Sweden is once again investigating rape allegations made against Julian Assange, Eva-Marie Persson, the country’s deputy chief prosecutor, told reporters on Monday, May 13.
Persson explained that Sweden had suspended the investigation in 2017 because the WikiLeaks founder had been staying at the Ecuador Embassy in London since 2012. He had sought political asylum to avoid questioning in the case.
Ecuador revoked his asylum in April after Assange allegedly treated his hosts with disrespect. “We’ve ended asylum for this spoiled brat,” President Lenin Moreno said at the time. “From now on, we’ll be more careful in giving asylum to people who are really worth it, and not miserable hackers whose only goal is to destabilize governments.”
After the Australian was dragged out of the embassy, he was immediately arrested for skipping bail in 2012. He’s currently at London’s Belmarsh Prison, a high-security institution, serving a 50-week sentence.
“After reviewing the preliminary investigation carried out so far, I find that there still exists grounds for Julian Assange to be suspected on probably cause of the charge of rape,” Persson told reporters, noting that it has not yet been decided if there will be charges filed. “It is my assessment that a new questioning of Assange is required.”
Two Swedish women accused the WikiLeaks founder of rape in 2010, when he visited the country. Assange has denied the allegations, and has insisted that the sex was consensual.
Kristinn Hrafnsson said in a statement obtained by CNN on Monday, “This case has been mishandled throughout … This investigation has been dropped before and its reopening will will give Julian a chance to clear his name.”
In addition to the rape investigation, Assange, 47, is wanted by the United States for allegedly hacking a Pentagon computer.
Pamela Anderson has been a staunch supporter of Assange. After news of the reopening of the case broke, she tweeted her reaction. “I’m not surprised,” she wrote. “The Swedish prosecutor authority keeps closing and reopening, closing and reopening the investigation and it is full of irregularities as stated by The UN- Julian is an Aussie bloke who took on governments- And who wins this fight will depend on you.”
The actress also visited him in while he was at the Ecuadorian Embassy, and speaking out in support. She recently spent time with him at Belmarsh and told reporters after the visit, “He has never committed a violent act. He is an innocent person!”
She also told TMZ that she feared for Assange’s safety, believing that he could be assassinated. “I don’t think he’ll survive,” the Baywatch stunner, who is rumored to have romanced the WikiLeaks founder, said. “”It’s very urgent and it’s really important that people really know who he is and that we don’t allow him to be extradited, because I don’t believe he’ll be safe in American towns.”
Insiders have snitched to The National ENQUIRER that there is more than just a friendship between the two, and that the visits she made to Assange were conjugal visits. One insider dished that some of their trysts were caught on camera and that the actress is now worried that could mean another sex tape of hers may leak.
“Now that [Assange has] been arrested, she is concerned that footage of them together will be released,” said the insider. “The tape is being offered for cash, but if no money is forthcoming, then the people behind it could just release it for free.”
