WikiLeaks probe to be reopened

A TOP Swedish prosecutor said yesterday she would reopen a rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, overturning a previous ruling to quash a probe of the Australian.

"There is reason to believe that a crime has been committed. Considering information available at present, my judgement is that the classification of the crime is rape," director of prosecutions Marianne Ny said in a statement. "The basis for further considerations is not sufficient at the moment. More investigations are necessary before a final decision can be made (concerning possible charges)," she added.

A Swedish duty prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Assange on August 20 over rape allegations. But chief prosecutor Eva Finne abruptly withdrew it the next day, saying new information had come to light. Then last week Finne said there was no reason to believe a crime had been committed, adding however that she had enough evidence to keep looking into a molestation allegation from another woman against Assange.

The lawyer for Assange's alleged victims, Claes Borgstroem, lodged an appeal against Finne's decision to a special department in the public prosecutions office.

Assange, 39, has said the allegations against him are part of a "smear campaign" aimed at discrediting his whistleblowing website, which is locked in a row with the Pentagon over the release of secret US documents about the war in Afghanistan.

Ny, head of the department that oversees prosecution of sex crimes in particular, overturned Finne's decision on the rape claim, and also said the investigation into the molestation claim would be extended.AFP