WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has lost his appeal against an arrest over rape and sexual molestation allegations.
Sweden’s Supreme Court upheld a court order to detain him for questioning over the accusations made by two Swedish women after his visit to the country in August.
The 39-year-old Australian had appealed two lower court rulings which allow investigators to arrest him and issue an international arrest warrant.
The search for Assange, whose whereabouts are unknown, was stepped up on Wednesday as Sweden confirmed it had issued a European arrest warrant for him.
Since leaving Sweden, the computer hacker has appeared in Britain and Switzerland but disappeared from public view after a November 5 press conference in Geneva. He has spoken publicly only through online interviews.
WikiLeaks has angered the US and other governments by publishing almost half a million secret documents about US diplomatic relations and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The United States officially opened a criminal investigation after the website released tens of thousands of secret documents on US military operations in Afghanistan in July.
