MOSCOW (Sputnik) —Julian Assange being released is the only likely development after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said earlier on Friday that he was being arbitrarily detained, Assange's lawyer Thomas Olson told Sputnik.
These are the words that might free #JulianAssange after he spent about 4 years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy pic.twitter.com/XTw6UjK7AT
— Gian Volpicelli (@Gmvolpi) 5 февраля 2016
"You cannot overrule the court decision by the states formally but the UN decision is built on the interpretation of the international legal law which is binding for both the UK and Sweden," Olson said.
"If Sweden and the UK have an opinion that different countries and states should follow the directions and decisions from the UN then they need to do so as well," he added.
Earlier in the day, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) announced that it considered Assange as being arbitrarily detained by Sweden and the United Kingdom, calling on these states to free the whistleblower and respect his right of movement.
