Ecuador and Sweden are in a tense diplomatic standoff over arrangements for Swedish prosecutors to interview Julian Assange in Ecuador’s embassy in London, weeks before the statute of limitations on most of the sexual assault allegations against him are due to expire under Swedish law.



More than three years after the WikiLeaks founder sought asylum inside Ecuador’s small, west London embassy, Sweden said its prosecutors were now ready to travel to interview him there, and that Ecuador was blocking progress by insisting the two countries must agree terms before it will allow the Swedes access.

Quito insists it is a requirement of Ecuadorean law that the two countries draw up a formal agreement before prosecutors can enter — which it argues could be a quick and straightforward process — and says that despite its repeated appeals to break the deadlock, the Swedes have left it to the very last minute to act.

Assange, 44, is wanted in Sweden over four alleged offences of unlawful coercion, sexual molestation and rape, which he denies, after two women reported him to Stockholm police in 2010. He has not been charged with any offence.

The Australian asked Ecuador for asylum in June 2012 after losing his appeals to the UK courts. Assange argues that going to Sweden would leave him vulnerable to onward extradition to the US, which is known to be investigating WikiLeaks over its publishing activities.

Both Assange and Ecuador have repeatedly asked Swedish prosecutors to interview him in London, a request that Ecuador says was rebuffed until it received a formal request from the Swedes in June. The statute of limitation on the three lesser offences for which Assange is sought expires on 20 August. Prosecutors would have another five years to investigate the fourth alleged offence of rape, however, meaning Assange’s immediate position would not necessarily change.

In an interview with the Guardian, Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, expressed exasperation at Sweden’s position, saying: “I do not find it acceptable that ... [having] finally decided to answer the calls during all these years to continue the case, they would expect the role of Ecuador would be limited to opening the doors of its embassy.”

Patino said his country couldn’t simply allow the Swedes access without prior discussion because of Assange’s “extraordinary” position as someone who has been granted asylum; Ecuador would want to insist, for instance, on the presence of diplomatic staff in the interview, he said.

But despite Ecuador offering to meet “with the stated and sincere objective of reaching a mutual understanding”, said Patino, “there is a refusal to discuss on [Sweden’s] part. This certainly hinders any progress. Honestly, I do not know why. Only Swedish prosecutors can give an answer.”

Sweden’s foreign ministry declined to comment. But in a series of tense diplomatic exchanges seen by the Guardian, Stockholm is equally insistent that Ecuador is in fact the roadblock to progress, and that an agreement between the two countries before the interview, beyond the protocols established in international law, is unnecessary.

Should Ecuador continue to insist on it, Sweden argues, it will interpret the response as a refusal to grant access to Assange.

Prosecutor Marianne Ny, who is leading the investigation in Sweden, has insisted since 2010 that Assange would have to come to Sweden to be interviewed. But she has come under increasing pressure in Sweden to break the deadlock, with Sweden’s supreme court writing to the country’s prosecutor general in early March, pointedly asking his view on the investigation. On 13 March Ny announced she would ask Ecuador for permission to conduct the interview in London.

Ecuador, however, says it received the first request for access, via its Stockholm embassy, on 12 June. Five days later, Assange said the Swedes abruptly cancelled an interview in London that had been arranged for that day; “Some formal approval has not come [from Ecuador],” explained Ny.

“The prosecutor’s view remains: the aim is to question Mr Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London as soon as possible,” a Swedish spokesman said on Thursday.

Niklas Wågnert, the Stockholm appeal court judge who heard Assange’s case in November, told the Guardian the continuing failure to interview the Australian in London might amount to “new circumstances” in the case, which would enable Assange to launch another appeal through the Swedish courts. If Assange found himself facing only one outstanding charge, he added, it could be a factor for judges to weigh if the case came back to court.

“Time has gone by and nothing has happened – it would be up to the the courts to decide if [a diplomatic dispute between Sweden and Ecuador] would be a good enough explanation for the prosecutor not making progress in the case,” he said.