Police end watch on Assange
Scotland Yard has ended 24-hour policing at Ecuador’s embassy in London where Julian Assange has lived for more than three years
Scotland Yard has ended round-the-clock policing of the Ecuadorean embassy where Julian Assange has sought refuge for more than three years, it was announced yesterday.
The growing expense, believed to be over £12m, of maintaining police officers outside the embassy in London, is understood to be behind the decision.
“While the MPS remains committed to executing the arrest warrant and presenting Julian Assange before the court, it is only right the policing operation to achieve this is continually reviewed against the diplomatic and legal efforts to resolve the situation,” a Metropolitan Police statement said.
“Like all public services, our resources are finite. With so many different criminal, and other, threats to the city it protects, the current deployment of officers is no longer believed proportionate.”
Several senior Met Police officers have openly expressed frustration at the situation as government cuts hit policing budgets. Stronger private complaints have also been made to ministers, The Independent has been told.
The Ecuadorean ambassadorwas summoned to the Foreign Office to discuss the case yesterday. “The head of the Diplomatic Service, Simon McDonald, registered once again our deep frustration at the protracted delay. The UK has been absolutely clear since June 2012 that we have a legal obligation to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden. That obligation remains,” a spokesman said.
Mr Assange was facing sex allegations made by two Swedish women. He has always denied the charges. Arrested in London on a European Arrest Warrant in December 2010, he was given political asylum by Ecuador in its London embassy over three years ago. The Wikileaks founder said he sought refuge fearing the Swedish authorities would send him to the US and put him on trial for releasing US intelligence documents.
He has offered to be interviewed inside the embassy by the Swedish authorities.
Scotland Yard insisted it still intends to arrest him. “Should he leave the embassy the MPS will make every effort to arrest him. However, it is no longer proportionate to commit officers to a permanent presence.” It added that it would deploy a “number of overt and covert tactics to arrest him”.
It refused to elaborate further on policing or its future costs. The movewas announced after talkswith the Home Office and the Foreign Office.
Last month, prosecutors dropped cases of alleged sexual misconduct against him but insist they still want to question him about rape accusations. Swedish officials have said they remain optimistic about reaching an agreement with Ecuador that will pave the way for Mr Assange to be questioned in London over outstanding accusations against him.
Wikileaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said the police were merely calling off the physical presence and replacing it with a covert operation, adding: “They will still arrest Julian if he steps outside the embassy so there is no real change to the situation.”