Assange pleads to be 'set free'

Julian Assange has renewed his plea to be "set free" after a United Nations panel confirmed its view that the WikiLeaks founder is a victim of arbitrary detention.

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention rejected a request by the UK Government to review the case.

In February, the panel found that Britain and Sweden had "arbitrarily detained" the Australian, who has been living inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for over four years.

The panel said he should be freed and entitled to compensation.

It said the UK Government had not presented enough new information to merit a new examination.

"Now that all appeals are exhausted I expect that the UK and Sweden will comply with their international obligations and set me free," Assange said. "It an obvious and grotesque injustice to detain someone for six years who hasn't even been charged with an offence."