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Assange demands that Supreme Court reopen extradition case

WikiLeaks supremo wants to avoid Swedish summer heat

WikiLeaker-in-chief Julian Assange is pushing to have his extradition hearing reopened after his lawyer won a two-week delay to consider the verdict that went against him late last month.

The Justice4Assange website confirmed today that, as expected, the 40-year-old Australian has applied to have his case aired in court again.

On 30 May, the UK's Supreme Court ruled that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face accusations of sexual harassment and rape. His appeal against that action was chucked out by judges with five members to two dismissing his argument to remain in Blighty.

At the time, the Supreme Court panel concluded that the Swedish public prosecutor, who demanded that Assange return to Sweden and issued a European Arrest Warrant, could be considered a judicial authority - thus enabling an extradition to take place.

However, Assange's QC Dinah Rose immediately noted in response to that judgment that the beaks had based their decision on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. That could be critical in helping to get the case reopened because it had not even been discussed or argued during previous proceedings.

"The points being made as to the applicability of the Vienna Convention are serious issues in international law," the Justice4Assange campaign website said.

The Register drilled into the detail of the Supreme Court judgment in which we noted that of the judges who mulled over whether Assange should be returned to Sweden to face questioning from prosecutors in that country, six mentioned the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in summing up.

The Supreme Court spokesman gave us this statement in response to Assange's bid to get his case reopened today: "There is no timescale for the Justices to determine this application. We will issue a briefing when a decision is made." ®

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