Court: Assange can continue legal fight
LONDON (AP) — A British court today gave WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange permission to continue his legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations.
The decision means Assange does not face immediate deportation to Sweden. The court said he can apply to Britain’s Supreme Court in a bid to remain in the United Kingdom.
The judges accepted Assange’s argument that there is a question over whether police and prosecutors are a judicial authority and should have the power to issue extradition requests under European law, Assange’s lawyer Gareth Peirce said.
Assange now has 14 days to submit a written request to the Supreme Court, she said.
Assange’s Swedish lawyers hailed the decision.
“This is positive news for Julian Assange and means he will remain in the U.K. while the court assesses his appeal,” Assange’s Swedish lawyer Per E. Samuelsson said. “It is something we have fought for.”
Assange was accused of rape, coercion and molestation following encounters with two Swedish women in August 2010.
Syria accepts League observer request
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria has accepted an Arab League request to send observers to the country in an effort to end its eight-month crisis, a move that could ease Arab sanctions on Damascus, the Foreign Ministry said today.
The Syrian statement came after Damascus announced it conducted mass military maneuvers over the weekend in an apparent show of force as President Bashar Assad’s regime defies pressures over its deadly crackdown on opponents.
The ministry’s spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, told reporters that Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem “responded positively” to the League demand and sent a letter to the organization’s chief Nabil Elaraby on Sunday night.
There was no immediate reaction from the Arab League, which has already suspended Syria, to Damascus’ announcement.
But Makdissi said that al- Moallem’s message to the League combined some “minor amendments that won’t affect the essence of the plan,” stressing that Damascus is still insisting that the protocol be signed in Damascus rather than at the League’s headquarters in Cairo.
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