WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, seen here in January 2014, has been holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London for two years. <\/p>\n
STORY HIGHLIGHTS <\/p>\n
Stockholm, Sweden (CNN) -- A detention order against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on sexual assault allegations should remain in place, a Swedish judge ruled Wednesday. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Elisabeth Massi Fritz, a lawyer representing one of the women making the allegations against Assange, called the decision \"correct and expected.\" <\/p>\n
Prosecutor Marianne Ny told reporters after the verdict that it was now up to the UK police to enforce the arrest warrant for Assange. <\/p>\n
\"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. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n