Rape Case Against WikiLeaks Founder Assange Will Be Reopened

Swedish Director of Public Prosecution Marianne Ny has decided to reopen an investigation into rape charges directed at WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, she said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Originally, the rape charges directed at Assange were dropped by Chief Prosecutor Eva Finné. However, that decision was appealed and Ny believes that a crime has been committed. Considering the information available at present, her judgement is that the classification of the crime should be rape, she said.

There is more bad news for Assange. A second set of charges against him has been extended to include all allegations in the original police report, and has now been changed from molestation to sexual coercion and sexual molestation, according to the Prosecution Authority.

Ny will from now on be in charge of the investigation, but doesn't want to give any more information concerning details of it, she said.

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