The government of Ecuador announced officially Thursday that it would grant Wikileaks founder Julian Assange political asylum.
"The Ecuador government, loyal to its tradition to protect those who seek refuge with us at our diplomatic missions, has decided to grant diplomatic asylum to Mr Assange," said Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño from Quito.
Adding that Assange's legal and procedural rights had been violated, Patiño said the government of Ecuador accepted the argument that he faced possible extradition and political persecution by the United States, which may or may not have a secret indictment related to Wikileaks' release of US diplomatic and military documents.
"We believe his fears are legitimate," Patiño told reporters. “We think [Assange’s] extradition is viable to a country outside the EU. If this happens, he will not get a fair trial and his rights won’t be respected. Most probably he will face a military court in the US.”
”Ecuador has confirmed Assange does not have enough protection from Australia where he holds citizenship,” Patino said.
Wikileaks supporters welcomed the news.
"We applaud Ecuador for granting asylum to Julian Assange," said Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) Executive Director Vincent Warren. "Ecuador’s action rightly offers protection to a journalist and publisher who faces persecution from the U.S. It thereby strengthens the global commitment to human rights, including government accountability and freedom of the press. We hope that Assange’s contributions to a robust democratic society are belatedly recognized by the U.S., which prides itself in its commitment to a free press."
Patino also re-affirmed Ecuador's offer to allow Sweden to interview Assange in their embassy in London-- an offer which has repeatedly been turned down by officials in Stockholm. Swedish authorities have continued to resist requests that it simply guarantee that the WikiLeaks founder would not be extradited to the US once he is on Swedish soil. As Salon.com blogger, Glenn Greenwald tweeted following the news:
Referring to news overnight that -- in contradiction of international norms -- the UK would not allow passage of Assange out of the embassy in London, Patino said: “We trust that that the UK will offer as soon as possible the guarantee for the safe passage of asylum for Mr Assange and they will respect those international agreements they have signed in the past.”
On Wednesday evening -- in what some observers saw as a preemptive attempt to influence Ecuador's decision -- the UK government notified officials in the Latin American country that it could, citing clauses in British domestic law, storm the embassy to arrest the founder of Wikileaks.
Mark Weisbrot, co-director for the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), calledthe British threats are "unprecedented" and an offense to international law. “It is a Mafia-like response," Weisbrot said, "[the UK] saying we can settle this question by force rather than law because no one can stop us.”
Weisbrot noted that “The U.K. government would not resort to such extreme threats if this case were really just about a foreign citizen who was wanted for questioning – not criminal charges or a trial – in a neighboring country. Clearly there are other motives involved.”
“Who is Assange to provoke such an overreaction? He is merely wanted for questioning in Sweden, yet the Swedish authorities have rejected numerous opportunities, including Ecuador’s recent offer, to question him in London. They have done so without even offering a reason.”
Weisbrot noted that “The U.K. government would not resort to such extreme threats if this case were really just about a foreign citizen who was wanted for questioning – not criminal charges or a trial – in a neighboring country. Clearly there are other motives involved.”
“Who is Assange to provoke such an overreaction? He is merely wanted for questioning in Sweden, yet the Swedish authorities have rejected numerous opportunities, including Ecuador’s recent offer, to question him in London. They have done so without even offering a reason.”
Reuters, who spoke to one Assange's lawyers, added:
Per Samuelsson, a lawyer representing Assange in Sweden, said his client was relieved by Ecuador's decision to grant him asylum, as he felt Stockholm would ultimately hand him over to the United States which is still furious that his Wikileaks website leaked hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic cables."Who would want to spend the rest of their life in prison. Especially if it were as a result of the work he has done as a journalist?" Samuelsson said."He has sought political asylum in order to eliminate the risk that he will spend the rest of his life in prison in the United States," Samuelsson told Reuters by telephone."He is not against being questioned by police about what has happened in Sweden," he added. [...]"Now the ball is in the court of the Swedish prosecutor," he said."Sweden could rescind the European arrest order and then Assange could go to Ecuador where he will be beyond the reach of the United States."
In the early hours of Thursday, an enlarged police presence was observed outside the embassy building in London.
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