Assange hearing: Sweden to decide extradition request

UPPSALA, Sweden: A Swedish court heard arguments on Monday before deciding if prosecutors can proceed to request Julian Assange’s extradition from Britain, after a 2010 rape probe was re-opened in May.

Both sides presented their arguments to the Uppsala district court which adjourned to deliberate. It was expected to announce a decision at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT). Swedish deputy director of public prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson said the WikiLeaks founder had not cooperated with the Swedish investigation previously, fleeing from an extradition order, and therefore needed to be detained and questioned in Sweden.

She asked the court to order Assange’s detention in his absence, a standard part of Swedish legal procedure if a suspect is outside the country or cannot be located, and which would be the first step to having him extradited.

"The purpose of this detention is to be able to complete the investigation and bring Julian Assange to justice," Persson said. Assange’s Swedish lawyer, Per E Samuelson, meanwhile argued that a detention order was "meaningless" as Assange is currently imprisoned in Britain and should not be considered a flight risk.

He said it was not proportionate to ask for someone’s detention merely to conduct a questioning session. The Australian whistleblower, who holed himself up in Ecuador’s embassy in London for seven years to avoid a British extradition order to Sweden, was arrested by British police on April 11 after Quito gave him up.

He was subsequently sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching bail conditions when he took refuge in the embassy. Following his arrest Swedish authorities reopened their 2010 rape investigation, which had been closed in 2017 with the argument that it was not possible to proceed with the probe as Assange could not be reached. If the Uppsala court grants the prosecutor’s request, Eva-Marie Persson has made clear she intends to issue a European Arrest Warrant "concerning surrender to Sweden".

Such a request would, however, have to compete with an extradition request from the United States, where Assange is facing a total of 18 charges, most of which relate to obtaining and disseminating classified information over the publishing of military documents and diplomatic cables through the website WikiLeaks.