MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK will contest UN opinion on 'arbitrary detention' of Julian Assange

“We completely reject any claim that Julian Assange is a victim of arbitrary detention. The UK will formally contest the working group’s opinion”.

The United Kingdom will formally contest the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Julian Assange is a victim of arbitrary detention. From Stockholm Swedish prosecution said the UN ruling had no formal impact into an ongoing rape investigation against the WikiLeak's founder.

A government spokesperson said: “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.

”Julian Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK. The opinion of the UN Working Group ignores the facts and the well-recognised 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, so the UK continues to have a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden. As the UK is not a party to the Caracas Convention, we do not recognise ‘diplomatic asylum’.

“We are deeply frustrated that this unacceptable situation is still being allowed to continue. Ecuador must engage with Sweden in good faith to bring it to an end. Americas Minister Hugo Swire made this clear to the Ecuadorean Ambassador in November, and we continue to raise the matter in Quito”.

From Stockholm, Swedish prosecutors said a UN ruling which said Julian Assange had been 'arbitrarily detained' in Ecuador's embassy in London had no formal impact into an ongoing rape investigation against the WikiLeak's founder.

“The statement from the Working Group has no formal impact on the ongoing investigation, according to Swedish law,” the Prosecution Authority said in a statement.

“The prosecutor responsible for the case is on a journey and has not yet been able to take a position on the latest development.”