Post date: Feb 24, 2011 7:37:11 PM
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he will appeal extradition to Sweden to face sex crimes accusations, following a UK court ruling. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.
UK-ASSANGE STATEMENT - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange loses his highly-publicized case in London after a judge ruled he should be extradited to Sweden to face sex crimes accusations.
He says he is fully prepared to fight the ruling.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying:
"We have always known that in all likelihood, we would have to appeal, 95 percent of European arrest warrants are successful, that is something that Fair Trials International has rightly condemned. And it is right that there is a review in UK extradition procedures in June to deal with some of those abuses of the European Arrest Warrant in law, and for abuses relating to other countries, such as the United States."Assange has seven days to appeal the decision.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying:
"The scrutiny of the European arrest warrant system needs to start now. It cannot be the case that simply filling out two pages with someone's name and a suspicion, not a charge, can lead to their extradition without any consideration of the allegations against them, to anyone of 26 European nations."
Lawyers for Assange, who has angered the U.S. government by releasing thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables on his website, hope to put the extradition on hold.
They argue the United States could later demand his extradition on charges of espionage and punish him with the death penalty.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.