As my colleague Glenn Greenwald reports , Sweden’s top prosecutor, Marianne Ny, said on Friday that she has “discontinued” an investigation into allegations that Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, raped a woman in Stockholm in 2010, and withdrawn an international warrant for his arrest.

Detained for 7 years without charge by while my children grew up and my name was slandered. I do not forgive or forget.

Assange responded to the news in a 10-minute statement delivered from a balcony at Ecuador’s embassy in London, where dozens of reporters had assembled.

He began his remarks by calling the Swedish decision “an important victory for me, and for the U.N. human rights system.” But, he added: “it by no means erases seven years of detention without charge — in prison, under house arrest and almost five years here in this embassy, without sunlight.”

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

He went on to say that the decision was also “an important vindication.” But, he added, he remains under threat from the United States.

“At this point, all possibilities to conduct the investigation are exhausted,” Ny had said in her statement earlier in the day. Ecuador’s decision to grant Assange political asylum in its embassy in London nearly five years ago, shielding him from extradition, Ny said, had also made it impossible for her to formally notify the Australian of the charges against him.

“If he, at a later date, makes himself available, I will be able to decide to resume the investigation immediately,” Ny added.

The end of the investigation thrilled Assange’s supporters, but dismayed others, including his accuser.