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July 17, 2014

Assange Lawyers to Appeal Swedish Court Ruling Upholding Warrant 
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A Swedish court has upheld the arrest warrant that's kept Wiki Leaks
founder Julian Assange confined in Ecuador’s London Embassy for over
two years. Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning on allegations of
sexual misconduct, though no charges have been filed. Assange's
attorneys had petitioned for the warrant to be withdrawn, arguing it
cannot be enforced while Assange is in the embassy and Swedish
prosecutors refuse to question him in London. But the motion was
dismissed on Wednesday without explanation. Defense attorney Tholmas
Olsson vowed to appeal.

Tholmas Olsson: "We will appeal against this decision. We don't agree
with the district court in their judgment of the need to overrule this
decision about custody. We can't accept that this situation is
[continuing]. ... I think that legally we have very strong arguments,
but this case has many dimensions, and it was probably a very difficult
decision for the court to take. We waited several hours for it. But we
are hopeful for the appeal."

Wednesday's hearing marked the first formal legal debate over Assange's
status since he took refuge in June 2012.

 

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