Ecuador to remove Julian Assange's extra security from London embassy

Ecuador will be removing extra security for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
Getty Images
Sophie Williams18 May 2018

Ecuador will be removing Julian Assange's extra security from its London embassy with immediate effect.

A statement from Ecuador's National Communications Secretariat said the embassy would have "normal security similar with the rest of Ecuador's embassies in the world."

Mr Assange has resided in the embassy since 2012 after Ecuador granted him asylum.

Over the past five years, Ecuador has reportedly put £3.7 million into a secret intelligence budget that protected Mr Assange, according to the Guardian.

Mr Assange refuses to leave the embassy because he fears he will be extradited to the US for questioning over WikiLeaks.

In March, Ecuador's government cut off the WikiLeaks founder's internet connection after he wrote a post on social media decrying the arrest of a Catalan separatist politician.

Earlier this year, a warrant for the arrest of Mr Assange was upheld by a judge.

Handing down her judgement at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot said: "I find arrest is a proportionate response even though Mr Assange has restricted his own freedom for a number of years.

"Defendants on bail up and down the country, and requested persons facing extradition, come to court to face the consequences of their own choices. He should have the courage to do the same.

“It is certainly not against the public interest to proceed."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in