Assange lawyer says UK must respect UN panel’s report on whistle-blower
A lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has urged Britain to “free” the whistle-blower who has been holding up in Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012.
"If it [Britain] respects its international commitments to the United Nations, it has to respect a decision of a working group based on the UN convention on political and civil rights. We hope it will endeavor to free Assange," said Christophe Marchand, who works for the Brussels-based law firm Jus Cogens.
The lawyer issued the statements after a UN panel said that the founder of WikiLeaks who sought refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden — has been arbitrarily detained in violation of international law
The panel is to publicize the finding of its investigation into Assange’s appeal on Friday.
"Assange's position has always been that he is in detention, like in a transit zone," Assange’s lawyer said. "The next step is what Britain and Sweden are going to do. The ball is in their court, they have to put an end to the legal labyrinth."
The WikiLeaks founder has also said that he expects the British police to call off their attempts to detain him if the panel rules in his favor when it publishes its report.
“However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me,” said a statement posted to Twitter by WikiLeaks on Thursday morning.
But Sweden's prosecution authority who wants to question Assange, an Australian citizen, over a rape accusation says the ruling had no impact on its investigation.
Britain has also said it would have to arrest him as long as a European warrant for his arrest remained in vigor. According to the UK police, Assange will still be arrested if he leaves the building where he took refuge back in June 2012.
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