Sweden’s top court will hear Assange appeal over arrest warrant

Sweden's Supreme Court said Tuesday it would hear an appeal by WikiLeaks founder Julian to lift the arrest warrant against him issued by prosecutors who want to question him over allegations of sexual assault.

Assange, 43, an Australian citizen, has been staying in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual assault against two women in 2010. He denies the accusations.

Prosecutors first insisted he go to Sweden for questioning but in a U-turn in March agreed to conduct the interview in London.

Assange has said he fears that if Britain extradites him to Sweden, he could then be extradited to the United States, where he would be tried for one of the largest leaks of classified information in U.S. history.

Even if Sweden drops the investigation, he faces arrest by British police for jumping bail granted while the British courts considered the European arrest warrant issued by Sweden.

“The Supreme Court grants leave to appeal in the matter regarding the arrest,” the court said in statement, which provided no date for when the appeal will be heard.

Assange's Swedish lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

Reuters