Assange's Lawyer Says Sees Sings Of Quito's Readiness To Expel Whistleblower From Embassy

QUITO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th April, 2019) Carlos Poveda, a lawyer of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Ecuador, told Sputnik that he considered certain moves by the Ecuadorian authorities as signs of their intention to expel the activist from his asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been living since 2012.

On Thursday, the whistleblowing platform quoted a high-level source in Ecuador as saying Assange would be expelled from the embassy within "hours to days." WikiLeaks added that Quito had an agreement with the UK government for Assange's arrest. The suggestion followed the statement by Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno that the activist's fate would be decided in the short term. Both Moreno and Foreign Minister Jose Valencia have pointed to the alleged role of WikiLeaks and Assange in the leak of the so-called INA papers that led to a corruption scandal involving the president. Moreover, Ecuador's Attorney General Inigo Salvador reportedly said on Thursday the authorities had offered Assange to either surrender to London or stay in the embassy under the strict rules imposed on him by Quito.

"There are certain signs [of the Ecuadorian authorities' readiness to end Assange's asylum] which are constantly and daily being created by the president, the foreign minister and the attorney general. This makes us predict such a development," Poveda said.

Moreno came to power in May 2017 and since then, he has repeatedly said he wanted to settle the issue of Assange's status through legal measures. Last December, Moreno said he was uncomfortable with Assange staying in the embassy for so long and suggested that the whistleblower could leave the facility, but he would face jail time in the United Kingdom for violating bail terms.

Assange has said he was remaining inside the embassy for years because of fear of being extradited to the United States due to his role in high-profile leaks of classified US documents. Moreover, media reported that Quito had allegedly reached an agreement with Washington to extradite Assange in return for some debt relief.

The whistleblower entered the embassy after he was released on bail by the UK authorities in a Swedish-led investigation into an alleged sexual assault committed by Assange. The Swedish authorities dropped their charges against the Australian activist in 2017.