Assange seeks political asylum

I would say that this is a fairly prudent thing for Assange to do – rather than risk ending up in American custody

'Persecuted' Assange seeks asylum in Ecuador after taking refuge in embassy

WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange has taken refuge in the South American nation's embassy in London and is seeking political asylum.

SMH,

20 June, 2012

Assange said in a statement: ''I can confirm that today I arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy and sought diplomatic sanctuary and political asylum. This application has been passed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital Quito.

''I am grateful to the Ecuadorian ambassador and the government of Ecuador for considering my application.''

Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said the country was weighing the request.

The move comes less than a week after Britain's Supreme Court rejected the 40-year-old Australian's bid to reopen his extradition case.

Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden after two women accused him of sexual misconduct during a visit to the country in mid-2010.

His legal struggle to stay in Britain has dragged on for the better part of two years, clouding his website's work exposing the world's secrets.

Assange walked into the embassy, in London's Knightsbridge district, and asked for asylum under the United Nations Human Rights Declaration.

A man speaking from the embassy said Assange had arrived at the embassy on Tuesday and was requesting political asylum.

A message was posted on the WikiLeaks Twitter account, saying:

WikiLeaks@wikileaks

ALERT: Julian Assange has requested political asylum and is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London justice4assange.com/donate.html

20 Jun 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite

A second read:

WikiLeaks@wikileaks

We will have more details on the Ecuadorian situation soon.

20 Jun 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite

Patino told a news conference that Assange had written to leftist President Rafael Correa saying he was being persecuted and seeking asylum.

He said that Assange had argued "the authorities in his country will not defend his minimum guarantees in front of any government or ignore the obligation to protect a politically persecuted citizen".

He said it was impossible for him to return to his homeland because it would not protect him from being extradited to "a foreign country that applies the death penalty for the crime of espionage and sedition".

The reference is presumably to the United States. Assange claims the US has secretly indicted him for divulging American secrets and will act on the indictment if Sweden succeeds in extraditing him from Britain.

An embassy spokesman said later: ''In order to reach a proper decision in line with international law on Mr Assange's application, the Ecuadorian government will be seeking the views of the governments of the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States of America.

''The Ecuadorian government will consider all the representations carefully as it is obliged to do under the accepted process in assessing such applications.''

Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan said the government has no information about any US indictment pending on Mr Assange. The government would provide him with full back-up, as it would any Australian citizen.

Assange shot to international prominence in 2010 with the release of hundreds of thousands of secret US documents, including a hard-to-watch video that showed US forces gunning down a crowd of Iraqi civilians and journalists whom they had mistaken for insurgents.

Australian authorities have co-operated with the United States in investigating WikiLeaks' conduct.

They concluded Assange has broken no Australian law.

After his arrest in December 2010 Assange had a number of famous friends and supporters who helped him to raise bail of £200,000 ($310,000).These included filmmaker Ken Loach and socialite and charity fundraiser Jemima Khan, who each offered £20,000, and Bianca Jagger.

In November 2010 Ecuador's deputy foreign minister said the country was offering residency to Assange.

However, Correa told reporters the following day that neither he nor Patino had approved the offer and it would need to be studied.

The Australian Greens have come out in strong support of the Wikileaks founder, with senator Scott Ludlam telling reportersin Canberra this morning he had seen part of a letter Mr Assange had written to the Ecuadorian government.

‘‘He doesn’t have any confidence at all in the Australian government’s willingness to protect him, or to stand up for his rights,’’ he told reporters in Canberra.

Senator Ludlam said he understood Ecuadorian authorities have contacted Sweden, Britain and the US about Mr Assange’s case, but had not had dealings with Canberra on the matter.

‘‘I think that in itself is telling of the degree of neglect that he has been dealing with,’’ Senator Ludlam said.

He admitted there was no concrete evidence that the US had secret plans to extradite Mr Assange bus added the US ambassador in Australia had chosen his words ‘‘very carefully’’ when speaking on the matter.

‘‘The US ambassador did say there was no warrant that he was aware of,’’ Senator Ludlam said. ‘‘It’s not a warrant that we are concerned about. It’s an indictment for charges of espionage.’’

Greens MP Adam Bandt described as '‘shameful’’ the government’s treatment of Mr Assange, which he said had forced him to turn to Ecuador for help.

He called on the federal government to use its ‘‘special relationship’’ with the US to ask what its plans were for Mr Assange’s case.

Here is video coverage from RT

Here is Julian Assange's interview with Ecuadorian presidendent Correa

The Julian Assange Show: Rafael Correa

This week, Julian Assange talks to the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. Correa is a left wing populist who has changed the face of Ecuador. But unlike his predecessors he holds a Ph.D. in economics. According to US embassy cables, Correa is the most popular President in Ecuador's democratic history. But in 2010 he was taken hostage in an attempted coup d'etat. He blames the coup attempt on corrupt media and has launched a controversial counter-offensive. Correa says the media defines what reforms are possible. Assange tries to figure out is Ecuadorian president justified and what is his vision for Latin America.