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Julian Assange requests asylum in Ecuador, foreign minister says
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has formally requested asylum in Ecuador, the country's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said.
Patino, speaking at a press conference in Quito, Ecuador, read from a statement that Assange was currently at Ecuador's embassy in London, England, where he formally requested asylum. Patino read a statement to reporters at a news conference in Quito. He took no questions.
The request comes after the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on Thursday dismissed an application filed by an attorney for the WikiLeaks founder who was seeking to reopen his appeal against extradition to Sweden.
The application was Assange's last option in the British courts. Britain's Crown Prosecution Service has previously said if the court dismissed Assange's appeal, his only further remedy is to apply immediately to the European Court of Human Rights, and Assange's attorneys have vowed to do so.
The appeal itself would be a rarity, as the court's decisions are supposed to be final in Britain.
Assange has been fighting for a year and a half against being sent to Sweden for questioning about accusations of sexual abuse. Two women accused him in August 2010 of sexually assaulting them during a visit to Sweden in connection with a WikiLeaks release of internal U.S. military documents.
WikiLeaks' work is not at issue in the extradition matter or the Swedish allegations against Assange.
Assange has not been charged with a crime, but Swedish prosecutors want to question him about allegations of "unlawful coercion and sexual misconduct including rape," according to a Supreme Court document.
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why is this guy not in JAIL! send the seal team in!
This guy, who you want to act like is some horrible guy, is actually a hero for the American people – you're just too stupid to realize it.
The government is committing crimes and atrocities, and wants to keep it hidden from the public. It is our responsibility to know how our tax dollars are being spent and hour our government is treating others.
This guy tried to shine a light on it, and now they want to kill him for it. It is disgusting to me to think my fellow Americans are so brainwashed that anyone criticizing our government and spreading TRUTH (and it was TRUTH), is somehow a criminal.
@Joe: Funny how you equate stealing and divulging sensitive matters of National Security as an act of heroism. Of course a reasonable person would call that treason.
I'd love to get a cane and just go crazy on this guy...
not news. good for him.
That is one creepy looking dude
If that photo was of an anonymous hero who ran into a fire and saved a bunch of children, would you be saying the same thing? Of course you wouldn't.
Why would Ecuador entertain and asylum request...he's not a citizen of Ecuador...
You don't really know how asylum works, do you?
Because Julian is a wookie. Now I know what you're thinking, what does a wookie have to do with asylum in Ecuador? Well, nothing, it doesn't make any sense.
How about asylum in Syria?
why that's Insane. Asylum!!
Assange is an assault against reason.
Why would Ecuador take him?
Sucks to be him....guess he shouldn't have committed the crime
Hmm, inocent people usually don't fight so hard to avoid judgement.
that just shows his guilt. what a POS.
If he had a hoodie, he would be just like my son.
This guy did a whole lot of posturing and declared his confidence in his legal position against both the UK and US Governments. Well guess what? It was all a pose for the news cameras.
In the end, this guy is a coward who doesn't have the courage of his own convictions. Principles? He has none.
He is just another rat who got called out and is now scurrying for cover.
Why is this guy still alive?
because he has a life, which you don't
Because freedom is still alive.