WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could be interrogated as early as next month

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had his detention order upheld by a Swedish appeals court on Friday, meaning he could be interrogated in London over 2010 rape allegations as early as next month.

Assange, 45, has spent six years locked in a legal battle avoiding extradition to Sweden, where he is accused of rape; allegations of sexual molestation and unlawful coercion were dropped in 2015 due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Assange has denied all such allegations but since 2012, the computer hacker has harbored in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, as he fears he could be extradited to the United States, where he would face espionage charges.

"We are naturally disappointed that Swedish courts yet again choose to ignore Julian Assange's difficult life situation. They ignore the risk that he will be extradited to the United States," Assange's defense lawyer, Per Samuelson, told The Associated Press. An Ecuadorian prosecutor is currently planned to question Assange on the Swedish investigators' behalf on Oct. 17.

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"I assume we will appeal, it would be strange if we did not," Samuelson added.

The Swedish court further claimed that Assange's stay in the Ecuadorian embassy was "not to be regarded as an unlawful deprivation of liberty," despite a U.N. working group calling it "arbitrary detention" last winter.