Yahoo – AFP,
Jacques Klopp, February 5, 2016
 |
WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange addresses the media holding a printed report
of the
judgement of the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on his case
from the
balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in central London on February 5,
2016 (AFP
Photo/Niklas Halle'n)
|
London
(AFP) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Friday urged Britain to let him
walk free from Ecuador's London embassy after a UN panel found that the
anti-secrecy campaigner who faces a rape allegation in Sweden was
"arbitrarily detained."
Speaking to
a handful of supporters and a media scrum in a rare appearance from the balcony
of the embassy where he took refuge nearly four years ago, Assange hailed a
"victory of historical importance".
"How
sweet it is! This is a victory that cannot be denied," he proclaimed,
waving a hard copy of the legal opinion and often seeming emotional.
Assange has
refused to go to Sweden for questioning fearing deportation to the US over
WikiLeaks' release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq.
Earlier, the 44-year-old Australian told journalists via video link that it was "now the task of the states of Sweden and the United Kingdom as a whole to implement the verdict".
 |
A look back
at the key dates in the life of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
(AFP
Photo/Kun Tian, Thomas Saint-Cricq)
|
Earlier, the 44-year-old Australian told journalists via video link that it was "now the task of the states of Sweden and the United Kingdom as a whole to implement the verdict".
The UN
panel said Assange's detention should end and that he should be able to claim
compensation from Britain and Sweden.
But both
countries quickly dismissed the non-binding legal opinion, with Britain's
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond calling it "ridiculous".
Assange
walked into the embassy in June 2012 to avoid the threat of arrest and
extradition to Sweden, where he still faces a rape allegation.
He has lived
there ever since in a small office room with a bed, computer, sun lamp,
treadmill and access to a small balcony decorated with Ecuador's flag.
 |
Ecuador's
Foreign Minister Ricardo
Patino speaks during a press conference
in Quito on
February 5, 2016 (AFP Photo/
Rodrigo Buendia)
|
It added:
"The working group also considered that the detention should be brought to
an end and that Mr Assange should be afforded the right to compensation."
Fears of
imprisonment
Britain and
Sweden sharply condemned the panel's findings and said they would change
nothing.
Hammond
called Assange "a fugitive from justice."
"This
is frankly a ridiculous finding by the working group and we reject it,"
the foreign secretary added.
Sweden's
foreign ministry said that it "does not agree" with the assessment.
"Mr
Assange is free to leave the embassy at any point and Swedish authorities have
no control over his decision to stay at the embassy," the ministry added.
Only three
of the five members of the UN panel supported the opinion -- one recused
herself because she is Australian, like Assange, and another member disagreed.
 |
British
designer Vivienne Westwood displays a British passport after arriving to visit
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at Ecuador's embassy in central London, on
February 4, 2016 (AFP Photo/Chris Ratcliffe)
|
Christophe
Peschoux, the working group's secretary, said at a briefing in Geneva that
Britain and Sweden had two months to submit new information to force a review,
and Britain says it will contest the opinion.
Ecuador's
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said it was "time for both governments...
to allow Julian Assange his freedom."
Swedish
authorities want to speak to Assange about a rape allegation whose statute of
limitations does not expire until 2020.
Elizabeth
Fritz, the lawyer for the woman who has accused Assange, criticised the panel's
comments.
"That
a man who is wanted on an arrest warrant for rape should be awarded
compensation for intentionally hiding from the judicial system for more than
five years is offensive to my client," she said.
Swedish
judicial authorities said last month that Ecuador had refused its request to
let a Swedish prosecutor question Assange because Quito wanted an Ecuadorean
prosecutor to do the questioning.
 |
British
Foreign Secretary Philip
Hammond described the UN panels'
decision on Wikileaks founder Julian
Assange as "ridiculous" as he
met journalists in
London, on
February 5, 2016 (AFP Photo/
Niklas Halle'n)
|
Assange
fears that if he went to Sweden for questioning, he could then be sent to the
US and face prison.
WikiLeaks' activities -- including the release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- have infuriated the US.
WikiLeaks' activities -- including the release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- have infuriated the US.
The main
source of the leaks, US Army soldier Chelsea Manning, was sentenced to 35 years
in prison for breaches of the Espionage Act.
A hero to
supporters and a dangerous egocentric to detractors, the computer programmer
and hacker, whose celebrity fans include fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and
singer Lady Gaga, founded WikiLeaks in 2006 and has been portrayed in two
movies in recent years.
Britain
spent over £10 million (12 million euros, $15 million) maintaining a 24-hour
guard outside the embassy to immediately arrest Assange if he set foot on
British soil, but withdrew it last year.
The Assange
case has polarised opinion in Britain and there were many criticisms of his
conduct Friday.
The
Guardian newspaper, which has in the past worked with WikiLeaks to publish
secret documents, used an editorial to condemn the latest developments as
"a publicity stunt."
Julian #Assange should be able to walk free and claim compensation, UN panel says: https://t.co/3K7c4d7XKF pic.twitter.com/9WcaQsz7lw— AFP London (@afplondon) February 5, 2016
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