Julian Assange.

LONDON: Sweden’s highest court on Monday rejected whistleblower Julian Assange’s appeal against his arrest warrant.

A 4-1 decision saw the jury decide in favour of not lifting the warrant against the WikiLeaks founder, who is charged with allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Unable to draw him out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London for over three years, Swedish prosecutors had decided to travel to Britain to question Assange over the allegations. He has been holed up inside the embassy in London since June 2012 to avoid a British extradition to Sweden, which wants to question him on the allegations.

Director of public prosecutions of Sweden Marianne Ny made a request to Assange’s legal representatives earlier on whether he would consent to being interviewed in London and have his DNA taken via a swab. Assange’s lawyer Per Samuelson welcomed the move. “This is something we’ve demanded for over four years.”

Sweden’s top court said investigators had begun efforts to question Assange in London. “The court finds no reason to lift the arrest warrant,” the court said. In June 2012, the Supreme Court of England and Wales had decided that Assange should be surrendered to Sweden.

TOI | May 12, 2015

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