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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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I thought he was in favor of the free flow of information. Why won't he go testify and share his information?
Maybe he is a coward.
Amen!
@Caveman. He's a bad person. He allows stolen classified records to be posted. This information could kill your any of your family members if they serve the US. Think about it.
More paranoia.
Why Ecuador? Why not some place nicer???
This guy is slime. He knows he broke several laws. He knows that he angered a lot of people. And it is obvious that he is twisting, turning, arching his back and making the victims look like the bad guy and he some sort of savior; anything to slime his way out of the mess he put himself in.
his 'victims' ARE the bad guys.
I think there is a place for WikiLeaks. What I don't agree with is certain government info being broadcast around the world. A fine line.............
Let him go there good its easy for the US to take him out there He will never be herd from again LOL LOSER!
He is a true hero in every sense of the word. Thank you Mr. Assange for all your help in revealing the awful lies that are told to us.
How did he manage to get to the Ecuadorian embassy if he is under house arrest? This stinks. He should be shot on sight for all the trouble he has caused including the lives he has put at risk for his own glory. He is not a hero. He is an egomaniac.
This action on serves to verify his guilt. why else would he be trying to run like a coward? if he was so brave and so committed to his so-called cause of truth and open information then why doesn't he stay and face the consequences of trying to be a leader in this kind of fight...it's because he is a a two-faced liar, a hypocrite, and a coward.
*teabags Susan P.*
Big surprise, no concern at all for the alleged victims. It's good to be a man.
the alleged vicitms didnt show any concern – why should he? they BRAGGED about spending the night with him till they found out he was a player. if no means no then yes means yes. yes doesnt turn into no when you find out the next day that you got sloppy seconds.
The Swedish police could have questioned him in London any time they wanted. I don't understand why, if they (the Swedish police) have evidence, they haven't charged him with a crime. That would make extradition reasonable. Something smells bad about the whole thing.
EC news says he is welcome to enter Ecuador and file for resident visa 9-I.
Welcome to Quito!
Run, Runner!
You'd run too if the US government were out to destroy you.
You're welcome, Ecuador.
Love, Australia
After reading comments here all the crack heads are out in force... no wonder why the US is going down in flames. We have citizens like these people.