A United
Nations panel has officially concluded WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange has been "arbitrarily detained" and should be
allowed to walk free. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorean
Embassy in London for more than three years.
He wants
to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations, which he
has repeatedly denied and for which he has never been charged. He
fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States, where he could
face trial for WikiLeaks’ revelations.
We air
reaction to the U.N. decision from Assange and his attorney, Melinda
Taylor, and speak with Mads Andenæs, U.N. special rapporteur on
arbitrary detention.
Video
and transcript of the interview:
WikiLeaks
founder has hailed as “a victory that cannot be denied” the
favorable UN panel ruling on his detention, saying that the UK and
Sweden have lost at the highest level. The comments came as he
appeared on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
[...]
Assange
warned that if his “illegal, immoral detention” continues despite
the decision, those responsible for it in the UK and Sweden will face
criminal charges. After exposing corruption at the highest
international level for 20 years, Assange said that he expected
persecution.
[...]
Assange
concluded his speech by thanking everybody at the UN, the people and
the government of Ecuador, all his supporters worldwide as well as
the “good people” in the governments of the UK, Sweden and the
US. The whistleblower has been holed up for over three years at the
Ecuadorian embassy in London after being granted asylum by the
country in order to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces
sexual assault allegations.
Assange
filed a complaint against Sweden and Britain to the UN Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention in September 2014 after exhausting all other
legal options in the fight to regain freedom.
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