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June 4, 2019

Swedish Court Rejects Detention Request for Julian Assange
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On Monday, a Swedish court rejected a request to arrest and detain Wiki
Leaks founder Julian Assange, halting for now an extradition attempt by
Swedish prosecutors over a recently reopened rape investigation from
2010. Assange is now serving a 50-week sentence at Belmarsh Prison in
London for skipping bail. His lawyers and the U.N. special rapporteur on
torture have warned that Assange's health and psychological well-being
are deteriorating. Swedish prosecutors say they will proceed to question
Assange while in British detention instead.

The decision could make possible extradition to the U.S. easier. Assange
faces 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for his role in
publishing U.S. classified military and diplomatic documents, leaked by
U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, and exposing U.S. war crimes in
Iraq and Afghanistan. He also faces one count of hacking a government
computer.


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