Assange... inside his fetid lair
Revealed, full squalid horror that drove embassy finally to kick him out
THE full scale of disgusting personal hygiene, arrogance and paranoia that brought Julian Assange’s seven years holed up in an embassy to an end can be revealed today.
Exclusive photographs seen by the Daily Mail show how the WikiLeaks founder mounted ‘dirty protests’ at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Just weeks ago, he left soiled underpants stuffed down the lavatory in a fit of rage. On other occasions he left excrement smeared on the wall. He defied pleas not to constantly leave an electric stove on, and ignored repeated warnings not to leave half- eaten meals and unwashed dishes in the kitchen.
Staff grew so exasperated they even threw out his pet cat after he failed to clean up its mess. They also feared he had hidden a camera in its collar to spy on them.
Standing in the bathroom smeared by Assange just weeks ago, Ecuador’s UK Ambassador Jaime Marchan said: ‘ When Assange wanted to be unpleasant he put excrement on the walls and underwear with excrement in the lavatory. We had to remind him to flush the toilet and clean the dishes. He had to be reminded of normal standards of behaviour all the time. He would always leave the cooker on.’
Mr Marchan, 72, a distinguished lifelong diplomat, is relieved to be rid of Assange. ‘The asylum system is to protect innocent people. [He] abused it. He is a predator.’
This newspaper is the first to have access to the embassy since Assange was dragged out of hiding after the Ecuadorian government ended his asylum status.
He now faces being jailed in the US for computer hacking, and the threat of legal action in Sweden for alleged rape.
Mr Marchan took the Mail on a tour of the embassy – and explained how he finally lost patience with his squalid and spiteful ‘tenant’.
The soiled underpants incident occurred in January – and when told to clean it up, Assange is said to have replied: ‘I won’t clean it. I won’t!’ The embassy’s cleaner had to do it instead.
Mr Marchan wrote a formal letter of complaint to Assange’s lawyers informing them he had broken a ‘hygiene protocol’ drawn up because of his dirty habits.
But they wrote back saying he had had a ‘stomach sickness’ and their photo was proof the embassy had ‘infringed his privacy’.
The tour also showed Assange was not as cooped up as it seemed. While he couldn’t go out, he had the run of virtually the entire embassy – which is the size of a luxurious Belgravia apartment. Unable to exercise outside, Assange caused mayhem by skateboarding down the central polished wooden corridor and playing football like a rowdy teenager.
He demanded – and got – a bigger bedroom, though Mr Marchan says it was partly for vanity. The one he bagged had a balcony where Assange made speeches to Left-wing fans on the pavement.
His bedroom is now sealed off pending an investigation by the authorities. Mr Marchan added: ‘He played loud music because he said it stopped anyone listening in. It was impossible for us to work.’ The mistrust was mutual. Assange’s cat was removed because he couldn’t be bothered to look after it, though the ambassador added: ‘It could go in every room – we were suspicious it may carry a device ... to spy on us.’
Mr Marchan is full of praise for how Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan helped the embassy remove its graceless tenant. ‘Without Sir Alan, we could not possibly have done this.’
He says that with hindsight, it was a mistake to give Assange refuge in the first place. He said: ‘We have proved Ecuador respects human rights but he didn’t comply with his obligations. He is very selfish. I told him, “One day you’ll realise how much Ecuador did to protect you”.’
‘We had to remind him to flush the toilet’