The arrest warrant for Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, was upheld in a district court in Sweden on Wednesday.
"The progress of this case is very much in the hands of Mr. Assange now," Marianne Ny, the chief prosecutor
told The Wall Street Journal.
Assange was accused of rape and sexual molestation by two Swedish women after visiting the country in August 2010. The women were former Wikileaks volunteers. He has not been formally charged, however Swedish authorities have issued the warrant in order to bring him in for questioning.
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A native of Australia, Assange lives in England, and fought a long court battle there to avoid extradition. He was ultimately ruled against. He then arranged for asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in 2012, and has remained there since.
Among other things, it would be illegal for prosecutors to collect DNA swabs from Assange in a foreign country, and the court has determined that because of this, Assange must make an appearance in person for the questioning.
Assange's lawyer Per Samuelsson disagrees with that logic, however, saying at the hearing that "The FBI has traveled to Sweden for interrogations, so why can't Swedish prosecutors go to the U.K. to hear Assange."
In the end, however, Judge Lena Egelin found that, "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. He should therefore continue to be wanted for arrest in his absence."
According to ABC News Australia, Australian Attorney-General George Brandis commented after the ruling that "Mr. Assange should be man enough to face the allegations against him of being a sexual predator."
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