Assange Demands to See Rape Case File Before Being Questioned by Sweden

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to being questioned by Swedish authorities only if they provide him access to investigation files.

Sweden issued an arrest warrant for Assange in 2010 after two Swedish women made allegations of sexual assault and rape against the founder. Assange has denied these accusations and stressed that the sexual encounters were fully consensual.

Assange has now spent over 1000 days holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy without being charged. He has so far refused to go to Sweden for questioning over fears that he may be deported to the United States where he stands accused of releasing over 500,000 secret military files and 250,000 diplomatic cables during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Former Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon who is now Assange's lawyer said, "We need to be provided access to the entirety of the proceedings, which for four and half years has been in the hands of the Swedish prosecution and not in the hands of the defence,"

Garzon went on to add, "Of course we will agree to the interrogation, but they have to guarantee minimum prerequisites." The lawyer said that defence being provided access to the files was "simply the minimum rights of any person subjected to a judicial process."

While speaking to a diplomatic conference addressing the issue of how to protect the rights of whistle blowers, Assange spoke via video feed, " That offer has always been on the table. It has been repeated again, and again and again, and I am very pleased that the prosecution has finally accepted that offer,"