Assange being arbitrarily detained — United Nations group

The Australian government must lobby Sweden to allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to walk free, according to lawyers who have been involved in his defence.

The WikiLeaks founder noted the United Nations had stressed that the panel’s decision was “legally binding”, which means attempts to deny the ruling by UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond were just “words”.

Assange warned that if his “illegal, immoral detention” continues despite the decision, those responsible for it in the United Kingdom and Sweden will face criminal charges.

Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2012, where he has been residing since.

It also found there was a “lack of diligence” on the part of the Swedish Prosecutor’s Office in its investigations, which has resulted in Assange’s lengthy loss of freedom.

The computer hacker, who founded the WikiLeaks in 2006 that released 500,000 secret U.S. military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and 250,000 diplomatic cables enraging Washington, has been confined to a small in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden to face a rape investigation.

Melinda Taylor, Assange’s lawyer, called the ruling “a resounding vindication of Mr. Assange’s position”. Ove Bring, a professor of global law at Stockholm University, said he was very surprised.

When prosecutors decided they needed to question him about the women’s allegations, they sought an global arrest warrant for him that was issued in November, 2010.

Both governments however adhere to the view, that in this case, domestic law takes precedence over worldwide law. He also fears that once extradited to Sweden, he could be further extradited to the US for prosecution on espionage charges related to WikiLeaks’ massive release of classified documents in 2010.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Mr Assange had been detained and subjected to “various forms of deprivation of liberty”.

He said Assange was the victim of “abuse”, whose only crime was “revealing the crimes committed by other citizens of powerful countries”.

The Swedish foreign ministry’s legal chief, Anders Ronquist, added that Assange “is not being deprived of his liberty there due to any decision or action taken by the Swedish authorities”.

U.N. human rights office official Christophe Peschoux said the dissenter was Vladimir Tochilovsky, a Ukrainian member of the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Robinson said Assange has exercised his legal rights in a lawful manner.

Julian Assange speaks at a news conference at the Front Line Club in London via video link from the Ecuadorian Embassy where he has been for three years after the country granted him political asylum.

“It is time that Assange packs his bag, steps out of the embassy and begins to cooperate with the Swedish Prosecuting Authority”.