Friday, June 29, 2012

Julian Assange 'declines' police request

Julian Assange

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will ignore a Metropolitan Police request to surrender to a police station, his representative has said.

Susan Benn said he was advised to "decline to comply" and will remain inside the Ecuadorian embassy while his application for asylum is processed.

Officers from the Met's extradition unit delivered a note to Mr Assange at the London embassy on Thursday.

He wants to avoid being sent to Sweden to face rape and assault accusations.

The police letter requested that he surrender himself to Belgravia police station at 11:30 BST on Friday.

In a statement read out on his behalf by Ms Benn, Mr Assange said: "This should not be considered any sign of disrespect. Under both international and domestic UK law asylum assessments take priority over extradition claims."

The Wikileaks website published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses.

Mr Assange fears that if he is sent to Sweden he could be sent on to the United States to face charges over Wikileaks and that there, he could face the death penalty.



Source & Image : BBC

No comments:

Post a Comment