Sweden drops rape charges against Wikileaks chief

In what is being viewed as a tremendous moral victory for the Wikileaks founder and Chief, Julian Assange, Sweden which had been prosecuting him for rape and molestation charges since 7 years, forcing him to take asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, unexpectedly dropped the probe citing legal problems.

Assange has been holed up in the embassy, unable to come out for fear of arrest since June 2012. Assange still faces arrest over breaching his bail conditions if he leaves the embassy, the UK Metropolitan police said. He also lives in the threat of the US seeking his extradition over WikiLeaks’ publishing activities. The documents that have been consistently leaked by Wikileaks about the clandestine activities of the US government and CIA have been a thorn in the flesh of the otherwise unchallenged authority of US.

Assange: “cannot forgive or forget”

“Seven years without charge while my children grew up without me: that is not something I can forgive. That is not something I can forget.”

Appearing on the terrace of the embassy balcony, he met his supporters and press, raised a clenched fist in salute, he vowed that “threats” made by US officials that he could be arrested on espionage charges “will not be tolerated” and said his organisation was escalating publishing further incriminating documents. He also said that the proper war is just commencing.