by Our Foreign Desk

SWEDISH prosecutors have dropped four charges of sexual misconduct against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said yesterday that it was dropping two cases of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion as they had exceeded the legal time limit for such investigations.

But it said it still wanted to question Australian citizen Mr Assange, who has been living in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012, over rape allegations by two women in 2010 that do not expire until 2020.

Public prosecutor Marianne Ny claimed she had been trying to interview him since autumn 2010, but that he had “consistently refused to appear” after leaving Sweden.

“I still hope, however, that I will be able to arrange for an interview, as there are ongoing negotiations between Sweden and Ecuador,” she said.

Mr Assange denied that he had refused to talk to Ms Ny and said he was “extremely disappointed” at her decision to continue the investigation against him.

“There was no need for any of this. I am an innocent man,” he said.

“From the beginning I offered simple solutions. Come to the embassy to take my statement or promise not to send me to the United States,” he said.

“This Swedish official refused both. She even refused a written statement.”

Ecuador granted Mr Assange political asylum after he alleged that a Swedish extradition request was a ploy to have him extradited to the US, where he is being investigated on suspicion of espionage.