Ecuador Refuses to Comment on Claims About Assange's Possible Expulsion From Embassy

MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th April, 2019) The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said it did not comment on claims about the possible expulsion of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, calling these claims "rumors."

"Ecuador does not respond to rumors, speculations and assumptions which are not supported by any documents," the ministry said, as quoted by the Comercio news outlet.

Earlier in the day, WikiLeaks said, citing a high-ranked Ecuadorian source that Assange might be ousted from the embassy within "hours to days," adding that the authorities of the Latin American country had already reached an agreement with the United Kingdom on his arrest.

The whistleblowing platform suggested that the Ecuadorian authorities might use a leak in the so-called INA Paper offshore scandal, involving President Lenin Moreno, as a pretext to expel Assange from the embassy.

WikiLeaks' statement followed the claims by Moreno that Assange has been violating the conditions of his asylum in the embassy, explaining that the activist was prohibited from meddling with other states' politics. Moreover, the president said the activist's fate would be soon decided.

The INA papers scandal erupted in February as the documents have been published revealing the alleged links between Moreno and his family and a Panamanian tax haven allegedly used by them for money laundering, something Moreno has denied.

Earlier in April, the government of Ecuador requested the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy to take action in relation to the publication of the INA Papers materials, implicating WikiLeaks in the release of the documents. The platform, however, denied claims it was behind the leak.