UK denies holding whistleblower Assange arbitrarily
The British government has officially rebutted a UN panel’s finding that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been arbitrarily detained by Sweden and the UK.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) issued a non-binding legal opinion last month, ruling that the whistleblower should be allowed to walk free and compensated for his “deprivation of liberty.”
UNWGAD said Assange’s living conditions violated his human, civil and political rights.
London, which had instantly dismissed the ruling as “ridiculous,” submitted a formal response on Thursday, urging the panel to reconsider its conclusions.
"The working group's opinion is deeply flawed and Mr. Assange has never been the subject of arbitrary detention," the UK Foreign Office said. "His human rights have been protected throughout."
Assange, 44, has taken refuge inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012, after losing a legal battle against extradition to Sweden, where he is facing allegations of rape and sexual abuse.
The activist denies the accusations, describing them as a ploy to send him to America, where he is wanted over the release of thousands of classified US documents.
He spent 10 days in a UK prison and was refused bail, but the UK statement claimed that his detention was "absolutely in line with the relevant legislation and regulations"
The former computer hacker's numerous court appeals against extradition took 18 months to process and "cannot be considered excessive or unfair", it said.
"During this period he was granted bail and so cannot be considered to have been detained," it added.
UK Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire echoed the same arguments on Thursday, saying the UNWGAD ruling was not based on “full facts.”
Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2009 and has been portrayed in two movies in recent years.
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