Swedish court upholds arrest warrant for Assange

A Swedish court on Wednesday upheld an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent two years at Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault.

Swedish prosecutors want to question Assange over the allegations made by two female former WikiLeaks volunteers.

"All in all, the district court makes the assessment that the reasons for the arrest warrant offset the infringement and adverse effects the measure entails for Julian Assange," district court Judge Lena Egelin said. "He should therefore continue to be wanted for arrest in his absence."

Assange's lawyers have argued that the arrest warrant should be repealed because it cannot be enforced while Assange is in the embassy and the Swedish prosecutor had not considered the possibility of interrogating him in London.

One of Assange's defense lawyers, Per Samuelson, said they would study the judge's decision in detail and then "write a juicy, toxic appeal" to a higher court.

"Our legal arguments are solid and powerful," Samuelson told The Associated Press. "That they didn't work could be because the judge didn't give herself enough time to think."

Last month, Assange's lawyers filed a court petition to repeal the detention order — imposed by the Stockholm district court in November 2010 — on the grounds that it cannot be enforced and because it is restricting Assange's civil rights.

Assange denies the allegations and has been fighting a legal battle against extradition since his arrest in Britain in December 2010. He says he fears Sweden could in turn extradite him to the United States to be tried for one of the largest leaks of classified information in U.S. history.

Swedish prosecutors have ruled out the possibility of questioning him in London.

"Julian Assange is evading justice by seeking refuge at Ecuador's embassy," lead prosecutor Marianne Ny said. "He needs to make himself available in Sweden for remaining investigative measures and a potential trial."

Ecuador, which has granted Assange political asylum, wants London to assure him safe passage to Quito.

Even if Sweden had dropped its case against Assange, he would face immediate arrest by British police for violating his bail conditions when he fled officials and sought refuge at the embassy.

Britain has surrounded the Ecuadorean Embassy with police officers round the clock, ready to detain him if he leaves it.

British police say they have spent $10.3 million from June 2012 until March of this year on policing costs at the Ecuadorean Embassy.

In an interview with Reuters last year, Assange said he would not leave the sanctuary of the embassy even if Sweden stops pursuing sexual assault claims against him because he feared arrest on the order of the United States.

In a video link during the meeting, he also talked to Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, who told journalists that negotiations with Britain over Assange's fate were at an impasse and that there would be no attempt to force him back to Sweden.

"We will protect Julian Assange for as long as necessary," he said.

Ny, the prosecutor, said she wasn't aware of any investigation in the U.S. and that she hadn't had "any sort of contact" with U.S. authorities.

"The only contacts we've had have been with Britain," she said.

Wire services