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UN panel: Assange detained arbitrarily, should be freed U.N. panel: WikiLeaks founder Assange detained arbitrarily
(about 1 hour later)
GENEVA — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been “arbitrarily detained” by Britain and Sweden since December 2010, and should be freed and compensated, a U.N. human rights panel says. LONDON — A United Nations panel on Friday said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been “arbitrarily detained” and urged Britain and Sweden to end his “deprivation of liberty.”
The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which falls under the offices of the U.N. human rights chief, made the call in an 18-page document made public on Friday after it had notified Assange. Assange is “entitled to his freedom of movement and to compensation,” said the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in a statement.
Swedish prosecutors want to question Assange over allegations of rape stemming from a working visit he made to the country in 2010 when WikiLeaks was attracting international attention for its secret-spilling. Assange has been holed up for over three years in the Ecuadoran Embassy in central London, a stone’s throw from the famous department store Harrods, where he fled to escape extradition to Sweden.
Assange has consistently denied the allegations but declined to return to Sweden to meet with prosecutors and eventually sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has lived since June 2012. He is wanted for questioning in Sweden over allegations that include rape — accusations he strenuously denies.
In an indirect swipe at Sweden’s judicial system, the panel noted that Assange was never formally charged in Sweden — only placed under preliminary investigation. The U.N. panel has no legal authority but its decisions often carry weight in international disputes.
“The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considers that the various forms of deprivation of liberty to which Julian Assange has been subjected constitute a form of arbitrary detention,” said panel chairman Seong-Phil Hong in a statement. “Having concluded that there was a continuous deprivation of liberty, the Working Group also found that the detention was arbitrary because he was held in isolation during the first stage of detention and because of the lack of diligence by the Swedish Prosecutor in its investigations, which resulted in the lengthy detention of Mr. Assange,” the panel’s statement said.
He said the working group believed that Assange’s arbitrary detention “should be brought to an end, that his physical integrity and freedom of movement be respected, and that he should be entitled to an enforceable right to compensation.” Assange was originally arrested in London in 2010 following a European Arrest Warrant issued by Sweden who wanted to question him over alleged sex crimes. He was detained at Wandsworth Prison where spent 10 days and was kept in solitary confinement.
The panel’s decisions are not binding on states, even if they are generally considered a good arbiter of international law. After the British courts ruled that the extradition could go ahead, he fled to the Ecuadoran Embassy, which has offered him asylum amid fears he could eventually face charges in the United States over leaked documents, including classified State Department cables.
“The statement from the Working Group has no formal impact on the ongoing investigation, according to Swedish law,” said Karin Rosander, spokeswoman for Sweden’s Prosecution Authority, in a statement. She said the prosecutor in charge of the case was traveling and not immediately available for comment on the decision. In an indirect swipe at Sweden’s judicial system, the panel noted that Assange was never formally charged in Sweden — only placed under preliminary investigation, the Associated Press reported.
___ Assange, meanwhile, vowed Thursday to demand the return of his passport from British officials if backed by the U.N. panel. He is expected to make a statement at 7 a.m. Eastern time.
Jan M. Olsen contributed from Copenhagen, Denmark. In Sweden — which seeks to question Assange on alleged sex crimes — the country’s Foreign Ministry has said the that the U.N.’s view “differs from that of the Swedish authorities.”
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. In 2014, Assange filed a complaint against Britain and Sweden with the U.N. group over what he said was his “arbitrary detention.”
Friday’s ruling is clearly a publicity win for Assange, who is expected to use the moral voice of the panel to argue for his release. But it’s not clear if he will be leaving the embassy anytime soon. Swedish prosecutors have said that the ruling has “has no formal impact on the ongoing investigation, according to Swedish law.”
And British authorities are standing firm.
The British government said Assange avoided arrest by fleeing to the Ecuadoran Embassy and that it was obligated to extradite him to Sweden over an outstanding rape allegation.
“This changes nothing. We completely reject any claim that Julian Assange is a victim of arbitrary detention. The UK has already made clear to the UN that we will formally contest the working group’s opinion,” said the Foreign Office in a statement on Friday.
“Julian Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK. The opinion of the U.N. Working Group ignores the facts and the well-recognized protections of the British legal system. He is, in fact, voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain in the Ecuadorean embassy. An allegation of rape is still outstanding and a European Arrest Warrant in place,” it continued.
A Downing Street spokesman told reporters on Thursday that the U.N. panel’s findings would not be “legally binding” in the U.K.
Citing spiraling costs, the London Metropolitan Police stopped their 24/7 policing of the embassy last year. But they continue to monitor it covertly and stress they will seek to arrest him should he step foot on British soil.