Ecuador has accused the British government of threatening to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from its Embassy in London, and warned that such an action would force a strong response from the South American nation.
Assange sought refuge at the Embassy on June 19, seeking diplomatic asylum in Ecuador to avoid extradition to Sweden to face charges of sexual misconduct. Earlier in June, the British Supreme Court had rejected the Australian's final possible appeal against his extradition, upholding its earlier ruling that the European arrest warrant for him was valid.
Assange was arrested in London on a Swedish arrest warrant in December, 2010. He was later freed on conditional bail that included surrender of his passport, wearing an electronic tag to monitor his location, adhering to a strict curfew of 12 hours every day and reporting to police on a daily basis.
British police have since served Assange with extradition notice at the Ecuadorian Embassy, but they have been unable so far to arrest Assange for breaching his bail conditions and extraditing him to Sweden as he is currently on diplomatic territory.
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told a news conference in Quito on Wednesday that Ecuador had received a letter from the British government threatening to arrest Assange after storming its London Embassy if Assange was not handed over willingly.
"Today we received from the United Kingdom an express threat, in writing, that they might storm our Embassy in London if we don't hand over Julian Assange. Ecuador rejects in the most emphatic terms the explicit threat of the British official communication," Patino said.
Stressing that such a threat was "improper of a democratic, civilized and rule abiding country," Patino said any move by the British government to carry out its threat would "be interpreted by Ecuador as an unacceptable, unfriendly and hostile act and as an attempt against our sovereignty."
He said such a British action "would force" Ecuador to respond strongly, stressing that his country was not "a British colony." He said a decision had been reached on Assange's request for asylum and added that it would be announced on Thursday.
In the meantime, the British Foreign Office said in a statement that UK had a "legal obligation" to extradite Assange to Sweden. It also warned that the Ecuadorian Embassy's diplomatic status could be revoked using the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987 if that country refuses to hand over Assange willingly. Such a move would allow British police to enter the Embassy and arrest Assange.
"Throughout this process we have drawn the Ecuadorians' attention to relevant provisions of our law, whether, for example, the extensive human rights safeguards in our extradition procedures, or to the legal status of diplomatic premises in the UK. We are still committed to reaching a mutually acceptable solution," said the Foreign Office statement.
Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning in connection with allegations that he had raped one woman and molested another while on a visit in August, 2010. He has since admitted to meeting the two women while in Sweden, but denied having engaged in any non-consensual sex with them. He claims that the case is part of a smear campaign aimed at discrediting his controversial website and is politically-motivated.
He fears that he could be later extradited from Sweden to the U.S. on separate charges relating to publishing classified U.S. diplomatic cables, for which he could face the death penalty there. Nevertheless, Swedish authorities have guaranteed that the European Court of Human Rights would intervene if Assange was to face the prospect of "inhuman or degrading treatment or an unfair trial" in the U.S.
WikiLeaks, a website that publishes leaked classified information online, had earlier released some 250,000 classified cables sent from U.S. Embassies around the world to several newspapers, embarrassing Washington in the diplomatic front. That move fueled a wave of public anger in the U.S., resulting in numerous calls for bringing Assange to justice for alleged treason.
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