Julian Assange tweets a simple response as Sweden drops rape investigation

Julian Assange can now (almost) walk free.

And he's obviously thrilled about it, as his latest tweet with an old picture of himself smiling shows:

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Sweden's director of public prosecutions has decided to drop the 7-year rape investigation into the WikiLeaks founder.

Assange, 45, has lived in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, in a bid to avoid being extradited to Sweden.

He's refused to travel to Stockholm for fears of a further extradition to the U.S., where he could face charges over WikiLeaks’ release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The U.S. hasn't said whether they have prepared charges against him.

WikiLeaks, which tweeted the announcement, said the focus now is on the UK:

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In a statement, the Met Police confirmed Julian Assange will be arrested should he leave the Ecuadorian Embassy for failing to surrender to bail.

"Westminster Magistrates' Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange following him failing to surrender to the court on the 29 June 2012," police said.

"The Metropolitan Police Service is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the Embassy."

If Assange is convicted on the charge, the maximum sentence he could face is a year in prison and/or a fine.