Julian Assange has been in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for five years
Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, has been described as a nuisance by the president of Ecuador
Ecuador desperately wanted to help and protect Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks.
The country, this month, granted Mr Assange citizenship and named him as an accredited diplomat in the embassy. The Ecuadorians had hoped that this would enable him to leave the building in Knightsbridge without being arrested. However, Britain has said that it would not recognise Mr Assange as a diplomat.
The 46-year-old Assange, an Australian, entered the embassy to avoid being extradited to Sweden for alleged sex crimes. He denies the offences, and the charges were dropped. However, controversial as he was, he breached his bail terms in Britain by seeking protection in the embassy. He has been living there in a room converted into his lodgings since 2012.
After he expressed support for Catalonian independence last year, an opinion which drew complaints to Ecuador from Spain, he was blasted by the Ecuadorian authorities. He was also criticised by the Ecuadorian government for publishing hacked emails from the campaign team of Hillary Clinton in the US election.
Even employees at the embassy have been complaining about Mr Assange’s extended stay, including his apparent reluctance to shower regularly. Mr Assange says he fears being extradited to the US, where he argues he could face torture and extended detention. Washington has never confirmed or denied that an extradition request exists. The justice department has however indicated that it would seek his arrest for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents on Wikileaks.
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