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Only Dissenter in Assange’s Detention Ruling Was Ukrainian National - UN

© AFP 2023 / NIKLAS HALLE'NSupporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hold placards outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in central London on February 4, 2016
Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hold placards outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in central London on February 4, 2016 - Sputnik International
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The only one member of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) decision, who did not support the decision that Julian Assange is being detained arbitrarily, is Vladimir Tochilovsky, from Ukraine, according to WGAD's secretary.

Julian Assange. File photo - Sputnik International
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Sweden Disagrees With UN Panel Decision on Assange's 'Arbitrary' Detention
GENEVA (Sputnik) – The single dissenting opinion in the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) decision on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s arbitrary detention was from a Ukrainian member of the panel, WGAD's secretary said at a press conference Friday.

WGAD ruled earlier, in a non-legally binding majority decision, that Assange is being detained arbitrarily. London and Sweden vowed to dispute the UN-mandated panel’s ruling.

"The person who dissented with the opinion was Mr. [Vladimir] Tochilovsky, he is from Ukraine," WGAD Secretary Christophe Peschoux said at a briefing, noting that WGAD "usually" issues unanimous opinions.

One of the five-member working group experts, Leigh Toomey, recused himself from voting because he shares Assange’s Australian nationality.

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Peschoux stressed that London’s arrest warrant was still active, rendering the "likely" possibility that Assange would still face arrest should he step outside the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he has sought refuge since mid-2012.

Christophe Peschoux also stated that the decision of the WGAD on detention of Julian Assange is legally binding to some extent.

"The working group is issuing opinions, not rulings, it is not a court… The decision is legally binding to the extent that it is based on the international human rights norms tnat were ratified by governments. so it is legally binding, but not directly," Christophe Peschoux told reporters.

The Australian national, who has been living at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on sexual assault claims, filed a complaint against London and Stockholm with WGAD in 2014.

 

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