MONTEVIDEO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2021) Ecuador's ex-president Rafael Correa told Sputnik on Thursday he would impeach his successor for betraying Julian Assange and the nation.
The whistleblower was arrested by British police inside the Ecuadorean embassy in 2019 after Lenin Moreno withdrew his asylum, a status granted to him by Correa back in 2012. Assange is fighting extradition to the United States, where he faces up to 175 years in prison on controversial spying charges.
"What happened to Assange was disgraceful. We humiliated Ecuador at the international level. That is why Moreno must be prosecuted for treason," Correa said.
He said Assange's arrest was the first time in the history of the small Andean nation when the government allowed British forces to enter the national territory. He promised that Moreno would answer for this "barbaric" act.
Correa returned to politics last year, founding a leftist Union for Hope (UNES). Its candidate Andres Arauz is leading the presidential race and is expected to make it into the second round of voting in April.
