MOSCOW (Sputnik) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Tuesday the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union poses some risk to his legal position regarding the extradition order he faces.
"Well, Brexit is a slight risk in relation to my… appeals in the European Court of Justice, so it's an avenue that has been cut off there," Assange said via video linkup on on the 10-year anniversary of WikiLeaks, after being asked to clarify his statement that Brexit could have changes for his legal case.
Assange has been residing at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012 for fear of being extradited to Sweden where he has been accused of rape.
In February, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) ruled that Assange's de facto incarceration was arbitrary. The whistleblower lodged an appeal with a Swedish court on August 9, calling on the country to comply with the UN ruling. Assange has also asked Sweden's Supreme Court to send the case to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling, a request which has so far been denied.
In late June, WikiLeaks said on its Twitter account that the United Kingdom's decision to exit the European Union means that the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) against founder and editor-in-chief of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks Julian Assange should be scrapped.
