Assange to Demand Release From UK After UN Working Group Ruling

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has welcomed a decision by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on his unlawful detainment in London and plans to call on the United Kingdom to release him, British media reported Thursday.

LONDON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, media reports emerged claiming that WGAD had concluded that detaining Assange was illegal. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is set to make an official statement on the issue on Friday. In order to understand how it may affect the investigation, Sputnik reached out to the Swedish Prosecutor's press service. 

"We cannot give a definite answer at the moment, we do have an announcement on our website," the officer told Sputnik. 
The statement from the Working Group has no formal impact on the ongoing investigation, according to Swedish law, the statement reads. A source in the press-service told Sputnik that it's "too early" to answer whether the UN's decision is going to have any impact on the investigation.    

Assange is "extremely pleased" with the WDAG decision and has plans to "call on the United Kingdom" to release him, Assange's friend John Pilger told the ITV channel.

Earlier in the day, a UK government spokesperson said the United Kingdom was legally obliged to extradite Assange to Sweden on a sexual assault arrest warrant.

Assange has been residing at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012 out of fear of being extradited, first to Sweden and ultimately to the United States where he could face espionage charges for publishing secret documents through his website.

On September 12, 2014, Assange submitted a complaint against London and Stockholm to WGAD.