A Swedish court has said it will not seek to detain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in relation to a suspected rape case.

The ruling by the Uppsala District Court does not mean a preliminary investigation in Sweden should be abandoned.

It states Assange would not be extradited and could be questioned in Britain, where he is currently in prison.

In April, the 47-year-old was evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he had sought political asylum since 2012.

He was immediately arrested by police on 11 April and is currently serving a 50-week sentence in Britain for breaching bail.

Key moments for Julian Assange Show all 9 1 /9 Key moments for Julian Assange Key moments for Julian Assange The situation today Assange was arrested after Metropolitan Police officers were invited into the Ecuadorian embassy on April 11 2019. How did it come to this? Ruptly TV Key moments for Julian Assange The break Assange shows the front page of the Guardian on July 26 2010, the day that they broke the story of the thousands of military files leaked by WikiLeaks AFP/Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Wanted A warrant for Assange's arrest was issued in August 2010 for counts of rape and molestation in Sweden AFP/Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Ruling The UK's Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face trial Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Sanctuary Following the ruling, Assange was given asylum by the Ecuadorian governement over fears that his human rights would be violated if he were extradited, he has since remained in the embassy in London Getty Key moments for Julian Assange A friend in Pam Friend Pamela Anderson delivers lunch to Assange at the embassy in October 2016. She has since spoken against his arrest Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Arbitrarily detained A UN panel found in 2016 that Assange had been arbitrarily detained and that he had not been able to claim his full right to asylum. It urged Sweden to withdraw the charges against him Getty Key moments for Julian Assange The cat ultimatum Last year, the Ecuadorian embassy threatened to revoke Assange's internet access unless he stopped making political statements online and started taking better care of James, his pet cat. Assange accused Ecuador of violating his rights Reuters Key moments for Julian Assange Arrest Assange was arrested on April 11 2019. Ecuador revoked his asylum status and invited the Metropolitan Police in to the embassy to arrest him. Reuters

Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, said she has not decided whether to appeal against the decision.

“I fully respect the court’s decision,” she added. “The investigation continues with interviews in Sweden and I will also issue a European investigation order in order to interview Assange.

“No date has been set yet. We will constantly review the state of the investigation.”

Assange’s lawyer in Sweden, Per E Samuelsson, said his client would “be happy” to learn he will not be extradited to Sweden.

Julian Assange: Swedish prosecutors reopen investigation into rape allegation made against Wikileaks co-founder

Last month, Sweden reopened an investigation into the rape allegation against Assange, which he denies.