Seeking answers ... Swedish prosecutors have relented and agreed to travel to London to interview Julian Assange over rape allegations. Picture: AP Source: AP
SWEDISH prosecutors will travel to London to interview Julian Assange inside Ecuador's embassy in a move described by WikiLeaks as a "victory" for its founder.
Swedish prosecutors on Friday performed an about-face by asking Assange's legal team whether the Australian would consent to being interviewed in London and have his DNA taken via a swab.
They'd previously refused to countenance quizzing Assange in the UK over allegations he sexually assaulted two women in Sweden in 2010.
Assange's lawyer Per Samuelson on Friday said the 43-year-old, who denies the allegations, would accept the offer which could lead to a breakthrough in the long-running case.
"This is something we've demanded for over four years," Mr Samuelson said.
"Julian Assange wants to be interviewed so he can be exonerated.
"We are cooperating with the investigation. He will accept."
Stalemate ... WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London in August 2014. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said the Swedish decision was "a victory for Julian" but he criticised the delay.
"It's absolutely outrageous that it took the Swedish prosecutor four-and-a-half years to come to this conclusion after maintaining that she couldn't come to London," Hrafnsson said.
The Court of Appeal in Stockholm late last year refused Assange's request to set aside the 2010 detention order.
But in the process the court noted the investigation had ground to a halt and stated "the failure of the prosecutors to examine alternative avenues is not in line with their obligation ... to move the preliminary investigation forward".
Friday's move came after Assange appealed again to Sweden's Supreme Court which earlier this week asked the prosecutor-general to issue an opinion.
Mr Samuelson suspects Sweden's prosecutor-general then ordered Assange be interviewed in London.
Trapped ... Julian Assange parts the curtains as he starts to speak from a balcony at the Ecuadorean embassy. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
Prosecutor Marianne Ny on Friday said she was now willing to travel to the UK because the statute of limitations on some of the alleged crimes would become effective in August.
"My view has always been that to perform an interview with him at the Ecuadorean embassy in London would lower the quality of the interview and he would need to be present in Sweden in any case should there be a trial," Ms Ny said in a statement.
"This assessment remains unchanged.
"(But) now that time is of the essence I have viewed it therefore necessary to accept such deficiencies to the investigation and likewise take the risk that the interview does not move the case forward."
After losing a UK legal battle against extradition Assange entered Ecuador's diplomatic mission in June 2012 and was granted political asylum two months later.
The cost of policing the embassy 24 hours a day has now topped $A20 million.
The Australian fears if he goes to Sweden he'll be extradited to the United States and charged over WikiLeaks' release of classified documents.
Hrafnsson on Friday said the Swedish offer didn't mean Assange would be able to walk out of the embassy anytime soon.
"We have to worry about the ongoing criminal investigation in the United States," he said.
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