Assange is being arbitrarily held, UN panel says
UN panel has ruled in favour of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange after he complained he was "arbitrarily detained"
A United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has decided that Julian Assange’s three-and-a-half years stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London amount to “arbitrary detention”, leading his lawyers to call for the Swedish extradition request to be dropped immediately.
A Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the UN panel, due to publish its findings on Friday, had concluded that Assange was “arbitrarily detained”.
ssange claimed asylum in London's Ecuadorean embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex assault claims, which he denies.
The Met Police says Assange would be arrested if he does leave the embassy.
He earlier said his passport should be returned and his arrest warrant dropped if the UN panel ruled in his favour.
In 2014, Assange complained to the UN that he was being "arbitrarily detained" as he could not leave the embassy without being arrested.
The application claimed Mr Assange had been "deprived of his liberty in an arbitrary manner for an unacceptable length of time".
