Lawyer Filed Appeal Against Detention of Swedish Allegedly Linked to Assange

BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - Carlos Soria, a lawyer of a Swedish citizen, who, according to the Ecuadorian authorities, was linked to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, told Sputnik that he had filed an appeal against his client's detention.

"The prosecutor's office opened an investigation against Bini, and at the hearing they did not provide evidence to substantiate the accusations. We are fighting, today [on Monday] we filed an appeal against the decision on pre-trial detention [of Bini], which should be examined by another judge. We expect him to be released within then next five days," Soria said.

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On April 13, the General Prosecutor’s Office in Ecuador confirmed that 36-year old Swedish national Ola Bini had been detained pending trial for the alleged involvement in hacking government computer systems. Ecuador’s Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo reportedly said Bini visited the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where Assange, who was arrested last week, lived for almost seven years.

Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorean Embassy after its government withdrew his political asylum status. The WikiLeaks founder, who has become famous for leaking classified US government data, now faces extradition to the United States on charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.