Ecuadorian government partially restores Assange’s communications

The Ecuadorian government has decided to partly restore communications for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. They were cut in March, denying him access to the internet or phones and limiting visitors to members of his legal team. He has been living inside Ecuador’s embassy in London for over six years.

The Ecuadorian government said in March it had acted because Mr Assange had breached “a written commitment made to the government at the end of 2017 not to issue messages that might interfere with other states”. Wikileaks said in a statement: “Ecuador has told Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange that it will remove the isolation regime imposed on him following meetings between two senior UN officials and Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno on Friday.” Kristinn Hrafnsson, Wikileaks editor-in-chief, added: “It is positive that through UN intervention Ecuador has partly ended the isolation of Mr Assange although it is of grave concern that his freedom to express his opinions is still limited.

“The UN has already declared Mr Assange a victim of arbitrary detention. This unacceptable situation must end. The UK government must abide by the UN’S ruling and guarantee that he can leave the Ecuadorian embassy without the threat of extradition to the United States.”

Mr Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador but believes that if he leaves the embassy he will be arrested and extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of Wikileaks. The Ecuadorian government last year appointed Assange to a diplomatic post in its Moscow embassy, part of a failed effort to get him out of the UK. His nomination was withdrawn, however, when the UK refused to recognise his diplomatic status.