Post date: Nov 18, 2010 8:50:20 PM
Swedish court approves request to detain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over rape allegations which he denies.
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (NOVEMBER 18, 2010) REUTERS - A Swedish court on Thursday (November 18) ordered the detention of Julian Assange, the founder of whistle blowing website WikiLeaks, on suspicion of rape and other sexual crimes, allegations he denies.
Marianne Ny, the prosecutor leading the case, said she requested the order to interrogate Assange over the allegations.
"What happened this morning was that I handed in a detention request to Stockholm district court and there have been a negotiation in the afternoon where the court decided to arrest Assange in his absence," Ny told Reuters.
She added: ""The district court shared my judgement that Assange, on probable causes, is guilty of sexual assault and rape."
Assange's lawyer, Bjorn Hurtig, told journalists after the hearings he expected a European arrest warrant would be issued for Assange, who had sometimes visited Sweden in the past, and that he would probably appeal.
Hurtig says his client maintains his innocence.
He declined to answer questions as to the whereabouts of Assange, an Australian citizen.
The prosecutor's office began an investigation into allegations of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion against Assange in September.
Assange has called the allegations baseless and criticised what he has called a legal circus in Sweden, where he had been seeking to build a base in order to benefit from its strict journalist protection laws.
He has said that he had been warned by Australian intelligence before the charges were brought that he could face a campaign to discredit him.
WikiLeaks has angered the Pentagon with its releases of documents related to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The latest leak, in October, was of nearly 400,000 classified U.S. files on the Iraq war, which Assange has said showed 15,000 more Iraqi civilian deaths than thought. Assange
said this month he may seek political asylum in Switzerland.
"What will happen next is the release of an international arrest warrant in an attempt to execute the detention request and carry out hearings with Assange," Ny said.