Crown Prosecution Service Crown admitted to media
In an embarassing disclosure, British prosecutors have admitted to destroying key emails relating to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who still remains in Ecuador’s London embassy fighting extradition.
UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed to the Guardian that emails between one of its lawyers and counterparts in Sweden pursuing a rape claim against the activist were deleted when the employee retired in 2014.
The lawyer had reportedly told Swedish investigators in 2010 or 2011 that they should not come to London to interview Assange. It is unclear why the lawyer sdid so, or if other information in the deleted emails would shed light on the moves that have created Assange’s current situation.
The CPS data destruction was disclosed in a freedom of information (FOI) case being pursued by the Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi.
“It is incredible to me these records about an ongoing and high-profile case have been destroyed. I think they have something to hide,” said Maurizi, who will also take this case against the CPS to an information tribunal in London next week.
Swedish prosecutors dropped the rape case against Assange earlier this year, saying that there was nothing more they could do to investigate without the subject making himself available, though Assange has still not left the embassy.
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