Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said he will turn himself over to UK police on Friday if a UN panel rules he has not been unlawfully detained, the BBC reported.

He took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in west London in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault claim he denies.

In 2014 he complained to the UN that he was being "arbitrarily detained".

On Twitter Mr Assange said he would accept a decision against him but hoped to walk free if it went in his favor.

The UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is due to announce the findings of its investigation into Mr Assange's case on Friday.

The panel of legal experts took evidence from the UK and Sweden. It has made previous rulings on whether imprisonment or detention is lawful although it does not have any formal influence over the British and Swedish authorities.

Assange was originally arrested in London in 2010 under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Sweden. He was granted asylum by Ecuador and entered the country's embassy in Knightsbridge after the UK Supreme Court ruled the extradition against him could go ahead.

His Wikileaks organisation posted secret American government documents on the internet and Mr Assange says he believes Washington will seek his transfer to the US if he is sent to Sweden.

Source: MENA