WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was questioned by prosecutors at the Ecuadoran embassy in London yesterday in the latest twist in the long-running legal battle over a rape allegation against him.
Swedish prosecutor Ingrid Isgren, who was present while Assange was questioned by an Ecuadoran prosecutor, entered the embassy building shortly before 1000GMT.
Assange’s lawyer Per Samuelsson has said the questioning, which has been delayed in the past because of diplomatic disagreements between Ecuador and Sweden, could last several days.
“Free Assange” and “You Won’t Stop Wikileaks” read banners held up by a small group of protesters outside the embassy as the officials arrived. “Freedom Loving People of the World Say Thank You Ecuador!” read another banner hung under the balcony from which Assange has sometimes addressed supporters.
A Swedish police inspector also attended the questioning yesterday and investigators plan to take a DNA sample from Assange, subject to his agreement.
The creator of the secret-spilling website has been holed up in the red-brick building behind Harrods luxury department store for more than four years.
The 45-year-old Australian sought refuge in the embassy in June 2012 after Swedish prosecutors issued a European arrest warrant against him, over allegations of rape and sexual assault filed by two women who met Assange during a 2010 trip to Sweden.
He denied the claims, saying they were politically motivated, and insisting his sexual encounters with the two women were consensual.
He has refused to travel to Sweden for questioning, fearing he would be extradited to the US over WikiLeaks’ release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.