Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno on Sunday defended his decision to overturn Julian Assange’s asylum status, claiming in an interview with the Guardian newspaper that the WikiLeaks founder had tried to set up a “centre for spying” in Ecuador’s London embassy.
“It is unfortunate that, from our territory and with the permission of authorities of the previous government, facilities have been provided within the Ecuadoran embassy in London to interfere in processes of other states,” Moreno said. “We cannot allow our house, the house that opened its doors, to become a centre for spying,” added Moreno, who was elected in 2017. “Our decision is not arbitrary but is based on international law,” he said.
The WikiLeaks founder is in custody in London awaiting sentencing for breaching his British bail conditions in 2012 by seeking refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden. Earlier Sunday, Assange’s lawyer said his client would cooperate with Swedish authorities if they reopen a rape case against him but would continue to resist any bid to extradite him to the United States.
“We are absolutely happy to answer those queries if and when they come up,” Jennifer Robinson told Sky News television about the rape claims. “The key issue at the moment is US extradition, which we have warned about for many years,” she added. Assange was arrested at the embassy on Thursday after Ecuador gave him up, and is now also fighting a US extradition warrant relating to the release by WikiLeaks of a huge cache of official documents.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.