Rape probe continues against WikiLeaks founder

STOCKHOLM - A Swedish investigation into alleged rape charges against the founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, was continuing though no decision on charges had yet been made, a public prosecutor said Friday.

The probe was “relatively far in progress”, Marianne Ny, director of public prosecution, said in a statement, adding that “some legal proceedings remain before a decision can be made in the indictment matter”.

The allegations stem from August when Assange — who has denied the allegations made by two women — was in Sweden as part of the publication of thousands of leaked Pentagon war papers relating to the Afghan conflict.

Ny in September decided to resume the probe against Assange, and at the time said the suspected crimes were “sexual coercion and sexual molestation, respectively”.

Earlier this week, the Swedish Migration Board announced that it had rejected Australian national Assange’s application for residency and a work permit in Sweden.

With residency, it was believed the WikiLeaks founder could apply for a licence to publish material in Sweden and benefit from the country’s press freedom and freedom of speech laws.

In July WikiLeaks released more than 75,000 classified documents on the Afghan war, and is believed to be preparing to publish an even larger cache of material on the conflict on Iraq Saturday.