Assange v Swedish Prosecution Authority were the set of legal proceedings in the United Kingdom concerning the requested extradition of Julian Assange to Sweden for a "preliminary investigation" into accusations of sexual offences. The proceedings began in 2012. On 12 August 2015, Swedish prosecutors announced that they had dropped their investigation into three of the allegations against Assange, because the statute of limitations had expired. The investigation into the rape allegation was dropped by Swedish authorities on 19 May 2017. Assange said in these proceedings that he feared he would ultimately be extradited to the United States if he were sent to Sweden.