Britain said on Thursday it would make a formal protest to Ecuador over its decision to provide asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in its London embassy and so prevent his extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes.
"Ecuador must recognise that its decision to harbour Mr Assange more than three years ago has prevented the proper course of justice," British Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire said in a statement.
The comments came after Swedish prosecutors dropped inquiries into three allegations of sexual molestation and unlawful coercion against Assange as they had run out of time to bring charges.
However, they said they would push on with an investigation into an allegation of rape made in 2010 against him.
The 44-year-old Australian has been holed up in Ecuador's London embassy since June 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden.
Assange expressed fear that if he leaves, he could eventually face extradition to the United States and a trial over the leak of hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010.
Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny said she was "obliged to drop part of the investigation" after the statute of limitations expired after five years on one count of sexual assault and another of unlawful coercion. A third allegation of sexual molestation will run out on August 18.
However, Ny still wants to question Assange over the more serious claim of rape, which carries a 10-year statute of limitations due to expire in 2020.
Assange has accused Ny of being "beyond incompetence" for failing to travel to the embassy to take his statement or to pledge he would not be sent to the US.
Assange has always denied the allegations by two Swedish women and insists the sexual encounters were consensual.
"I am extremely disappointed. There was no need for any of this. I am an innocent man," Assange said in a statement after the prosecutor's decision.
He accused Ny of being "beyond incompetence" for failing to travel to the embassy to take his statement or to pledge he would not be sent to the US.
Rows over questioning
Prosecutors say that despite repeated attempts they have been unable to gain access to Ecuador's embassy, while lawyers for Assange insist that suspicions Ecuador is using delaying tactics are unfounded.
“Since the autumn of 2010 I have tried to interview Assange, but he has been consistently evasive,” Ny said in her statement Thursday.
Under Swedish law, if a suspect is not questioned before the deadline on the case expires, they can no longer be tried for the alleged crimes.
But a member of Assange's legal team, Baroness Helena Kennedy, highlighted what she said was the weakness of the case against him.
"The evidence would never have stood in any court of law worthy of its name," she said in a statement. "The remaining allegation is just as unlikely to lead to conviction."
Claes Borgstrom, a lawyer for one of the two women who accused Assange of assault in 2010, said his client was trying to come to terms with the likelihood that the case will never be tried.
"She has always been ready to stand by her accusations and wanted to bring the case to court. But at the same time a weight has been lifted. This has been dragging on for five years and she wants to go back to her normal life," he told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter earlier this week.
Huge cost to British taxpayer
Assange breached his bail conditions to go to the embassy and British police have guarded the building in the upmarket central London neighbourhood of Knightsbridge day and night ever since, at an estimated cost of more than 10 million pounds (14 million euros).
"It is completely unacceptable that the British taxpayer has had to foot the bill for this abuse of diplomatic relations," said Swire, adding Britain still had a legal obligation to
extradite Assange while the rape allegation remained outstanding.
"I have instructed our ambassador in Quito to reiterate to Ecuador that the continuing failure to expedite the Swedish prosecutor's interview and to bring this situation to an end, is being seen as a growing stain on the country's reputation."
Assange has compared living inside the embassy to life on a space station.
His room, which measures 15 feet by 13 feet (4.5 by 4 metres), is divided into an office and a living area. He has a treadmill, a shower, a microwave and a sun lamp and spends most of his day at his computer.
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