WikiLeaks founder claims rape allegations are false, politically motivated

(CNN) -

A Swedish appeals court on Thursday denied WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's latest request to dismiss an arrest warrant for alleged rape and molestation -- cases that he says are false and politically motivated.

Assange, 43, has been living in London's Ecuadorian Embassy for more than two years to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him about 2010 allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another.

Assange, who has not been charged, denies the allegations and says he fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States, where he could face the death penalty if he is charged and convicted of publishing government secrets through WikiLeaks.

The Australia native has argued the warrant should be dismissed because, in part, Swedish authorities refuse to interview him at the Ecuadorian Embassy, thereby prolonging a preliminary investigation that he says should have concluded long ago.

The appellate court nodded to this argument, agreeing that "the failure of the prosecutors to examine alternative avenues is not in line with their obligation ... to move the preliminary investigation forward."

But it concluded that, in balance, the arrest warrant must remain in effect because the crimes alleged are serious and because "there is a great risk that he will flee and thereby evade legal proceedings if the detention order is set aside."

"In the view of the court of appeal, these circumstances mean that the reasons for detention still outweigh the intrusion or other detriment entailed by the detention order," appellate judges wrote in Thursday's ruling.

Another appeal expected

Michael Ratner, a U.S. attorney for Assange, expressed dismay over the ruling.

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WikiLeaks founder claims rape allegations are false, politically motivated