Ecuador has decided to grant Wikileaks founder Julian Assange political asylum, an turn of events intended to prevent Assange from being extradited to Sweden where he is accused of sexual assault.
Assange took refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London in June after the UK Supreme Court denied his appeal against extradition to Sweden.
The UK government has apparently said that they will not give Assange leave to travel to Ecuador, effectively confining him to Ecuador’s embassy where he should be able to remain unless the British government opt to disregard diplomatic treaties. Yesterday the embassy posted a statement on their website expressing shock that the UK government were considering forcibly entering the embassy.
“Throughout out the last 56 days Mr. Julian Assange has been in the Embassy, the Ecuadorian Government has acted honourably in all our attempts to seek a resolution to the situation. This stands in stark contrast to the escalation of the British Government today with their threats to breakdown the door of the Ecuadorian Embassy.”
Assange’s supporters fear that, if he is extradited to Sweden, he will face up to a year in solitary confinement while awaiting questioning. They also fear that he may be transferred from Sweden to the United States to face charges under America’s Espionage Act for his part in leaking sensitive diplomatic documents.
Source: PC World