Julian Assange detention request over rape claim rejected by Swedish court
Written by News on 03/06/2019
A Swedish court has ruled it will not seek the detention of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in relation to a suspected rape case.
It means Mr Assange, currently in jail in south-east London and suspected of rape in Sweden, will not be extradited and could be questioned in the UK.
The decision by the Uppsala District Court does not mean a preliminary investigation in Sweden should be abandoned.
Eva-Marie Persson, Swedish deputy director of public prosecutions, said Mr Assange had not co-operated with the Swedish investigation previously, fleeing from an extradition order, and therefore needed to be detained and questioned in Sweden.
Mr Assange’s lawyer, Per E Samuelson, argued that a detention order was “meaningless” as Mr Assange is currently imprisoned in the UK and should not be considered a flight risk, according to Swedish media.
Mr Samuelson said it was not proportionate to ask for someone’s detention merely to conduct a questioning session.
Last month, the 47-year-old was evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he had been living in political asylum since 2012.
He was then immediately arrested by police on 11 April.
Mr Assange is serving a 50-week sentence in Belmash jail for jumping bail in 2012.
He is also fighting extradition to the US, which accuses him of publishing secret documents.
Last week Mr Assange missed a court session in the UK, reportedly due to health problems.
(c) Sky News 2019: Julian Assange detention request over rape claim rejected by Swedish court
