Julian Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, said Sunday that he is ready to cooperate with the Swedish authorities if they ask for his extradition but that the priority remains to avoid extradition to the United States.
The founder of WikiLeaks is detained after his arrest Thursday at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he had taken refuge seven years ago to escape a British arrest warrant for charges of rape and sexual assault. Sweden, which he has always denied. The sexual assault case was struck by the prescription in 2015, and Sweden dropped the prosecution in the second case in May 2017, failing to advance the investigation. But when the arrest was announced, the complainant's lawyer called for the reopening of the investigation.
"We are absolutely happy to answer these questions if and when they arise," Jennifer Robinson told Sky News , adding that "the key issue right now is extradition from the United States."
The 47-year-old Australian was also arrested in connection with an extradition request from the United States accusing him of helping former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning obtain a password to access thousands of classified secret-defense documents. This request for extradition will be examined by the British court on May 2nd.
"Julian has never been worried about facing British or Swedish justice"
In the event of an extradition request by Sweden, "we will certainly ask for the same assurances that we have already made, that (Julian Assange) is not sent to the United States," said the lawyer, explaining that her client was a refugee at the embassy for lack of such guarantees. More than 70 British parliamentarians have signed a letter to the UK Home Secretary asking him to prioritize a possible Swedish extradition request. "Julian has never been worried about facing British or Swedish justice," said Robinson. "Our concern is and has always been to prevent him from being sent to the United States."
The lawyer also described as "scandalous" Quito's accusations about the behavior of Julian Assange in the embassy, which allegedly "defiled the walls with its excrement". As for Julian Assange's cat, which had also become a subject of contention, Quito worried about his welfare and threatening to send him to a shelter, WikiLeaks said on Twitter that he was in "good health" after having evacuated in October to "escape the threats of the embassy". And to add that the cat and its owner will "find themselves in freedom".