LONDON: Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, US filmmaker Oliver Stone and British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood on Tuesday called for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be allowed to walk free.

The celebrities were among 500 signatories of a petition to Britain and Sweden, urging them to enforce a UN panel opinion from last month that said Assange was being “arbitrarily detained”.

“We urge Sweden and the United Kingdom to respect the binding nature of the human rights covenants on which the decision is based,” read the petition, details of which were released by Assange’s spokespeople.

Signatories included former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron and Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, as well as Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winners Shirin Ebadi.

Assange is wanted on a European arrest warrant for questioning in Sweden over a rape allegation.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2016