WikiLeaks' Assange calls for freedom after UN panel report

A supporter of WikiLeaks founder julian Assange holds a copy of The WikiLeaks Files outside the Ecuadorian embassy in central London, Britain February 5, 2016.  [Photo/Agencies]

NO CHANGE

The decision in his favour marks the latest twist in a tumultuous journey for Assange since he incensed Washington with leaks that laid bare often highly critical US appraisals of world leaders from Vladimir Putin to the Saudi royal family.

In 2010, the group released over 90,000 secret documents on the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 US military reports detailing operations in Iraq. Those disclosures were followed by release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973.

The UN Working Group does not have the authority to order the release of a detainee - and Friday's ruling in unlikely to change the legal issues facing Assange - but it has considered many high-profile cases and its backing carries a moral weight that puts pressure on governments.

High-profile cases submitted to the UN panel include that of jailed former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed and of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American jailed in Iran until a prisoner swap last month.

But governments have frequently brushed aside its findings such as a ruling on Myanmar's house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2008, a call in 2006 for the Iraqi government not to hang former dictator Saddam Hussein, and frequent pleas for the closure of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

"Julian Assange is a fugitive from justice. He is hiding from justice in the Ecuadorian embassy," British foreign minister Philip Hammond said. "This is frankly a ridiculous finding by the working group and we reject it."

Swedish prosecutors said the UN decision had no formal impact on the rape investigation under Swedish law. A US Grand Jury investigation into WikiLeaks is ongoing.