WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s
questioning at the Ecuadoran embassy in London over a longstanding rape
allegation ended today, Swedish prosecutors said.

The results of the questioning by an Ecuadoran prosecutor, which began
on Tuesday, will not be provided immediately on the grounds of confidentiality,
the Swedish prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

“After this report, the prosecutors will take a view on the continuation
of the investigation,” it added.

Swedish prosecutor Ingrid Isgren, Ecuador’s ambassador to Britain, Carlos
Ortiz, and an Ecuadoran lawyer representing Assange were all present as the
former hacker was grilled with questions provided by Swedish officials.

However, Assange’s Swedish lawyer Per Samuelsson was not allowed to attend, a
ruling that he will “contest”, he told AFP today.

The 45-year-old Assange sought refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London’s upmarket
Knightsbridge neighbourhood in June 2012, fleeing allegations of rape and
sexual assault in Sweden dating back to 2010.

Assange has denied the claims and called them politically motivated.

The former computer hacker, an Australian national, refused to travel to Sweden
for questioning, saying he feared he would then be extradited to the United
States over WikiLeaks’ release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq.

A first hearing scheduled for October with Ecuadoran prosecutor Toainga Wilson
was postponed at Assange’s request, citing “his rights to the protection
and defence of his person,” according to Ecuadoran prosecutors.

Swedish prosecutors dropped their sexual assault probe into Assange last year
after the five-year statute of limitations expired.

But they still want to question him about the 2010 rape allegation, which
carries a 10-year statute of limitations.

Assange insists the sexual encounters in question were consensual and his
lawyer Samuelsson told Sweden’s TT news agency yesterday that he was “very
hopeful” his client would clear his name.

“For the first time since August 2010, Mr. Assange was finally able to
give his statement in relation to this allegation,” he added.

“He has done so in part to ensure the Swedish authorities have no further
excuse not to discontinue their preliminary investigation,” WikiLeaks
later said in a statement, adding that Assange fully cooperated with the
process.