Ecuador’s embassy in London will continue to ban WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from using the phone or meeting guests, after British and Ecuadoran officials failed to reach an understanding on whether and how to reconnect him to the outside world.
In late March, Assange tweeted criticism about the United Kingdom’s decision to expel Russian diplomats from England following the poisoning of former Kremlin operative Sergei Skripal.
Assange’s outside communications were shut off in an attempt to prevent him from issuing statements reflecting his personal views, over fears they could further complicate relations between Ecuador, England, and Russia.
“He still has no access to the Internet and communications (…) there is a dialogue, there is a will and an interest to move forward in the solution of that matter,” Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa told reporters this week.
Assange has been living in the embassy to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where he is wanted by federal officials regarding sex crime allegations.
The last time Assange’s communications were shut off was in October 2016. Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa limited his communications ahead of the U.S. presidential election that November after WikiLeaks published internal documents from Democratic officials.
