Now meddling UN says Britain has ‘held Assange unlawfully’
WIKILEAKS f o under Julian Assange has been unlawfully detained by Britain, a UN panel will rule today.
The fugitive hacker claimed asylum at Ecuador’s embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sex assault claim.
He has been in self-imposed confinement since. But the UN working group on arbitrary detention, a five- strong panel stuffed with human r i ghts experts, says he has been ‘arbitrarily detained’ for more than three years.
Members will agree that the 44-year-old Australian has been ‘deprived of his liberty in an arbitrary manner for an unacceptable length of time’ because he could not leave the embassy without facing arrest.
The little-known UN panel usu- ally probes nations with appalling human rights records, such as Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Iran – not those widely-held to be bastions of democracy.
It was called in to investigate Britain and Sweden’s treatment of Assange i n 2014 after he complained he was effectively being held against his will.
Its report, to be published today, will cite the fact he has never been charged and the l ength of his confinement. Critics are certain to brand the judgment – which is not legally binding – as meaningless because Assange had voluntarily opted to live in a cramped room at the embassy after jumping bail.
In a statement, the WikiLeaks founder said he expected to walk free today if the UN panel ruled in his favour. But the UK authorities pledged to arrest him if he leaves his diplomatic sanctuary Knightsbridge.
A Government spokesman said: ‘We have been consistently clear that Mr Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK but is, in fact, voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain i n the Ecuadorean embassy.’ Scotland Yard said officers would ‘make every effort’ to arrest him i f he l eft the
in embassy. The force has so far spent £12million on round-theclock surveillance of it. Assange, who was originally arrested under a European Arrest Warrant in 2010, is wanted in Sweden over one remaining allegation of rape.
But he fears being extradited to the US to face trial for leaking secret American military and diplomatic documents.
Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: ‘The UK has a legal obligation to fulfil a European Arrest Warrant to extradite Mr Assange.’
The UN panel has made previous rulings in favour of highprofile figures, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, who was accused of spying in Iran, and Aung San Suu Kyi who spent 15 years under house arrest in Myanmar.
The UN has faced criticism that it meddles in British issues. In 2014, poverty ‘ambassadors’ attacked welfare reforms and in 2013 Brazilian housing ‘rapporteur’ Raquel Rolnik hit out at cuts to housing benefit.
‘Arbitrarily detained’