British police on Friday threatened to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if he leaves the Ecuadorean embassy in London after Swedish prosecutors said they would drop a preliminary investigation into an allegation of rape against him.

Assange, 45, has been holed up in the embassy since 2012 after skipping bail to avoid extradition to Sweden over the allegation of rape, which he denies.

“Westminster Magistrates’ Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange following him failing to surrender to the court on June 29, 2012,” London police said in a statement.

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