Julian Assange denied funeral pass request

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has had a request to be allowed to go to a funeral denied by Swedish prosecutors.

The 45-year-old, who has been living at Ecuador's London embassy since 2012 to avoid extradition over sex assault allegations, had sought exemption from a European arrest warrant.

Mr Assange, who denies the claims, faces arrest if he leaves the building.

Prosecutors said there was no precedent in Swedish law to make any exceptions to a court decision on detention.

Mr Assange had made a request to attend the funeral of mentor and Wikileaks director Gavin MacFadyen, a US journalist who died in London on 22 October, aged 76.

He said he was "heartbroken" by the decision and called the Swedish official "callous". He said he would be appealing to Sweden's Attorney General Anders Perklev.

The accusations against Mr Assange relate to a visit he made to Stockholm in August 2010 to give a lecture.

He has refused to travel to Sweden for questioning over concerns he would be extradited to the US over Wikileaks' release of 500,000 secret military files on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.