Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations, a judge has ruled. At Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in south London, District Judge Howard Riddle said the extradition would not breach Mr Assange's human rights.
Mr Assange will appeal against the court ruling. He denies three allegations of sexual assault and one of rape last August in Stockholm.
He believes the claims are politically motivated because of Wikileaks' work.
Mr Assange has been released on bail on the same terms he was granted in December. His supporters had put up money as security.
The whistle-blowing website has made headlines worldwide with the publication of sensitive material - including leaked US diplomatic cables - from governments and high-profile organisations.
'Public enemy number one'
Judge Riddle dismissed the argument that Mr Assange would not receive a fair trial in Sweden that had been made by his lawyers during the two-and-a-half-day hearing earlier this month.
They had argued that criticism by Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt had made Mr Assange "public enemy number one" in Sweden.
But delivering his ruling on Thursday, the judge said: "The defence refer to the alleged denigration of the defendant by the Swedish prime minister.
"For this reason and other reasons it is said Mr Assange will not receive a fair trial. I don't accept this was the purpose of the comment or the effect."
Mr Assange's lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson QC, had also argued that rape trials in Sweden were regularly "tried in secret behind closed doors in a flagrant denial of justice".
Clare Montgomery QC, for the Swedish authorities, told the hearing that evidence from a trial would be heard in private but the arguments would be made in public.
Judge Riddle said that did not mean the trial would be unfair or breach human rights.
Death penalty
Dismissing further arguments made by Mr Assange's lawyers, the judge found:
The allegations against Mr Assange were extradition offences
The prosecutor who issued the European Arrest Warrant for Mr Assange had been suitably qualified
The warrant was issued for the purpose of prosecution and not simply for questioning
Mr Assange was arrested on 7 December and spent nine days in Wandsworth prison in London before being released on bail.
During the hearing two weeks ago, Mr Robertson said his client could later be extradited to the US on separate charges relating to Wikileaks - and could face the death penalty there.
In response, Ms Montgomery said Sweden provided "protection against that sort of threat and violation" taking place.
The European Court of Human Rights would intervene if Mr Assange was to face the prospect of "inhuman or degrading treatment or an unfair trial" in the US, she said.
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