FRANK FLORIO – On Friday, September 16, 2016, a Swedish appeals court ruled in favor of a request by Swedish prosecutors to detain Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, for suspicions of rape stemming from a 2010 incident.[1] Mr. Assange has not yet been charged and is wanted for questioning.[2] Although the alleged incident took place in 2010 and the Swedish government has wanted to bring Assange in, Assange has been able to avoid extradition to Sweden by seeking shelter at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012.[3]
The Swedish appeals court has dictated that Assange “is still detained in absentia” and that it “shares the assessment of the district court that Julian Assange is still suspected on probable cause of rape… and that there is a risk that he will evade legal proceedings or a penalty.”[4] However, Assange denies the allegation and has challenged the detention order numerous times because he fears that he will be extradited to the United States for espionage if he leaves the Ecuadorian Embassy.[5] Additionally, the Swedish Court stated that Assange’s four-year Embassy hiatus “is not a deprivation of liberty and shall not be given any importance in its own right in the assessment of proportionality.”[6]
In order to get around this situation, Sweden and Ecuador made a deal to have Assange questioned at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on October 17, 2016.[7] Mr. Assange’s attorney has appealed the decision to the Swedish Supreme Court, but because the questioning has now been arranged in such a way that Assange will not have to leave the Embassy, the appeals court stated, “[T]here is at present no reason to set aside the detention order.”[8]
If Assange can continue to prolong the investigation, the rape allegation will expire under the Swedish statute of limitations in 2020.[9] Even if he were to prevail, he is still liable to arrest in London for evasion of justice after his extradition appeals were rejected.[10] So, Assange is really in a tricky situation. Does he have any legal reasoning left to continue to fight the rape allegation if he does not leave the Ecuadorian Embassy? Or, does he take the chance and leave the Embassy to travel to Sweden to have his say in court and risk extradition to the United States? Sweden has made it clear to Mr. Assange that they cannot extradite him without the United States formally charging him with a crime and a request for his extradition.[11] As of now, the United States has yet to do so either.[12]
Your move Mr. Assange.
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[1] Charles Duxbury, Swedish Court Upholds Arrest Warrant for WikiLeaks Founder Assange, Wall St. J., Sept. 16, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/swedish-court-upholds-arrest-warrant-for-wikileaks-founder-assange-1474018575.
[2] Id.
[3] The Associated Press, Swedish Appeals Court Upholds Detention Order for Assange, N.Y. Times, Sept. 16, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/16/world/europe/ap-eu-sweden-assange.html?_r=0.
[4] Pia Ohlin, Julian Assange Arrest Warrant Upheld By Swedish Court, Yahoo News, Sept. 15, 2016, https://www.yahoo.com/news/julian-assange-swedish-court-upholds-arrest-warrant-092222828.html.
[5] The Associated Press, Swedish Appeals Court Upholds Detention Order for Assange, N.Y. Times, Sept. 16, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/16/world/europe/ap-eu-sweden-assange.html?_r=0.
[6] Pia Ohlin, Julian Assange Arrest Warrant Upheld By Swedish Court, Yahoo News, Sept. 15, 2016, https://www.yahoo.com/news/julian-assange-swedish-court-upholds-arrest-warrant-092222828.html.
[7] Charles Duxbury, Swedish Court Upholds Arrest Warrant for WikiLeaks Founder Assange, Wall St. J., Sept. 16, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/swedish-court-upholds-arrest-warrant-for-wikileaks-founder-assange-1474018575.
[8] The Associated Press, Swedish Appeals Court Upholds Detention Order for Assange, N.Y. Times, Sept. 16, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/16/world/europe/ap-eu-sweden-assange.html?_r=0.
[9] Id.
[10] Pia Ohlin, Julian Assange Arrest Warrant Upheld By Swedish Court, Yahoo News, Sept. 15, 2016, https://www.yahoo.com/news/julian-assange-swedish-court-upholds-arrest-warrant-092222828.html.
[11] Id.
[12] Charles Duxbury, Swedish Court Upholds Arrest Warrant for WikiLeaks Founder Assange, Wall St. J., Sept. 16, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/swedish-court-upholds-arrest-warrant-for-wikileaks-founder-assange-1474018575.
