Julian Assange's Appeal Against Arrest Warrant Rejected

Sweden’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Julian Assange against a 2010 arrest warrant for alleged sexual offenses. In a ruling delivered Monday, the court said that it saw “no reason to lift the arrest warrant” against the Wikileaks founder, who is currently living at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

The arrest warrant was issued by Swedish authorities in 2010 after two women alleged that Assange had sexually assaulted them. Assange has, however, denied the allegations, and insisted that the sexual encounters were consensual.

“The Supreme Court believes that there is a strong reason for the criminal investigation to proceed,” the court said, in a statement. “The Supreme Court notes that the preliminary attempts to interrogate Assange in London have begun … there is currently no reason to lift the arrest warrant.”

Assange has also refused to travel to Sweden over fears that he would be sent to the U.S., where an investigation over Wikileaks’ release of thousands of classified military files is currently underway.

Although Swedish prosecutors had earlier insisted that Assange be extradited to Sweden, they have since agreed to question him at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

“We are of course disappointed, and critical of the Supreme Court's way of handling the case,” Assange's lawyer Per Samuelson told Reuters. “This decision has been taken without letting us close our argument.”