LONDON: More than 70 British lawmakers have urged their government to prioritise any extradition bid Sweden might make for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is also wanted in the United States.

Assange was arrested on Thursday at Ecuador’s London embassy on allegations of skipping bail, and on a US extradition warrant related to a huge leak of official documents. In the letter, the MPs and peers urge British Home Secretary Sajid Javid to “give every assistance to Sweden should they want to revive and pursue the investigation”.

British law states that if Sweden does make an extradition request, it would be up to Javid to decide which should take precedence.

“We must send a strong message of the priority the UK has in tackling sexual violence and the seriousness with which such allegations are viewed,” the letter says.

The sexual assault claim expired in 2015 and Swedish prosecutors dropped a preliminary investigation into the rape allegation in 2017, arguing that since Assange could not be reached, they could not proceed.

Following his arrest, however, the alleged rape victim asked that her case now be reopened — but the limitation period on this claim expires in August 2020.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2019