Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said he will turn himself over to UK police on Friday if a UN panel rules he has not been unlawfully detained. He took refuge in London’s Ecuadorian embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault claims.
In 2014 he complained to the UN that he was being “arbitrarily detained” as he could not leave without being arrested.
Mr Assange, who denies all the claims, said he will accept the ruling but hoped to walk free if it went his way.
The UK Foreign Office said Mr Assange had voluntarily avoided lawful detention, saying it still had an obligation to extradite him.
The UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is due to announce the findings of its investigation into Mr Assange’s case on Friday.
The panel of legal experts took evidence from the UK and Sweden. It has made previous rulings on whether imprisonment or detention is lawful although it does not have any formal influence over the British and Swedish authorities.
Return of passport
Australian Mr Assange was originally arrested in London in 2010 under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Sweden. He was granted asylum by Ecuador and entered the country’s embassy in Knightsbridge after the UK Supreme Court ruled the extradition against him could go ahead.
His Wikileaks organisation posted secret American government documents on the internet, and Mr Assange says he believes Washington will seek his transfer to the US if he is sent to Sweden.
In the statement published by Wikileaks on Twitter, Mr Assange said: “Should the UN announce tomorrow that I have lost my case against the United Kingdom and Sweden I shall exit the embassy at noon on Friday to accept arrest by British police as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal.
“However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me.”
Caroline Hawley, BBC diplomatic correspondent, said Mr Assange claims his time inside the embassy does amount to detention “as he would be arrested if he came out”.
She said Swedish prosecutors were now preparing to allow Ecuadorian officials to put questions to Mr Assange – who has previously indicated he would be willing to be questioned inside the embassy.
Swedish officials want to question Mr Assange over one outstanding allegation of rape, our correspondent said, adding: “As I understand it the latest is that Ecuadorian officials have said that their prosecutors, rather than Swedish prosecutors, would put questions to Julian Assange.
“Surprisingly to me, the Swedish prosecutor has accepted that.”
She said questions were now being compiled and translated for Ecuadorian officials.
Last October, Scotland Yard said it would no longer station officers outside the Ecuador embassy following an operation which had cost it £12.6m. But it said “a number of overt and covert tactics to arrest him” would still be deployed.
Two months earlier, Swedish officials said they were optimistic about reaching an agreement with Ecuador which could pave the way for the questioning of Mr Assange in London.
BBC
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