PhotoLONDON — A British judge upheld the arrest warrant for the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday, assuring that he would remain ensconced in the Ecuadorean Embassy, where he has been for the past five and a half years. The judge, Emma Arbuthnot, did not immediately explain her reasons, saying only, “I am not persuaded that the warrant should be withdrawn.”After the ruling, one of Mr. Assange’s lawyers, Mark Summers, asked whether it was in the public interest to keep pursuing his client for breach of bail. “Normally,” Judge Arbuthnot said, “such issues would only be considered if somebody were brought to court to explain their failure to surrender to bail.”Advertisement Continue reading the main storyMr. Summers replied, “There are exceptional circumstances.”Judge Arbuthnot said she would rule on Feb. 13 on a new bid to have the arrest warrant against Mr. Assange dropped on the grounds of public interest. Even if the warrant had been dropped, it was never assured that Mr. Assange would have left the embassy, although Ecuador recently granted him citizenship. Still hanging over him is the possibility of a secret extradition request from the United States, where he faces prosecution for leaking documents that United States officials have deemed damaging to national security.

Source: New York Times February 06, 2018 15:02 UTC