Assange detention order remains in place

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, seen here in January 2014, has been holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London for two years.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Stockholm, Sweden (CNN) -- A detention order against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on sexual assault allegations should remain in place, a Swedish judge ruled Wednesday.

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for more than two years in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another.

Assange calls the charges false and politically motivated, but has said he fears that Sweden will transfer him to the United States -- where he could face the death penalty for the work of WikiLeaks -- if he were charged and convicted of a crime.

He was represented at a hearing Wednesday in Stockholm by lawyers Thomas Olsson and Per Samuelsson, who argued that the detention order against their client should be revoked.

But Stockholm District Court Judge Lena Egelin ruled that Assange was still suspected, with probable cause, of sex crimes and that his detention order should remain in place.

Elisabeth Massi Fritz, a lawyer representing one of the women making the allegations against Assange, called the decision "correct and expected."

Prosecutor Marianne Ny told reporters after the verdict that it was now up to the UK police to enforce the arrest warrant for Assange.

"It is in the hands of Julian Assange, who has taken refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, whether or not he decides to leave the embassy," she said.

Read this article:
Assange detention order remains in place