A British court on Thursday ruled Julian Assange, the enigmatic founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, should be extradited to Sweden where he is wanted on sex assault charges.
The court gave Assange seven days to appeal the ruling. An appeal could delay the final decision until the summer at the latest.
Assange has consistently denied allegations made by two women in August last year. He has not yet been charged by Swedish prosecutors.
The defense of WikiLeaks founder has argued that he would not get a fair trial in Sweden and calls the charges against him politically motivated.
World leaders and diplomats have downplayed the impact of the leak of more than 250,000 confidential U.S. diplomatic cables by the WikiLeaks site, but many have questioned the benefit of the project, alleging that some of the leaks could "threaten lives."
In early 2011, Norwegian lawmaker Snorre Valen announced on his blog he has nominated WikiLeaks for a Nobel Peace Prize for the role it has played in protecting human rights, democracy and freedom.
LONDON, February 24 (RIA Novosti)
