Assange lawyers may fight on after extradition setback

Yesterday the Supreme Court decided by a 5-2 majority that extradition was lawful and could go ahead.

But Dinah Rose QC immediately told the country’s highest court that Assange was considering an application for his case to be reopened on the basis that there had been a flawed hearing.

Assange, 40, was given 14 days to consider yesterday’s judgment before deciding his next move.

The Swedish authorities want him to answer accusations of raping one woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in Stockholm in August 2010.

Assange, whose WikiLeaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, says the sex was consensual and the allegations against him are politically motivated.

Yesterday the majority of Supreme Court justices rejected Assange’s argument that the European arrest warrant (EAW) issued against him by Sweden was “invalid and unenforceable”.

Ms Rose contended that the Swedish public prosecutor who issued the EAW was not a “judicial authority”. Warrants could not be issued by prosecutors but only by a court, judge or magistrate.

After her argument was rejected, Ms Rose said an application could now be made “to reopen the argument” before the justices.

Ms Rose said there was “concern” that the court majority had based their decision on an interpretation of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties she had had no opportunity to address.

Lord Phillips, court president, said the point of law which had to be considered had not been simple to resolve.

He gave Assange’s legal team 14 days to consider the ruling before deciding what to do.