Julian Assange appeals to Sweden’s supreme court over …

Julian Assange was accused by two women of rape but has not been charged because the prosecutor says she is unable to interview him about the allegations. Photograph: FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/EPA

Julian Assange is taking his appeal to Swedens highest court in a final attempt to persuade a Swedish judge that the arrest warrant against him should be lifted.

His lawyers will ask Swedens supreme court on Wednesday to agree that the severe limitations on Assanges freedoms since he claimed asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 to escape extradition to Sweden are unreasonable and disproportionate to the case.

In August 2010, the WikiLeaks founder and campaigning journalist was accused by two women of rape and sexual molestation, but he has not been charged because the prosecutor insists she is unable to interview him about the allegations.

Prosecutor Marianne Ny has declined invitations by Assange to do so in London, where he has taken refuge in the embassy to avoid a perceived threat of extradition to the US for publishing military secrets. Assange denies all the charges.

In November, Stockholms appeal court rejected Assanges case, saying there was a risk he would evade legal proceedings should the detention order be lifted. The court also ruled that his confinement to the embassy was voluntary.

However, in the ruling, senior appeal court judge Nicklas Wgnert noted the deadlock in the case and criticised the prosecution for failing to move the investigation forward.

That is a heavy obligation on the prosecutor, Judge Wgnert told the Guardian after the ruling. If Assange challenges the detention order again [in the supreme court], I believe the court will consider what measures the prosecutor has taken to move the preliminary investigation forward in between now and the next challenge.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor said she would not give details about the investigation, and Per Samuelson, one of Assanges Stockholm lawyers, said he had heard nothing about any movement.

Swedish legal opinion at a senior level has swung against the prosecutors decision not to travel to London to interview Assange, with Anne Ramberg, head of the Bar Association, calling the current impasse a circus.

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