Julian Assange Loses First Attempt to Quash Arrest Warrant

Julian Assange lost one step of his bid to invalidate his 2012 U.K. arrest warrant during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court. If he steps off London’s Ecuadorian Embassy grounds, he will still be arrested. Assange was wanted for a rape investigation in Sweden that was dropped in May as it was determined to be “impossible to serve him notice” while he was living in the embassy. Assange attempted to argue to the court that since the rape investigation had been dropped, the arrest warrant was also invalid—but the Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ruled against his bid, though the hearing continued on Tuesday. Assange has been living in the embassy for more than five years, hiding from extradition to Sweden and the U.K. arrest warrant.