UK holds breath over Assange
ECUADOR PUTS NEW RULES ON HIS ASYLUM Wikileaks founder has filed suit against Ecuador for ‘violating’ his rights.
The United Kingdom told Ecuador in August that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would not be extradited if he left the country’s London embassy, where he has lived under asylum since 2012, Ecuador’s top government attorney said.
In a written response to queries from Ecuador, the UK said it had not received an extradition request and that Assange’s jail time in the UK for violating bail terms would not exceed six months, Iñigo Salvador, who represents the Ecuadorean government in court proceedings, said.
Salvador said Ecuador passed on the UK’s response to Assange’s lawyers and said that if Assange stayed in the embassy Ecuador would put new conditions in place. “Mr Assange had a choice between turning himself in to British authorities with those assurances, or staying in the embassy of Ecuador, but given that the asylum has lasted six years with no signs of immediate resolution we were going to place certain rules,” he said.
It was unclear if the UK’s assurances were still valid. Assange’s legal team did not respond to a request for comment.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office referred to Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan’s June statement that Assange would be treated “humanely and properly” if he left the embassy.
Assange took refuge in the embassy after British courts ordered his extradition to Sweden to face questioning in a sexual molestation case. The case has been dropped, but supporters have said Assange fears he could be extradited to the US if he leaves the embassy.
WikiLeaks, which published US diplomatic and military secrets when Assange ran it, faces a US grand jury investigation.
The relationship between Assange and Ecuador has grown tense. Assange filed a lawsuit in an Ecuadorean court last week claiming the new asylum terms, which require he pays for medical bills and telephone calls, violate his rights. Ecuador says it’s consistent with international asylum standards.
Ecuador’s Foreign Minister, José Valencia, said he was “frustrated” by Assange’s decision to file suit, and that Ecuador would no longer intervene on his behalf in talks with Britain.
On Thursday, Salvador refuted Assange’s claims in the suit that Ecuador prevented him from receiving visitors, denied him counsel and cut off access to communications. –