U.N. panel: Assange detained arbitrarily, should be freed

February 5, 2016 at 2:00 a.m. | Updated February 5, 2016 at 4:45 a.m.

by Associated Press

FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, file photo, Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks speaks to the media and members of the public from a balcony at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wedneday Feb. 3, 2016 that he will accept arrest by British police if a U.N. working group investigating his claims decides that the three years he has spent inside the Ecuadorean Embassy doesn't amount to illegal detention. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, file photo, Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks speaks to the media and members of the public from a balcony at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wedneday Feb. 3, 2016 that he will accept arrest by British police if a U.N. working group investigating his claims decides that the three years he has spent inside the Ecuadorean Embassy doesn't amount to illegal detention. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

GENEVA (AP) - A U.N. human rights panel says WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been "arbitrarily detained" by Britain and Sweden since December 2010.

The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said his detention should end and he should be entitled to compensation.

Swedish prosecutors want to question Assange over allegations of rape stemming from a working visit he made to the country in 2010 when WikiLeaks was attracting international attention for its secret-spilling ways.

Assange has consistently denied the allegations but declined to return to Sweden to meet with prosecutors and eventually sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has lived since June 2012.

Upcoming Events