credit: Twitter
London, Feb 4 (IANS) Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said he will turn himself over to the police here on Friday if a UN panel rules he has not been unlawfully detained.
Australian national Assange was originally arrested in London in 2010 under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Sweden over a sexual assault claim he denies.
He was granted asylum by Ecuador and entered the country's embassy in London after the British Supreme Court ruled the extradition against him could go ahead, BBC reported.
In 2014, he complained to the UN that he was being "arbitrarily detained".
On Twitter, Assange said he would accept a decision against him but hoped to walk free if it went in his favour.
"Should the UN announce tomorrow that I have lost my case against the United Kingdom and Sweden I shall exit the embassy at noon on Friday to accept arrest by British police as there is no meaningful prospect of a further appeal."
"However, should I prevail and the state parties are found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me," he added.
Last October, Scotland Yard said it would no longer station officers outside the Ecuador embassy following an operation which had cost it 12 million pounds ($17 million).
But it said "a number of overt and covert tactics to arrest him" would be deployed to arrest Assange.
In December 2015, Swedish officials said they were optimistic about reaching an agreement with Ecuador which could pave the way for the questioning of Assange in London.
Wikileaks posted secret American government documents on the internet and Assange said he believes Washington will seek his transfer to the US if he is sent to Sweden.
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