UNITED Nations human rights experts have repeated a demand that the UK abides by its international obligations and allows WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to walk free from the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

He has been living inside the embassy for more than six years, fearing he will be extradited to the US if he leaves. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), which concluded three years ago that Assange was being arbitrarily deprived of his freedom and should be released, urged the UK Government to “honour its obligations”.

In a statement from Geneva, the group said: “States that are based upon and promote the rule of law do not like to be confronted with their own violations of the law, that is understandable. But when they honestly admit these violations, they do honour the very spirit of the rule of law.”