WikiLeaks announced this weekend that it will soon put out a statement about its founder and editor, Julian Assange, stressing that he is “safe and still in full command.”
“We will release a statement tomorrow about Assange. Our editor is safe and still in full command despite reduced communications with staff,” the group tweeted around 2 a.m. EST (7 a.m. London time) on Sunday.
We will release a statement tomorrow about Assange. Our editor is safe and still in full command despite reduced communications with staff.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 23, 2016
No other details were provided about the status of Assange, who has resided in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012. He is wanted in Sweden on charges of sexual assault, but has expressed fear that he could be extradited to the United States for espionage should he leave the embassy.
WikiLeaks is about half way through publishing what it says are about 50,000 emails stolen from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, which national security analysts have said were stolen by hackers at the direction of the Russian government.
Last week WikiLeaks announced that Assange’s Internet had been intentionally cut off by Ecuador. According to a report, which cited an unnamed source familiar with the situation, the Ecuadorian government has become increasingly fed up with Assange’s presence at the embassy, despite still granting him political asylum.
WikiLeaks also claimed, citing unnamed U.S. sources, that Secretary of State John Kerry intervened to have the Ecuadorian Embassy stop Assange from releasing the emails that have dogged Clinton’s campaign, pointing to the ongoing peace negotiations between the Colombian government and FARC as the reason.
The U.S. government denies any such claims. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the accusation was “false.”
Earlier in the month Assange reportedly canceled an announcement from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy because of “security concerns.”
