Julian Assange has been hiding in the Ecuadorean embassy in London for four years to avoid extradition to Sweden

After more than four years holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London, the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will finally face questioning about Swedish rape allegations next month, officials in Ecuador have said.

The Australian hacker is to answer questions from the Swedish authorities through a statement to Wilson Toainga, an Ecuadorean prosecutor.

Mr Toainga will take the statement based on a list of questions submitted by the Swedish justice ministry, officials at the justice ministry said, adding that the prosecutor would be responsible for “the possible taking of samples of body fluids” from Mr Assange, who sought refuge in the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape and sexual assault charges. He said he feared Sweden could then extradite him to