London, Dec 17 (ANI): A panel of seven British Supreme Court judges will hear WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's appeal to avoid extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crime charges.
According to a statement from the UK's highest court, the large number of judges employed reflects "the great public importance of the issue".
The Supreme Court said there would be a two-day hearing of the appeal by the Australian computer expert beginning on February 1, The Guardian reports.
A panel of three Supreme Court justices examined Assange's application on Friday following the high court's "certification of a point of law of general public importance".
Assange has been detained under a European arrest warrant (EAW) issued by a Swedish public prosecutor over charges of raping one woman and sexually assaulting and coercing another in Stockholm in August last year.
Assange, who has been living in Britain since his arrest here in December last year, however, denies any wrongdoing.
At an earlier hearing his barrister, Mark Summers, argued that public prosecutors were not "judicial authorities" able to issue warrants under extradition law, and so the warrant was invalid.
If Assange, 40, loses this appeal he may still be able to appeal against extradition to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg. (ANI)
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