Swedish Supreme Court Turnaround, Will Hear Assange Appeal

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Photo: Reuters

Sweden’s highest court will hear an appeal by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as he seeks to quash an arrest warrant arising from rape and sexual molestation allegations.

On Tuesday the Swedish Supreme Court agreed to consider Mr Assange’s appeal against the decisions of lower courts to uphold an arrest warrant issued in November 2010.

The Supreme Court has decreed that the Swedish “Attorney-General [Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson] expeditiously submit its reply to the case, especially on the issue of the conduct of investigations and the principle of proportionality”.

Last week a United States court confirmed that WikiLeaks and Mr Assange are still being targeted by the US Department of Justice in a criminal investigation prompted by leaks of secret military and diplomatic documents by US army private Chelsea Manning in early 2010.  US laws referenced in search warrants executed in the WikiLeaks probe relate to espionage, conspiracy, theft of US government property and computer fraud and abuse.

Mr Assange was arrested in the United Kingdom in December 2010, to be extradited in accordance with a European arrest warrant to Sweden to be questioned about sexual assault allegations made by two Swedish women three months earlier.  After a period of incarceration in Wandsworth Prison, Mr Assange was bailed and resided under house arrest at Ellingham Hall in Norfolk.

In June 2012, after a series of unsuccessful appeals in the British courts, Mr Assange moved to Ecuador’s London embassy, where he was granted political asylum on the grounds that he is at risk of extradition to the United States to face espionage and conspiracy charges.

British police are on guard outside the embassy 24 hours a day, waiting to arrest Mr Assange so he can be extradited to Sweden.  Mr Assange denies the allegations and his lawyers have advised that his extradition to Sweden could facilitate his extradition to the US.

In June 2014, Mr Assange’s lawyers applied to the Swedish district court seeking to quash the original arrest warrant on the grounds that prosecutors had failed to progress the case by refusing to interview him in the United Kingdom and that he has been denied access to key facts forming the basis for  the decision to arrest him.  The application was rejected and that decision was upheld by Sweden’s court of appeal in November 2014.  Mr Assange then appealed to the Swedish Supreme Court which only considers cases that raise constitutional questions or where it is important to establish a precedent for guidance of lower courts.

“The situation is completely stalled and that is what we highlighted on our request,” Per Samuelsson, one of Mr Assange’s lawyers, said in February when the Supreme Court appeal was lodged.

A win in the Swedish Supreme Court would not necessarily resolve Mr Assange’s circumstances, as British police could still arrest him for breaking his bail conditions when he sought political asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy.

“US case continues and the UK says they will arrest Assange anyway, even if the Swedish extradition warrant drops,” WikiLeaks tweeted today in response to the Swedish supreme court’s decision.