A Glimmer Of Hope for Julian Assange

Authorities in Sweden, which is seeking the Australian journalists extradition to face allegations of sexual assault, admitted there is a possibility that measures could be taken to jumpstart the stalled legal proceedings against Assange.

GENEVA - There is a window of hope, thanks to a U.N. human rights body, for a solution to the diplomatic asylum of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in the embassy of Ecuador in London for the past two and a half years.

Authorities in Sweden, which is seeking the Australian journalists extradition to face allegations of sexual assault, admitted there is a possibility that measures could be taken to jumpstart the stalled legal proceedings against Assange.

The head of Assanges legal defence team, former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzn, told IPS that in relation to this case we have expressed satisfaction that the Swedish state has accepted the proposals of several countries.

The prominent Spanish lawyer and international jurist was referring to proposals set forth by Argentina, Cuba, Ecuador, Slovakia and Uruguay.

The final report by the U.N. Human Rights Councils Universal Periodic Review (UPR), adopted Thursday Jan. 28 in Geneva, Switzerland, contains indications that a possible understanding among the different countries concerned might be on the horizon.

The UPR is a mechanism of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine the human rights performance of all U.N. member states.

The situation of Assange, a journalist, computer programmer and activist born in Australia in 1971, was introduced in Swedens UPR by Ecuador, the country that granted him diplomatic asylum in its embassy in London, and by several European and Latin American nations.

The head of the Swedish delegation to the UPR, Annika Sder, state secretary for political affairs at Swedens foreign ministry, told IPS that This is a very complex matter in which the government can only do a few things.

Sder said that in Sweden, Assange is suspected of crimes, rape, sexual molestation in accordance with Swedish law. And thats why the prosecutor in Sweden wants to conduct the primary investigation.

View original post here:
A Glimmer Of Hope for Julian Assange