A Swedish appeals court on Friday (Sep 16) upheld an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a 2010 rape accusation, rejecting his request to have it lifted.
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He’s now living in political asylum at the London-based Ecuadorian embassy and facing renewed scrutiny, and NBC News reports how a Swedish appeals court won’t drop a warrant for Assange on a 2010 rape allegation.
Assange avoided possible extradition to Sweden by taking refuge in Ecuador’s London embassy in 2012, Reuters news agency reported.
Assange has said the rape allegations are a pretense for him to be extradited to the United States. The sexual assault allegation was dropped after time ran out to bring charges a year ago, but officials said they would continue to pursue the rape investigation.
The request by Swedish prosecutors to detain and question Assange, 45, will remain in force. “Julian Assange’s claim to that effect shall therefore be refused”, the court said.
The statute of limitations for rape is 10 years in Sweden, meaning it would expire in 2020 if prosecutors haven’t filed an indictment by then.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a speech from the balcony of the Ecuadorean Embassy, in central London, Britain.
Assange’s legal team issued a statement, saying Assange is disappointed with the court ruling.
Assange dismissed the rape allegations in a TV interview with Sweden’s SVT last week.
Two Swedish officials, including chief prosecutor Ingrid Isgren and a police investigator will also be present to ask questions through the Ecuadorian prosecutor who will later submit a report to Sweden, the statement said.
However, the UK Foreign Office has called for the United Nations decision to be reviewed, saying Assange was staying in the embassy voluntarily and that the UK had a legal duty to extradite him to Sweden.
“The majority has concluded that the Swedish public prosecutor was a judicial authority, within the meaning of both the framework decision and the extradition act”.
Former National Security Agency intelligence contractor Edward Snowden requested political asylum there after leaking thousands of classified documents revealing vast U.S. surveillance.
A moving truck has been spotted at the embassy and there is speculation Assange could be on the move.
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The unnamed doctor, who said he believed that Assange “does have a degree of suicidal ideation”, added that the “unusual circumstances” has placed the WikiLeaks founder in a precarious situation.
