Ecuador President: Assange Used Embassy As Espionage Center
Ecuador’s president Lenín Moreno says Julian Assange used the embassy to spy on other countries. He is said to have distributed incriminating photos and tried to destabilize other countries. That’s why the president expelled him from the embassy.
The president expresses his accusations to the British newspaper The Guardian. According to Moreno, “facilities” had been made available to Assange with which he interfered in the internal affairs of other countries. “We cannot allow our embassy to become a spy center,” Moreno said, according to The Guardian. “These activities go against our asylum conditions.”
As a concrete example, Moreno cites the WikiLeaks publication of documents from the Vatican in January 2019. Then private letters from the Pope were distributed. According to WikiLeaks, those letters show an internal power struggle within the top of the Catholic Church. According to Moreno, Assange was involved.
Recently, private photos of Moreno and his family were distributed by a site allegedly linked to WikiLeaks. The president argues that the deportation of Assange was not retaliation for the leaking of those photos. Moreno says he expelled Assange for trying to influence internal affairs of other countries.
Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London nearly seven years ago after a British judge ruled he should be deported to Sweden. His asylum was revoked last Thursday, after which he was arrested in the embassy by British police. In the United Kingdom, he faces a possible jail sentence of up to 12 months for violating the bail conditions, writes The Guardian.
The United States now says it suspects Assange of having helped with computer trespassing. On Thursday, the prosecutor sent an extradition request to the United Kingdom. The US prosecutor says he could face up to five years in prison.
Sweden is now considering reopening the previous investigation into the alleged rapes allegedly committed by Assange, according to The Guardian. If the country does so and also sends an extradition request to the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom will decide which country Assange will be deported to. Moreno tells the British newspaper that he has received assurances that the Australian will not be deported to a country where he could face the death penalty or torture.