UK and Sweden reject Assange ‘arbitrarily detained’ verdict

Members of the media stand outside the Ecuadorean embassy where Julian Assange has lived since 2012. A UN expert panel said that Britain and Sweden are detaining WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in anShow more

GENEVA // WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been “arbitrarily detained” by Britain and Sweden since December 2010, and should be freed and compensated, a UN human rights panel said.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which falls under the offices of the UN human rights chief, made the call in an 18-page document made public on Friday after it had notified Mr Assange.

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.

Mr Assange has consistently denied the allegations but declined to return to Sweden to meet prosecutors and eventually sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has lived since June 2012.

Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, poured scorn on the verdict.

“I reject the decision of this working group,” Mr Hammond told ITV news on Friday. “It is a group made up of lay people and not lawyers. Julian Assange is a fugitive from justice. He is hiding from justice in the Ecuadorean embassy.”

“He can come out any time he chooses ... But he will have to face justice in Sweden if he chooses to do so. This is frankly a ridiculous finding by the working group and we reject it.”

Sweden said it did not agree with the ruling that said Mr Assange’s stay in Ecuador’s London embassy amounted to “unlawful detention”.

“The government does not agree with the assessment made by the majority of the Working Group,” the foreign ministry said in a letter to the panel, adding that the body does not have the right to “interfere in an ongoing case handled by a Swedish public authority”.

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 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 Hong Seong-phil in a statement.

Citing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that has 168 state parties including both Sweden and Britain, the panel said “the adequate remedy would be to ensure the right of free movement of Mr. Assange and accord him an enforceable right to compensation.”

The panel criticised a “disproportionate” reaction by Swedish prosecutors in issuing a European arrest warrant rather than seeking to question Assange using bilateral agreements with Britain, and insisted that the Swedish prosecutor “refused” to consider other ways of interviewing him compatible with his right to asylum — which it said was not properly respected.

The case has also been complicated by uncertainty surrounding Mr Assange’s legal status in the United States. The US government has not revealed whether he has been indicted — grand jury proceedings are secret there — but has indicated that sensitive investigations into Assange and WikiLeaks have been made.

The working group said Assange could face “refoulement” to the United States — being handed over to a country where he could face violence or prison. The UN upholds the principle of non-refoulement prohibiting that practice.

* Agencies