UN panel rules in favour of Wikileaks founder Assange

LONDON: A United Nations panel has ruled that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been "arbitrarily detained", the BBC reported on Thursday.

No comment was immediately available from the United Nations in Geneva, where the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has been considering a request by Assange for a ruling.

Assange, 44, is wanted in Sweden for questioning over allegations of rape in 2010, which he denies. He took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in June 2012 to avoid extradition.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he took refuge in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, and accept arrest on Friday if a UN panel investigating his case rules against him, he said in a statement.

Assange, 44, is wanted in Sweden for questioning over allegations of rape in 2010 which the Australian denies.

Earlier in a statement posted on the WikiLeags twitter account Assange had said, "Should the U.N. announce tomorrow that I have lost my case against the United Kingdom and Sweden, I shall exit the embassy at noon on Friday to accept arrest by British police as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal,"

"However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me."