The Ecuadorian government has reminded everyone that they still take care of Julian Assange, who has been effectively under house arrest in the embassy. The matter is that he refuses to go to Sweden to face sex charges, while the coppers outside the Ecuadorian embassy waiting to arrest him cost the British taxpayers £3 million annually. They must be well paid coppers, though.
In the meanwhile, any hope that the Ecuadorians might have changed their mind after change of government in the country has been dashed – in the interview, the ambassador admitted that Julian is ready to stay at the Ecuadorian embassy for another 5 years. It was denied that Assange’s health was worsening – instead, the ambassador maintained he was “in good spirits” and assured that Ecuador will continue to provide political asylum.
The United Kingdom and Ecuador are in a legal stalemate over how to handle problem with Assange and have created a working group to hammer out a deal. However, the United Kingdom admitted that no substantive progress had been made and any resolution would need to be within the local law. Ecuador claimed that human rights of the Wikileaks founder to safe passage out of the United Kingdom were being violated by an intransigent British government.
As for Julian Assange, he has claimed that if he was extradited to Sweden, he will be sent to the United States and potentially face the death penalty relating to charges of disclosing confidential data, all because of his connections to his own whistleblowing service Wikileaks. The only question he doesn’t want to answer is why if the United States wanted to extradite him they didn’t do so when he was in the United Kingdom. Indeed, the British Secretary Teresa May would have loved to extradite Assange to the US, but the problem is that there is no warrant from the United States for the Wikileaks founder. So, any claims that if Assange didn’t face the music for the sexual offences he would be extradited seems to be only his own thoughts.
Anyway, the Ecuadorian government revealed that they had offered the Swedish legal authorities the opportunity to question Julian Assange about the allegations in their London embassy, but they didn’t get any reply.
In the meanwhile, any hope that the Ecuadorians might have changed their mind after change of government in the country has been dashed – in the interview, the ambassador admitted that Julian is ready to stay at the Ecuadorian embassy for another 5 years. It was denied that Assange’s health was worsening – instead, the ambassador maintained he was “in good spirits” and assured that Ecuador will continue to provide political asylum.
The United Kingdom and Ecuador are in a legal stalemate over how to handle problem with Assange and have created a working group to hammer out a deal. However, the United Kingdom admitted that no substantive progress had been made and any resolution would need to be within the local law. Ecuador claimed that human rights of the Wikileaks founder to safe passage out of the United Kingdom were being violated by an intransigent British government.
As for Julian Assange, he has claimed that if he was extradited to Sweden, he will be sent to the United States and potentially face the death penalty relating to charges of disclosing confidential data, all because of his connections to his own whistleblowing service Wikileaks. The only question he doesn’t want to answer is why if the United States wanted to extradite him they didn’t do so when he was in the United Kingdom. Indeed, the British Secretary Teresa May would have loved to extradite Assange to the US, but the problem is that there is no warrant from the United States for the Wikileaks founder. So, any claims that if Assange didn’t face the music for the sexual offences he would be extradited seems to be only his own thoughts.
Anyway, the Ecuadorian government revealed that they had offered the Swedish legal authorities the opportunity to question Julian Assange about the allegations in their London embassy, but they didn’t get any reply.
