A Swedish court has upheld the detention order on Julian Assange, reaffirming the legal basis for an international warrant that has kept the WikiLeaks founder in hiding in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.
Assange’s defense team plans on appealing the order to a higher court.
#Assange's defence team says they will appeal to a higher court. "This has to come to an end" Kristinn Hrafnsson from @wikileaks told me— Per Nyberg (@per_nyberg) July 16, 2014
Assange is wanted by Swedish police for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct. He has been holed in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since seeking asylum there in June 2012. British police on guard outside the embassy have orders to arrest him if he ever steps out.
Assange's U.S. lawyer, Michael Ratner, tells The Guardian why the WikiLeaks chief is fighting the extradition order.
“The fear here was not about Sweden but that Sweden was going to be a place that would extradite him to the U.S.,” he said.
“Until we can get an assurance from the U.S. government of non-prosecution, leaving the Ecuadorean embassy would be a very high-risk move.”
No sign of Assange appearance on balcony at Ecuadorean embassy. Suspect he's on phone to lawyers considering appeal pic.twitter.com/gHVUcbCp7E— Robert Booth (@Robert_Booth) July 16, 2014