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Swedish court upholds detention order for WikiLeaks founder

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The Swedish Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a court order to detain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual molestation.

Wikileaks' Assange in UK, police know where - report

Julian Assange, founder of whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, holds a news conference at the Geneva Press Club in Geneva in this Nov 4, 2010 file photo. Interpol issued a "red notice" on Nov 30, 2010 to assist in the arrest of Assange, who is wanted in Sweden on suspicion of sexual crimes.

The 39-year-old Australian has not been formally charged and denies the accusations made by two Swedish women after his visit to the country in August.

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Assange had appealed an order allowing investigators to detain him and issue an international arrest warrant by taking his case to the Supreme Court when it was rejected by the Stockholm Court of Appeal.

The France-based international police organization Interpol issued a "red notice" for Assange -- the equivalent of putting him on its most-wanted list -- after Sweden issued a European arrest warrant for him as part of the investigation.

Since leaving Sweden, the computer hacker has appeared in Britain and Switzerland but disappeared from public view after a Nov. 5 press conference in Geneva.

Assange came to Sweden in August seeking to stay because his website servers are in the country. However, his application was denied in October. During his stay, he was accused of raping and molesting two women.

WikiLeaks has angered the U.S. and other governments by publishing almost half a million secret documents about U.S. diplomatic relations and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Supreme Court in Stockholm only reviews cases that are of importance for the interpretation of Swedish law or in exceptional cases where circumstances merit such a review.

It said it saw no reason to review the Assange case and upheld the detention order. The previous court order had stated that Assange is suspected of rape, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of unlawful coercion.

Assange said his next target of files would be about the bankers in the Wall Street concerning the secrets of the financial crisis.

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