The lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says that the decision to add the 39-year-old Australian to Interpol's most wanted list shows that his client is being persecuted.
Media lawyer Mark Stephens says Assange and his attorneys have not been provided with any information beyond what has been reported in the press about the sexual misconduct case against him in Sweden.
He says Assange has repeatedly sought meetings with Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny. Stephens said Wednesday that it was bizarre that Ny sought an arrest warrant after having ignored or rejected Assange's offers of voluntary cooperation.
Stephens said that this appears to be "a persecution and not a prosecution."
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