Julian Assange: Sweden may reopen rape probe into WikiLeaks …

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Prosecutors in Sweden are considering reopening an investigation into sexual assault allegations against Australian WikiLeaks founderJulian Assange, who was arrested inLondons Ecuadorian Embassy after a seven-year standoff and faces an extradition battle to the United States on acharge of conspiring to reveal government secrets.

Sweden's Deputy Chief ProsecutorEva-Marie Perssonsaid in a statement that her office had received a request late Thursday to resume a rape probe intoAssange from lawyers representing the alleged victim. The case was droppedin 2017 because Assange'sresidencyin theEcuadorian Embassy stymied the investigation.

Assange has always denied the rape allegation.

Separate allegations of sexual assault by Assange, made by a second Swedish woman, were discontinuedby authorities in 2015 after the statute of limitations expired.

Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder had a litany of legal issues before London arrest

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The 47-year-old sought refuge in the embassy in 2012 after hewas released on bail in Britain while facing extradition to Sweden in connection with both sets of allegations.

Ecuador granted him asylum in its embassy because Assange feared if he left the compound he faced a separate risk ofbeing arrestedand extraditedto the U.S. for publishingclassified military and diplomatic cables and images through WikiLeaks, a whistleblowing website he co-founded in 2006. In 2010, WikiLeaksreleased video footage allegedly showingU.S. soldiers killing civilians in Iraq.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when he was the director of the CIA referred to WikiLeaks as a "non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia."

WikiLeaks published thousands of hacked Democratic Party emails during the 2016 election, although that is not mentioned in Thursday's U.S. indictment.

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Ecuador withdrew its asylum protection for Assange this week and asked British police to arrest him. He is now in custody andfaces a British charge of breaching bail that carries a sentence of up to 12 months in jail if convicted. Assange will face a hearing over possible extradition to the U.S. related to the conspiracy charge on May 2.

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Assanges lawyer Jennifer Robinson said that Assange's arrest wasa "free speech issue" and that anyextradition to the U.S."sets a dangerous precedent for all media organizations and journalists," but critics including U.S. federal prosecutors allegethat Assange was involved in a criminal conspiracy that he stole information when he enlisted the help offormer Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 to crack a password on a secret computer network within the Defense Department.

Australia's Prime MinisterScott Morrison said Friday that any extradition plans had "nothing to do with Australia"and that Assange would not get any "special treatment"from its consular officials. He said Assange would have to "make his way through whatever comes his way in terms of the justice system"in foreign jurisdictions.

However, Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne told reporters,respondingto fears from Assanges supporters over his possible punishment in the U.S., that Australia was"completely opposed to the death penalty."She said Britain had sought assurances from the U.S. that Assange would not be exposed to the death penalty if he was extradited. The computer hacking charge Assange faces in the U.S. carries up to five years in prison. It wasn't clear if he would face additional U.S. charges.

Julian Assange:WikiLeaks founder, had a litany of legal issues before London arrest

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"For me, the key is that this isnt about the Espionage Act, or the publication of classified national security information its not a direct threat to the press," Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor, wrote on Twitter.

Prime Minister Theresa May told British lawmakers on Thursday that Assange's arrest showed that "no-one is above the law," but Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the "extradition of Julian Assange to the U.S. for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government."

Corbyn shared video footage released by WikiLeaks in 2007 that it claimed directly implicated the U.S. military in the killing of civilians and journalists.

Assanges mother Christinetook to Twitter to call for police and prison and court staff to be gentle with her son. She tweeted he had been "8 years detained WITHOUT charge,"and for six years had been "deprived fresh air, exercise, sun,"for three years had been "sick/in pain denied proper medical/dental care"and for one year hed been "isolated/tortured ... Please be patient, gentle & kind to him,"she said.

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