Julian Assange makes fresh bid to stop extradition to Sweden

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has made fresh legal bid to prevent his extradition to Sweden over alleged rape and sexual assault by applying to have his case heard by Britain's Supreme Court.

Assange, who has been under house arrest for nearly a year, lost his court battle to stay in Britain on November 2, when the High Court in London had ruled that the 40-year-old Australian could be sent to Sweden to face questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault by two women.

Assange has denied raping a woman and sexually molesting another in Stockholm in August 2010. Although he has not been charged with a crime, Swedish prosecutors want to question him in connection with the allegations.

The Judicial Office for England and Wales confirmed Assange's latest legal move yesterday, saying: "High Court to consider Julian Assange's application for a certificate of law of general public importance on 5 December."

Assange, founder and editor-in-chief of the controversial whistle-blowing website, claims his arrest, under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW), was politically motivated and linked to the activities of WikiLeaks.

He is attempting to appeal to the Supreme Court on two grounds, the BBC reported.

Assange says the UK's highest court should consider whether his extradition would be unlawful because the request was made by a "partisan prosecutor working for the executive" and whether he can be defined as "the accused" even though no decision has been taken to prosecute him.

After losing at the High Court this month, Assange had hit out against the EAW. He said: "I have not been charged with any crime in any country.

"The European arrest warrant is so restrictive that it prevents UK courts from considering the facts of a case," Assange had said.