‘Restore my liberty’ says Julian Assange

London, Feb 6: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has made a fresh plea to the UK and Swedish authorities to “restore” his liberty, the media reported on Monday. Assange, who has been questioned about a sex allegation in Sweden, spoke out on Sunday, a year after a UN legal panel ruled he should be allowed to walk free, the BBC reported.

“I call on the UK and Sweden to do the right thing and restore my liberty,” he said. “These two states signed treaties to recognise the UN and its human rights mechanisms.”

Assange said a year on the two governments had failed to comply with the ruling by the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which found thathe was being “arbitrarily detained”.

The WikiLeaks founder has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since June 19, 2012 after he sought asylum following the rejection of his appeal against being extradited to Sweden to face sex assault allegations.

He reportedly lives in a small room with a bed, sun lamp, computer, shower, treadmill and cooking facilities, the BBC said.

Assange has refused to travel to Sweden for questioning because he fears he will then be handed over to the US over Wikileaks’ release of 500,000 secret military files.

WikiLeaks previously said its founder would agree to be extradited if clemency was granted to Chelsea Manning - who leaked documents to the website.

The transgender US Army private, born Bradley Manning, will be freed on May 17 after former US President Barack Obama commuted her sentence. Assange has said he would stand by his offer as long as his rights were protected. (IANS)