Sweden and United Kingdom
Julian Assange: UN Working Group opinion and current status
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found the deprivation of liberty of Julian Assange arbitrary, under category III, in an opinion concerning Sweden and the United Kingdom adopted at its 74th session. It asked both Governments to assess his situation, ensure his safety and physical integrity and facilitate his freedom of movement, and said an adequate remedy included an enforceable right to compensation. One member, Vladimir Tochilovsky, appended an individual dissenting opinion.1
Category III
Government position
Sweden, in a reply of 3 November 2014, said Mr. Assange was not deprived of liberty by Swedish action and had chosen voluntarily to reside at the Embassy of Ecuador. The United Kingdom, in a reply of 13 November 2014, said he entered the Embassy voluntarily, that it does not recognise diplomatic asylum, and that he was free to leave at any point.1
Background
According to the opinion, Mr. Assange, an Australian national born on 3 July 1971, was residing at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, which both Governments described in their replies as his voluntary choice. The opinion was distributed on 6 April 2016.1
Status now
Released from Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom on 24 June 2024. On 26 June 2024 he pleaded guilty under a plea agreement in the US federal court in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, to a charge of conspiring to obtain and disseminate classified information, was sentenced to 62 months with credit for time already served in a British prison, and flew to Canberra, Australia, per Al Jazeera and CNN.2,3
As of 26 June 2024.
Sources
- UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 54/2015 concerning Julian Assange (Sweden and United Kingdom), A/HRC/WGAD/2015/54 (6 April 2016)
- Al Jazeera, Julian Assange freed: What’s the deal the WikiLeaks founder struck with US? (25 June 2024)
- CNN (via WISH-TV), Julian Assange returns to Australia a free man after US plea deal (26 June 2024)