Assange given two options

ECUADORIAN attorney-general Inigo Salvador Crespo said two options were offered to Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website, regarding his stay in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, which had been allegedly rejected by the whistle-blower.

Assange has been residing in the embassy since June 2012 after the United Kingdom granted his extradition to Sweden, where he was accused of sexual offences. While the Swedish police dropped the charges in 2017, Assange is still wary of being extradited to the US, where he is wanted for leaking classified documents of the US State Department.

“He might have surrendered to the UK authorities under the guarantees obtained by the Ecuadorian state for a period not exceeding six months and on the condition that he would not be extradited to any other country.

“He was also able to stay in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, provided he complied with certain rules since he has been granted asylum for six years already and there are no signs suggesting that the issue can be resolved immediately,” the attorney-general indicated on Thursday.

Starting from October 13, the Ecuadorian Embassy in London introduced new rules regulating Assange’s stay there. The protocol barred Assange from making political statements and set various other restrictions, including visiting, communications and medical attention regulations.

Last week, Assange’s lawyers sued Ecuador over the conditions of his stay in the embassy.