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12. 09. 2014

ASSANGE APPEALS TO STOCKHOLM COURT DECISION

12.9.2014. (Tanjug) - Lawyers of the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange filed a petition today against the ruling of the judge from Stockholm who upheld warrant for his arrest under the accusation of rape and sexual harassment in Sweden.

Lawyer Thomas Olson said that a new hearing has been requested, reports Swedish newspaper "Dagens Nyheter".

The defence points out that the arrest warrant, issued in November 2010, shoud be revoked because the prosecution refused to travel to London to question Assange (43), who found refuge in the Equadorian embassy in this city.

A judge in Stockholm confirmed in mid-July that the warrant for Assange's arrest remains in force, Itar-Tass agency reported.

Assange launched the Wikileaks website in 2006 where he published a large number of classified diplomatic and military documents of governments world-wide in 2010. A bulk of published documents is of the U.S. government.

Assange requested asylum from Equador in June 2012, after an exhausting battle before British courts to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Assange fears that Sweden could hand him over to the U.S. because the U.S. also demands Assange's extradition as they consider that publishing secrets about U.S. politics and diplomacy harmed the U.S. national security.