Assange lawyers ask Swedish court to overturn arrest warrantFebruary 23, 2016 - 08:11 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Lawyers for Julian Assange have asked a Swedish court to overturn an arrest warrant for the Wikileaks founder following a ruling by a UN panel that his stay in Ecuador's London embassy amounts to arbitrary detention, Reuters reports. Assange, 44, took refuge at the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations, which he denies, that he committed rape in 2010. He says the accusation is a ploy that would eventually lead to his extradition to the United States, where a criminal investigation into the activities of WikiLeaks is still open. "We consider that there have arisen a number of new circumstances which mean there is reason to review the earlier decision," Thomas Olsson, one of Assange's lawyers, said on Monday, Feb 22. A second lawyer representing Assange said he remained willing to be questioned in the Ecuadoran embassy, according to Sweden's national news agency. Ecuador has granted Assange asylum and he says his rights have been infringed because he is unable to travel to the South American country. Both Britain and Sweden denied that Assange was being deprived of freedom and the Swedish prosecutor in charge of the case has said she will renew an application to interview Assange. Prosecutor Marianne Ny said the UN panels' non-binding ruling had no impact on the case. In 2010, WikiLeaks released more than 90,000 secret documents on the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 U.S. military reports detailing operations in Iraq. Those disclosures were followed by release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973. A U.S. Grand Jury investigation into WikiLeaks is ongoing. Photo: The Guardian Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |