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Wikileaks founder Julain Assange's warrant to remain, won't make it to friend's funeral

Assange had sought temporary suspension of arrest to attend the funeral of fellow journalist Gavin MacFayden in London

Julian Assange, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks. Photo: Reuters
Julian Assange, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks speaks via video link during a press conference on the occasion of the ten year anniversary celebration of WikiLeaks in Berlin, Germany. Photo: Reuters
Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : Oct 29 2016 | 8:15 PM IST
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been refused the permission to have his arrest warrant temporarily suspended to attend a friend's funeral.

Assange was hoping to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London so that he could attend the funeral of Gavin MacFayden, an investigative journalist and Wikileaks director, but his request has been blocked.

The Swedish prosecutor's office announced this week that it will not suspend the warrant as it does not allow exemptions to a court decision, the BBC reported.

The 45-year-old, who has been in hiding at the Ecuadorean embassy since he sought asylum there four years ago, is reportedly "heartbroken" and called the Swedish official who made the decision "callous".

Assange had made a request to attend the funeral of MacFadyen, a US journalist who died in London on October 22.

He has said he would be appealing to Sweden's Attorney General Anders Perklev.

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The rape allegations against Assange relate to a visit he made to Stockholm in August 2010.

He has refused to travel to Sweden for questioning over concerns that he would be extradited to the US.  Wikileaks had in 2010 released 500,000 secret military files related to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

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First Published: Oct 29 2016 | 5:48 PM IST

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