Swedish prosecutors have today reopened the investigation into a rape allegation against Julian Assange from 2010.
The inquiry against the 47-year-old WikiLeaks co-founder comes at the request of the alleged victim's lawyer.
Assange, who denies the charges, is currently being held in Belmarsh prison in London after being sentenced earlier this month to 50 weeks for breaching his bail conditions.
He previously sought refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy in London for the past seven years since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden.
Prosecutors originally dropped the investigation in 2017 after they felt unable to take the case forward after Assange remained inside the embassy.
Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden's deputy director of public prosecutions, said in her announcement today: "There is still probable cause to suspect that Mr Assange committed rape.
"Now that he has left Ecuador's embassy, the conditions in the case have changed and the conditions are in place once again to pursue the case."
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange jailed for 50 weeks for breaching bail
Assange was arrested in April after the Ecuadorian government withdrew his asylum, blaming his "repeated violations" of "international conventions and daily-life protocols".
He entered the embassy on June 19 2012 while under intense scrutiny over leaks of hundreds of thousands of classified US diplomatic cables on his whistleblowing website.
When talking about the conflict over Assange's extradition to the US, Persson said: "In my view, the Swedish case can proceed concurrently with the proceedings in the UK. Reopening the investigation means that a number of investigative measures will take place.
"In my opinion a new interview with the suspect is required. Such an interview, however, requires Julian Assange's consent."
Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks said: "This case has been mishandled throughout. After the Swedish prosecutor refused to question Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy for years, it was only when forced by Swedish courts that she travelled to London to finally question Assange. Then Sweden wanted to drop its arrest warrant for Assange as early as 2013.
"Assange was always willing to answer any questions from the Swedish authorities and repeatedly offered to do so, over six years. The widespread media assertion that Assange 'evaded' Swedish questioning is false.
"This investigation has been dropped before and its reopening will give Julian a chance to clear his name."
Assange also faced an investigation over a second rape allegation, but this was dropped in 2015 because time had run out. He also denies this allegation.
