The British government on Thursday issued a vehement rebuttal of a UN panel’s findings that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been arbitrarily detained.
The British government on Thursday issued a vehement rebuttal of a UN panel’s findings that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been arbitrarily detained.
Published in February, the United Nations working group’s non-binding legal opinion was instantly dismissed as “ridiculous” by London, which has now submitted its formal response, inviting the panel to reconsider its conclusions.
Mr Assange faces a rape allegation in Sweden but has been inside Ecuador’s embassy in London for nearly four years in a bid to avoid extradition.
The 44-year-old Australian fears that from Sweden he could be deported to the United States over WikiLeaks’ release of 500,000 secret military files.
The UN panel said the detention it concluded Mr Assange was living under had violated his human, civil and political rights.
“The working group’s opinion is deeply flawed and Mr Assange has never been the subject of arbitrary detention,” the foreign office said.
“His human rights have been protected throughout.”
Anti-secrecy campaigner Assange initially spent 10 days in a London prison having been refused bail, but his detention was “absolutely in line with the relevant legislation and regulations”, the statement said.
The former computer hacker’s series of failed court appeals against extradition to Sweden took 18 months and “cannot be considered excessive or unfair”, the rebuttal said.
“During this period he was granted bail and so cannot be considered to have been detained.”
The UN panel said Mr Assange should be able to claim compensation from Britain and Sweden.
Foreign office minister Hugo Swire said: “The original conclusions of the UN working group are inaccurate and should be reviewed. We want to ensure the working group is in possession of the full facts.”
