UN Working Group: Julian Assange is Detained Illegally

A working group from the United Nations tasked with investigating the case of Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, has deemed his current situation as a case of 'illegal detention.' Mr. Assange has sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for about four years, while the UK insists he must be extradited to Sweden to face charges of 'rape.' Meanwhile, the UN working group officially announced on Friday, February 5, that Julian Assange is entitled to compensation from the countries of the UK and Sweden since he has been under 'illegal detention' for these four years. The group's statement also emphasizes that Assange's 'detention' should end. In response to this stance, Sweden and the UK have deemed the statement and its conclusions unacceptable. According to Agence France-Presse, the Swedish Foreign Minister wrote in a letter to the UN working group that the Swedish government does not accept the group's opinion and believes it has no right to intervene in a case that the Swedish Prosecutor General has been handling. Reuters also reported the remarks of Philip Hammond, the UK Foreign Secretary, who called the UN working group's report 'ridiculous.' Mr. Hammond stated, 'I reject the conclusion of this working group. This group is made up of ordinary people, not legal experts. Julian Assange has fled from justice and is hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy.' The UK Foreign Minister further stated, 'He can leave [the Ecuadorian embassy] whenever he wants... but if he makes such a decision, he will inevitably surrender to justice in Sweden. The conclusion of this working group is truly ridiculous, and we reject it.' Julian Assange has consistently denied the charges of 'rape and sexual offenses' brought against him by the Swedish prosecution and has expressed concern that if London extradites him to Stockholm, Stockholm will ultimately extradite him to the United States. In recent years, the WikiLeaks website has published thousands of confidential documents from the US government and other countries, gaining notoriety for these revelations.