British Court To Decide On Lifting Julian Assange Arrest Warrant

A British court is to decide whether to lift a UK arrest warrant for Julian Assange, potentially paving the way for the WikiLeaks founder to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has spent the last five years, MIA reported

LONDON,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 06th Feb, 2018 ) :A British court is to decide whether to lift a UK arrest warrant for Julian Assange, potentially paving the way for the WikiLeaks founder to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has spent the last five years, MIA reported.

Assange entered the Ecuadoran embassy to dodge a European arrest warrant and extradition to Sweden over a 2010 probe in the Scandinavian country into rape and sexual assault allegations. Sweden dropped its investigation last year, but British police are still seeking to arrest Assange for failing to surrender to a court after violating bail terms during his unsuccessful battle against extradition.

Assange's lawyer Mark Summers told a London court last week that the warrant had "lost its purpose and its function".

He said Assange had been living in conditions "akin to imprisonment" and his "psychological health" has deteriorated and was "in serious peril".

The court heard that the 46-year-old was suffering from a bad tooth, a frozen shoulder and depression. But prosecutor Aaron Watkins called Assange's court bid "absurd". "The proper approach is that when a discrete, standalone offence of failing to surrender occurs, it always remains open to this court to secure the arrest," Watkins said.

Assange has refused to leave the embassy, claiming he fears being extradited to the United States over WikiLeaks' publication of secret US military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010, the report said.