Did this snap of Ecuador’s president eating lobster in bed get Assange pinched?
A SPAT over scoffing lobster in bed was behind Julian Assange’s exit from the Ecuadorian embassy this week and the ensuing political storm over what to do with the WikiLeaks fugitive.
Assange’s seven-year stay at the Knightsbridge embassy ended when he was handcuffed at the behest of his South American hosts and dragged out by officers from Scotland Yard.
It emerged last night that Mr Assange was removed after embarrassing pictures of Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno dining on lobster at a luxury hotel room were leaked to a website. In February, more than 200 private emails and text messages belonging to Mr Moreno and his wife, as well as pictures of the family on lavish holidays in Europe, were leaked to a website called INApapers.org.
The most embarrassing photos were of Mr Moreno eating lobster in his hotel bed. The pictures caused uproar in Ecuador since it showed the president luxuriating at a time when he had imposed austerity measures on his people.
Last night, The Mail on Sunday was able to find the photograph on several Twitter pages, as well as Spanish-language websites, including the Republic del Banano site.
Mr Moreno has accused Mr Assange of leaking the material, a claim which WikiLeaks has always denied. On Thursday, as Mr Assange was being dragged out of the embassy, Mr Moreno told reporters he did not have the right to ‘hack private phones’.
But WikiLeaks said in a statement on its website: ‘In short, the [Ecuadorian] government seeks a false pretext to end the asylum and protection of Julian Assange.’
After Mr Assange was arrested, it emerged that he led an erratic and squalid lifestyle at the embassy. He was accused of smearing walls with excrement and blocking a toilet with soiled underwear.
Now the UK government is divided over whether to extradite him to the United States, where he is wanted for releasing millions of secret documents online, or to Sweden, where he has been accused of rape. The decision will be for British home secretary Sajid Javid, who has made clear ‘all options are on the table’.
A source in Britain’s Home Office said: ‘He is calmly establishing what Home Office policy levers are at his disposal to make sure that Mr Assange faces justice, which he believes is absolutely essential.’ Mr Assange can only be extradited to Sweden if the country’s prosecuting authority reopens its investigation and its government issues a fresh European Arrest Warrant. If he is extradited there, he will face a charge of rape against a woman identified only as W. Mr Assange has always denied the charge.
The UK’s shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott sparked outrage this week by appearing to downplay the sex assault allegations, claiming he was being targeted because he had embarrassed the US military. Within hours, Labour was accused of a total about-turn after shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry told the BBC he should face justice in Sweden.
That was followed yesterday by a letter from Ms Abbott herself to colleagues saying ‘rape is a heinous crime’. She added that the UK should extradite Mr Assange to Sweden if the authorities there reopened their investigations.
British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn added: ‘If there are allegations which Julian Assange needs to answer of sexual issues, sexual attacks that may or may not have taken place in Sweden, then it’s a matter for the courts to decide but I do think he should answer those questions.’
Tory chairman Brandon Lewis said: ‘No one should be above the law, yet the fact that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour were so quick to jump to the defence of someone facing such serious allegations speaks volumes.’
Last night, a lawyer acting for woman W in Sweden said: ‘We hope the British authorities will co-operate so that Assange can be extradited to Sweden before the statute of limitations for the rape allegation expires in August 2020.’