Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will demand he be allowed to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London a free man, after a UN panel ruled yesterday that he was detained arbitrarily there.
Assange, who enraged the United States by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables, has been holed up in the embassy since 2012 to avoid a rape investigation.
Assange appealed to the UN panel, saying he was a political refugee whose rights had been infringed by being unable to take up asylum in Ecuador.
The panel of five independent experts ruled in Assange’s favour on Friday.
The former computer hacker denies allegations of a 2010 rape in Sweden, saying the charge was a ploy that would eventually take him to the US, where a criminal investigation into the activities of WikiLeaks was still open.
Britain said it had never arbitrarily detained Assange and that the Australian had voluntarily avoided arrest by jumping bail to flee to the embassy.
Both Sweden and Britain said they would not be bound by the panel’s ruling.
But Assange, 44, said in a short statement posted on Twitter: “Should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me.”
He had said that if he lost the appeal he would leave his cramped quarters at the embassy in the Knightsbridge area of London, though Britain said he would be arrested and extradited to Sweden as soon as he stepped outside.
The decision in his favour marks the latest twist in a tumultuous journey for
Assange since he incensed Washington with his leaks that laid bare often highly critical US appraisals of world leaders, from Vladimir Putin to the Saudi royal family.
While the ruling may draw attention to Assange’s fate, it is unlikely to immediately affect the investigations against him.
The UN Working Group does not have the authority to order the release of a detainee, but it has considered many high-profile cases and its backing carries a moral weight that puts pressure on governments.
A British government spokeswoman said: “We have been consistently clear that Mr Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK but is, in fact, voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain in the Ecuadorean embassy.”
Swedish prosecutors said the UN decision had no formal impact on the rape investigation under Swedish law.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was unclear what impact “a pronouncement from the United Nations would have on the situation”. — Reuters
UN panel rules in favour of spy
Assange, who enraged the United States by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables, has been holed up in the embassy since 2012 to avoid a rape investigation.
Assange appealed to the UN panel, saying he was a political refugee whose rights had been infringed by being unable to take up asylum in Ecuador.
The panel of five independent experts ruled in Assange’s favour on Friday.
The former computer hacker denies allegations of a 2010 rape in Sweden, saying the charge was a ploy that would eventually take him to the US, where a criminal investigation into the activities of WikiLeaks was still open.
Britain said it had never arbitrarily detained Assange and that the Australian had voluntarily avoided arrest by jumping bail to flee to the embassy.
Both Sweden and Britain said they would not be bound by the panel’s ruling.
But Assange, 44, said in a short statement posted on Twitter: “Should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me.”
He had said that if he lost the appeal he would leave his cramped quarters at the embassy in the Knightsbridge area of London, though Britain said he would be arrested and extradited to Sweden as soon as he stepped outside.
The decision in his favour marks the latest twist in a tumultuous journey for
Assange since he incensed Washington with his leaks that laid bare often highly critical US appraisals of world leaders, from Vladimir Putin to the Saudi royal family.
While the ruling may draw attention to Assange’s fate, it is unlikely to immediately affect the investigations against him.
The UN Working Group does not have the authority to order the release of a detainee, but it has considered many high-profile cases and its backing carries a moral weight that puts pressure on governments.
A British government spokeswoman said: “We have been consistently clear that Mr Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK but is, in fact, voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain in the Ecuadorean embassy.”
Swedish prosecutors said the UN decision had no formal impact on the rape investigation under Swedish law.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was unclear what impact “a pronouncement from the United Nations would have on the situation”. — Reuters
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