Britain has asked the United Nations to review its "deeply flawed" ruling that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is under arbitrary detention.
The ruling last month by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a panel of independent legal scholars, is "deeply flawed and Mr Assange has never been the subject of arbitrary detention," the UK government said on Thursday in a statement.
The UN panel said the Australian activist had been subject to arbitrary detention since his arrest in London in 2010 on Swedish allegations of rape and sexual harassment.
It called on Britain and Sweden to allow the whistleblower to leave his refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has stayed since 2012 after spending 10 days in prison and 550 days under house arrest in Britain.
"His human rights have been protected throughout the process and will continue to be protected if and when he is extradited to Sweden," the British statement said.
"The original conclusions of the UN Working Group are inaccurate and should be reviewed," Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister Hugo Swire said in the statement.
"Julian Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK, and is in fact voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain in the Ecuadorian embassy," Swire said.
"The UK continues to have a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden."
