May 30, 2012 (TSR) – Britain’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the appeal by Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, is dismissed, paving the way for his extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes.
“The request for Mr Assange’s extradition has been lawfully made and his appeal against extradition is accordingly dismissed,” said Supreme Court president Nicholas Phillips in a ruling handed down after an 18-month-long trial of the case.
Assange’s lawyers had argued that the European arrest warrant issued by authorities in Sweden was “invalid and unenforceable,” while they still have 14 days to seek to reopen the case.
The Swedish authorities want to question Assange over allegation of rape raised by one woman, and of sexual coercion by a second woman, which reportedly happened on his visit to the Scandinavian country in 2010.
The 40-year-old Australian who founded the Wikileaks website has embarrassed several governments, including the United States authorities, by publishing millions of secret diplomatic cables on the Internet.
Since his arrest in Britain in December 2010, Assange has been fighting a lengthy legal battle against extradition, fearing that his return to Sweden would lead eventually to his extradition to the United States to face the anger of the authorities over his publishing of the diplomatic cables.
Source: Xinhua
