London ( CNN ) -- The British Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Julian Assange 's appeal against extradition to Sweden over sexual abuse allegations , but the judges left open a surprise avenue for the WikiLeaks founder to fight on . Assange will take it , his legal team said , arguing that the judges made their decision based on issues that were not argued in court . Assange has been fighting for a year and a half against being sent to Sweden for questioning about accusations of sexual abuse . Two women in Sweden accused Assange in August 2010 of sexually assaulting them during a visit to the country in connection with a WikiLeaks release of internal U.S. military documents . The Supreme Court appeared Wednesday to clear the way for him to be sent to Sweden for questioning , then unexpectedly gave his legal team two weeks to file an appeal . Assange lawyer Gareth Pierce said after the hearing that he would request a new hearing . `` The majority of the judges decided that custom and practice of the European community in effect trumped the law , '' she said . That `` was not argued in court and that in itself would be a breach of the ( European Convention on Human Rights ) Article 6 guarantee to a fair hearing . '' It is very unusual for the court to grant permission to appeal its rulings , which are supposed to be final in Britain . WikiLeaks ' work is not at issue in the extradition hearing or the Swedish allegations against Assange . Assange has not been charged with a crime , but Swedish prosecutors want to question him in connection with allegations of `` unlawful coercion and sexual misconduct including rape , '' according to a Supreme Court document . Assange , who has been under house arrest in Britain since December 2010 , maintains he is innocent and claims that the allegations are politically motivated . He fears that if he is extradited to Sweden , authorities there could hand him over to the United States , where he then could be prosecuted for his leaking of classified documents . In a tweet Tuesday , WikiLeaks connected Wednesday 's judgment with the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Sweden , which is scheduled a few days later . `` Hiliary Clinton and State Dept team arrive Stockhom June 3-4 ; 4 days after Assange extradition decision . Fanciful to think no discussion , '' the tweet read , misspelling both the first name of the cabinet official and of the Swedish capital . Clinton is due to make a stop in Stockholm , according to a statement on the State Department website , on a swing through six countries . Discussions about Internet freedom are included on the agenda . Assange 's lawyers fought the extradition on appeal via a legal technicality involving the arrest warrant . They argued that the `` European Arrest Warrant '' issued for Assange is invalid because it was issued by a Swedish prosecutor , whom they say is not an independent and impartial judicial authority . His lawyers earlier vowed to take their fight all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if the Supreme Court denies the appeal . Two women Assange had sexual relations with in Sweden in August 2010 subsequently went to police , who took down their complaints , according the Britain 's Supreme Court . Police then interviewed Assange . The WikiLeaks founder left Sweden `` in ignorance of the fact that a domestic arrest warrant had been issued for him , '' according to the U.K. high court . A Swedish court granted a warrant for his `` detention for interrogation , '' and Swedish prosecutors issued a European Arrest Warrant for his detention in the U.K. WikiLeaks , which facilitates the anonymous leaking of secret information , has published some 250,000 confidential U.S. diplomatic cables , causing embarrassment to the government and others . It has also published hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. documents relating to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan . But the organization has come under financial pressure , leading Assange to announce that WikiLeaks was temporarily stopping publication to `` aggressively fund raise '' in order to stay afloat . An announcement at the top of WikiLeaks ' home page reads : `` We are forced to put all our efforts into raising funds to ensure our economic survival . '' During his wait for the Supreme Court to rule on his extradition , Assange has hosted a talk show on Russian TV . `` The World Tomorrow '' appears on the Kremlin-funded , pro-Russian network Russia Today . He hosts it from the Suffolk mansion where he is under house arrest , with an electronic bracelet monitoring his movements . He has interviewed controversial figures at odds with the U.S. government including Hassan Nasrallah , the leader of Hezbollah , which the United States considers a terrorist organization , and Ecuador 's president Rafael Correa , who railed against the United States in his interview with Assange .
NEW : Assange will appeal , his legal team says . Comment: Two women in Sweden accuse Assange of sexual assault . The case is not connected to his work at WikiLeaks .