A Swedish district court on Wednesday upheld an arrest warrant for Julian Assange Julian Paul AssangeAssange extradition hearing delayed over coronavirus concerns The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald discusses U.S. case against Assange Glenn Greenwald calls charges against Assange a threat to journalistic freedoms MORE in a blow to the WikiLeaks founder’s hopes of ending his years-long stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Assange is wanted on rape charges in Sweden that date back to 2010.

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He denies the charge, which he has said is part of a plot to extradite him to the United States for leaking classified American secrets. He has not left the Ecuadorian Embassy since 2012 in order to avoid arrest.

In February, a United Nations working group concluded the hacker and anti-secrecy activist has been “arbitrarily detained” for the last three years and that he should be allowed freedom of travel. After that claim, Assange’s lawyers filed a motion asking the Stockholm District Court to overturn his arrest warrant.

But Swedish officials continue to believe the charges are valid and still consider him a flight risk, Marianne Ny, the director of public prosecutions, said in a statement.

“In our opinion, the public interest to continue the investigation still carries weight,” Ny claimed. “The court shares our view that a continued detention complies with the principle of proportionality.”

Lawyers for Assange have pledged to appeal the lower court decision, according to a statement obtained by CNN.