UK rejects Assange claim on extradition law, suspense remains

LONDON: Amidst headlines that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s media appearance on Monday was a ‘PR stunt’, officials have rejected his claim that he will leave the Ecuador embassy here ‘soon’ due to Britain changing its extradition laws recently.

The changes include not extraditing a person who had not been charged with offence. In Assange’s case, he faces allegations of sexual assault on two women in Sweden, where authorities want him for questioning.

Under Swedish law, Assange has not yet been formally charged, and charges are framed in the country at a much later stage, unlike in other countries. His case is currently at the stage of preliminary investigation. British courts had previously cleared his extradition.

A Home Office spokesperson said the changes to extradition laws would not be applied retrospectively, which meant that Assange would be dealt with under the earlier provisions, as the law stood when Sweden issued the European Arrest Warrant in 2010, when there was no requirement of a charging decision before completing the extradition paperwork.

Since there has been no change in the legal position, Assange faces immediate arrest if he were to step outside the Ecuador embassy, where he took refuge in June 2012. He was granted asylum by Ecuador in August 2012.

Meanwhile, Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson said Wikileaks founder will not leave the Ecuador embassy in London until it is guaranteed that he will avoid extradition to the United States.