Julian Assange, 44, says he may leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Friday
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he will leave his hideout in the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Friday and accept arrest if he loses a case that is pending with the United Nations.
Assange, 44, has been holed up in the embassy since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape.
'Should the UN announce tomorrow that I have lost my case against the United Kingdom and Sweden, I shall exit the embassy at noon on Friday to accept arrest by British police as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal,' Assange said Thursday in a statement posted on the Wikileaks Twitter account.
'However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me.'
A spokesperson for the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on Assange's statement.
'We will wait for the UN announcement on Friday before making any comments,' the spokesperson told Daily Mail Online.
Assange could not be reached for a comment.
Two Swedish women accused the Australian of rape in August 2010. Assange denies the rape allegations.
Assange fears Sweden will extradite him to the United States, where he could be put on trial over WikiLeaks' publication of classified military and diplomatic documents, one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is currently considering a request for relief by Assange, who argued in a submission that his time in the embassy constituted arbitrary detention.
The statement by Assange posted to the WikiLeaks Twitter account on Thursday
Left, the logo of WikiLeaks, an organisation co-founded by Julian Assange. Right, Assange speaks from the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012
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