WikiLeaks claimed Thursday its founder Julian Assange would be expelled within “hours to days” from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has lived in asylum for nearly seven years.
WikiLeaks said it had a “high level” source within Ecuador that said Assange would be expelled and that the country already had an agreement with the United Kingdom for Assange’s arrest. Hours later, it said it had “secondary confirmation from another high level source.”
BREAKING: A high level source within the Ecuadorian state has told @WikiLeaks that Julian Assange will be expelled within “hours to days” using the #INAPapers offshore scandal as a pretext–and that it already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest.https://t.co/adnJph79wq
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 4, 2019
Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said earlier this week Assange had repeatedly violated the terms for his asylum at the embassy.
“We should ensure Mr. Assange’s life is not at risk but he’s violated the agreement we have with him so many times,” Moreno said.
Under the agreement, Assange “cannot lie or, much less, hack into private accounts or private phones” and he could not “intervene in the politics of countries, or worse friendly countries,” Moreno said.
The president said private photos of him and his family have been widely shared on social media, but stopped short of blaming WikiLeaks.
Moreno has previously discussed offering up Assange in exchange for debt relief from the U.S., the New York Times reported in December.
Assange took refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning in a sexual assault investigation. That case has since been dropped but WikiLeaks believes Assange could be extradited to the U.S.
