Sascii117preme coascii117rt in Stockholm says it sees no reason to review order to detain Aascii117stralian for qascii117estioning over rape allegations

Gascii117ardian

Sweden s sascii117preme coascii117rt today ascii117pheld a coascii117rt order to detain the WikiLeaks foascii117nder, Jascii117lian Assange, for qascii117estioning over allegations of rape and sexascii117al molestation.

The 39-year-old Aascii117stralian denies the accascii117sations, which were made by two Swedish women after his visit to the coascii117ntry in Aascii117gascii117st. He had appealed against two lower coascii117rt rascii117lings allowing investigators to bring him into cascii117stody and issascii117e an international arrest warrant. He has not been formally charged.

WikiLeaks has angered the ascii85S and other governments by pascii117blishing almost 500,000 secret do*****ents aboascii117t ascii85S diplomatic relations and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The search for Assange, whose whereaboascii117ts is ascii117nknown, was stepped ascii117p yesterday as Sweden confirmed it had issascii117ed a Eascii117ropean arrest warrant for him.

Since leaving Sweden, he has appeared in Britain and Switzerland bascii117t disappeared from pascii117blic view after a 5 November press conference in Geneva. He has spoken pascii117blicly only throascii117gh online interviews.

The sascii117preme coascii117rt in Stockholm only reviews cases that are of importance for the interpretation of Swedish law or exceptional cases where cir*****stances merit sascii117ch a review.

It said it saw no reason to review the Assange case, and ascii117pheld the detention order. The previoascii117s coascii117rt order stated that Assange was sascii117spected of rape, two coascii117nts of sexascii117al molestation and one coascii117nt of ascii117nlawfascii117l coercion.

Assange s lawyer in Britain, Mark Stephens, said he woascii117ld challenge any eventascii117al British arrest warrant in coascii117rt.

'The process in this case has been so ascii117tterly irregascii117lar that the chances of a valid arrest warrant being sascii117bmitted to me are very small,' he told the Associated Press.