A UN panel's report calling for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's release over his "arbitrary detention" does not fully convince a Swedish professor of international law.
"It is a little laboured to say that a person who has voluntarily kept himself away from police and the justice authorities is deprived of liberty," Pal Wrange told dpa on Friday.
Wrange, the director of Stockholm University's Centre for International Law and Justice, said the UN panel should have explained in "more detail" why Assange's situation at the Ecuador embassy in London should be likened to house arrest.
Assange has been holed up in the embassy since 2012 as Swedish authorities seek his extradition in connection with sexual assault allegations related to a 2010 visit.
Assange denies the allegations but argues that he cannot return to Sweden because he could then be sent to the United States, although no formal charges have been lodged against him there.
While the UN working group's opinions are not binding, Wrange said "its opinions should be taken seriously. But how seriously depends on how well they present their arguments."
"They state that the (Swedish) prosecutor should have acted speedier but there is nothing on deprivation of liberty," Wrange said after he had read "key parts" of the panel's report.
Assange "has not been deprived of his liberty one second by Swedish authorities or in Sweden," he said.
Asked what Sweden risks if it fails to heed the recommendations, Wrange said: "It's not a plus."
"But how big the minus is depends on how other countries view this opinion. If other counties are as critical as Sweden then there is likely not much harm done," he said.
Wrange - who in the past has served as a legal adviser to the Swedish Foreign Ministry - noted that a consequence might be that it will be more difficult for Sweden in cases where it wants others to heed the UN working group's opinions.
"Regardless if the Swedish government likes the opinion or not, it can't intervene in the legal process; prosecutors and courts are independent," Wrange summed up.
