Assange seems destined to spend years in embassy
BRITAIN: His future hanging by a strand, Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, apparently will be permitted to remain in Ecuador’s embassy in London for the foreseeable future.
But the long-term outlook for Assange, who will soon complete five years holed up at the embassy, is far from positive, despite Lenin Moreno’s squeaker of a victory in Ecuador’s presidential election on Monday.
Assange’s time in the Ecuadorean Embassy may go down as one of history’s longest diplomatic shelterings.
Reflecting his sometimes shaky situation, Assange retreated yesterday after sending an insult via Twitter to the loser of the election, centre-right banker Guillermo Lasso, who said that were he to win the presidency, he would have ordered Assange to find a new home within 30 days.
In his Twitter post, Assange joked that he would ‘‘invite’’ Lasso to leave Ecuador ‘‘within 30 days (with or without his tax haven millions).’’
‘‘Who the hell does Julian Assange think he is?’’ another former presidential candidate in Ecuador, Cynthia Viteri, responded Monday, also on Twitter.
‘‘He lives by our side and dares to tell an Ecuadorean, whoever he may be, that he leave the country?’’
Assange quickly responded to Viteri, telling her that it was a joke and saying: ‘‘All is forgotten and I wish the best for Ecuador in the future.’’
The exchange demonstrated that Assange can occasionally be an uncomfortable guest for the Ecuadoreans.
An Australian national, Assange entered the Ecuadorean Embassy in June 2012 after a Swedish investigation of an alleged sexual assault.
Assange claimed the inquiry was designed to get him to Sweden, where he would be passed on to the United States to stand trial, presumably espionage charges.
His group, WikiLeaks, responsible for a series is of publications of leaked documents, most notably a batch of classified U.S. diplomatic cables in 2010 and last year’s disclosure of tens of thousands of emails hacked from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
In the past month, WikiLeaks disclosed batches of documents and tools purportedly from the CIA’s cyber unit.
Like Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who divulged classified information in 2013 before going into exile in Moscow, Assange has a small core of ardent supporters.
‘‘In the long run of history, Assange will not be forgotten. He’ll be remembered in a heroic way,’’ said Saskia Sassen, a sociologist at Columbia University in New York City.
‘‘He exposed some very nasty practices of our government.’’
The Justice Department has never announced any indictment of Assange.
Moreno, who was vice president under President Rafael Correa, a populist who offered asylum to Assange in 2012, will be president until 2021, giving Assange some breathing room.
Moreno told the Agence FrancePresse news agency last week that his administration would respect ‘‘the decision that we made for Mr. Assange to stay in the embassy until he is given safe passage to our country or the country that he desires.’’
Moreno warned Assange, though, to be cautious in his public statements ‘‘about fraternal countries, friendly countries.’’ TNS
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"In the long run of history, Assange will not be forgotten. He'll be remembered in a heroic way." Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, NYC