Ecuador and Sweden agree deal for Julian Assange questioning

Ecuador and Sweden have signed a pact that would allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be questioned at Ecuador’s embassy in London where he has been for more than three years, the Quito government said.

The legal agreement was signed in the Ecuadorian capital after half a year of negotiations.

Assange, 44, took refuge in the embassy building in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual assault and rape against two women in 2010. The Australian denies the accusations.

Assange says he fears Sweden will extradite him to the United States where he could be put on trial over WikiLeaks’ publication of classified military and diplomatic documents five years ago, one of the largest information leaks in US history.

Britain has accused Ecuador of preventing the course of justice by allowing Assange to remain in its embassy in the upmarket central London area of Knightsbridge.

Two women made allegations against Assange five years ago in Stockholm, but no charges have been brought because the prosecutor has been unable to interrogate him.

Assange denies the offences and claims that if he surrendered to Swedish custody he would be indicted for espionage by the US for his work with WikiLeaks, which has released millions of classified documents.

In August, Swedish prosecutors announced they were dropping their investigation into two allegations of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion, as the statute of limitations had run out. Investigations into the outstanding allegation of rape continue, and the statute of limitation for that will not expire for another four and a half years.

The Metropolitan police recently announced the end of permanent patrols outside the embassy, which had been in place since Assange arrived, because they were “no longer proportionate”.