UN panel: WikiLeaks' Assange a victim of arbitrary detention
GENEVA -- A UN panel is sticking by its opinion that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a victim of arbitrary detention, rejecting a request by Britain to review the case.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Britain had not presented enough new information to merit a new examination. The panel made the decision at a meeting last week, the UN human rights office said Wednesday.
In February, the panel found that Britain and Sweden had "arbitrarily detained" Assange, saying he should be freed and entitled to compensation.
Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012 to avoid arrest and extradition to Sweden. Swedish prosecutors want to question him over allegations of rape.
Assange fears he could be sent to the United States over secret-spilling by WikiLeaks.
