedish Prosecution Authority said, according to the BBC.
• Assange was first accused of rape in 2010 while in Sweden.
• Assange is already serving a prison sentence in the UK for breaching bail conditions. He also faces extradition to the US on claims of hacking a government computer linked to his activity with WikiLeaks.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Prosecutors in Sweden said on Tuesday that they will formally drop an investigation into allegations of rape against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

"Deputy Director of Public Prosecution Eva-Marie Persson has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding Julian Assange," a statement from the Swedish Prosecution Authority said, according to the BBC.Advertisement

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"The reason for this decision is that the evidence has weakened considerably due to the long period of time that has elapsed since the events in question."

Swedish prosecutors in 2010 had been considering two allegations against Assange: One of rape, and the other of molestation. He was initially questioned by police, but left the country in September that year, and never returned. He has consistently denied the allegations.

As investigations continued, Assange eventually sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in June 2012. The UK had ruled in 2012 that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face questioning, but this never took place because of his stay in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London as an asylum seeker.

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Assange stayed in the embassy for almost seven years before he was arrested and forcibly removed from it this April.

Assange is currently serving a 50-week prison sentence in the UK for breaching bail conditions in the country. He also faces extradition to the US on claims of hacking a government computer linked to his activity with WikiLeaks.Advertisement

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Swedish prosecutors had dropped their investigation into Assange in August 2015, saying they could not pursue the case while he was in the embassy.

They then reopened the case in May this year, saying that previous court hearings in Sweden established that there was enough evidence to warrant a trial.

A Swedish court ruled in June that Assange would not be extradited to Sweden from the UK, but that investigations into the allegations would continue. The two cases has now been dropped.Advertisement

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Assange is being held in the high-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London.