UN panel to rule in favor of Assange; UK says it will arrest him anyway
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A UN panel has decided that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been under "arbitrary arrest" at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, but the UK warned he would be arrested anyway when he leaves the embassy as planned on Friday.
The panel’s decision is not legally binding but can be used as part of human rights pressure on governments, according to a report by The Guardian.
Assange was accused of rape and sexual assault in Sweden, allegations which he denied. The WikiLeaks founder sought asylum from Ecuador in June 2012.
“If he is regarded as detained, that means he has served his time, so I see no other option for Sweden but to close the case,” Assange’s Swedish lawyer, Per Samuelson, was quoted by The Guardian as saying.
“There is only one solution for Marianne Ny (the Swedish prosecutor seeking Assange’s extradition), and that is to immediately release him and drop the case,” he added.
Assange said in a Twitter statement that he would voluntarily walk out of the embassy on Friday and will accept arrest “as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal.”
Swedish officials said they will not make any comments before Friday.
“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 Ecuadorian embassy.,” the British Foreign Office said in a statement.
The panel’s decision is not legally binding but can be used as part of human rights pressure on governments, according to a report by The Guardian.
Assange was accused of rape and sexual assault in Sweden, allegations which he denied. The WikiLeaks founder sought asylum from Ecuador in June 2012.
“If he is regarded as detained, that means he has served his time, so I see no other option for Sweden but to close the case,” Assange’s Swedish lawyer, Per Samuelson, was quoted by The Guardian as saying.
“There is only one solution for Marianne Ny (the Swedish prosecutor seeking Assange’s extradition), and that is to immediately release him and drop the case,” he added.
Assange said in a Twitter statement that he would voluntarily walk out of the embassy on Friday and will accept arrest “as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal.”
Swedish officials said they will not make any comments before Friday.
“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 Ecuadorian embassy.,” the British Foreign Office said in a statement.