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Ecuador grants political asylum to WikiLeaks' Assange

LONDON (AP) – Ecuador said Thursday that it was granting asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a decision that thrilled supporters but will do little to defuse the standoff at the Latin American nation's London embassy, where the Australian ex-hacker has been holed up for almost two months.

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said Ecuador believed Assange faced a real threat of political persecution — including the prospect of extradition to the United States, where Patino said the head of the secret-spilling website would not get a fair trial.

"It is not impossible that he would be treated in a cruel manner, condemned to life in prison, or even the death penalty," Patino told journalists in Quito, the Ecuadorean capital. "Ecuador is convinced that his procedural rights have been violated." [While the rulers of the American Empire like to think we are a shiny beacon of freedom and democracy, the rest of the world seems to have figured out that the American Empire has replaced the Soviet Union as the worlds biggest police state]

Britain's Foreign Office said it was disappointed by the decision, but that it still plans to fulfill its legal obligation to extradite Assange to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault allegations.

Sweden has summoned Ecuador's ambassador and calls the asylum decision "unacceptable."

Assange shot to prominence after WikiLeaks repeatedly released huge troves of U.S. secret documents, moves which have outraged Americans and led to calls from American politicians to have him hunted down like a terrorist.

He is wanted in Sweden for questioning on allegations of sexual misconduct, but supporters fear the Scandinavian extradition effort is the opening gambit in a Washington-orchestrated bid to make him stand trial in the United States.

Swedish officials, and the two women who have accused Assange, have denied that the extradition bid is politically motivated. Director of Public Prosecution Marianne Ny declined to comment on the asylum decision, saying the issue was a matter for Britain.

Ecuador's decision heartened supporters — there was a cheer outside the Ecuadorean Embassy when it was it announced — but is likely to have little practical effect on Assange's current status.

He remains in the modest embassy building, where he has been staying since June 19, and British authorities have pledged to arrest him if he leaves. Swedish authorities say their investigation remains ongoing.

UK threats to raid Ecuador embassy to arrest Assange

UK threats to raid Ecuador embassy to arrest Assange unprecedented: expert

Britain has threatened to raid the Ecuadorian embassy in London if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is not handed over, Ecuador's foreign minister says.

Ecuador says it wants to give the Australian asylum, but the British government is refusing to provide him with safe passage, meaning he will be arrested as soon as he leaves the Ecuadorian embassy where he fled to several months ago.

At a media conference in Quito, Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino said the position taken by the British government was "unacceptable".

"Today we've received a threat by the United Kingdom, a clear and written threat that they could storm our embassy in London if Ecuador refuses to hand in Julian Assange," he said.

"We are not a British colony."

Mr Patino said a decision on the WikiLeaks founder's asylum request would be made public late tonight.

Don Rothwell, Professor of International Law at the ANU, told ABC 720 the threat to raid the embassy is very surprising.

"Under international law the Ecuadorian embassy in London enjoys protections under the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations. Under those conventions the UK authorities are not permitted to enter without invitation," Professor Rothwell said.

"The UK government has effectively indicated to Ecuador that if the matter isn't resolved to their satisfaction they are reserving the right to unilaterally enter the embassy and presumably arrest Mr Assange."

"There is a UK law that allows that, but it was a law that was enacted in the 1980s in response to a number of events concerning the Libyan embassy in London."

"It was proven to be supporting terrorist activities."

"I do not see anything, on the basis of the facts before us, which suggests that Mr Assange's case would justify a revocation of that protection."

"This is really a very significant ramping up of the pressure upon Ecuador by the UK and it's not surprising that Ecuador has reacted in the way that it has."

The British Foreign Office said it was "determined" to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden.

"The UK has a legal obligation to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden to face questioning over allegations of sexual offences and we remain determined to fulfil this obligation," said a UK Foreign Office spokesman.

Mr Assange is trying to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over sexual assault allegations made by two WikiLeaks supporters in 2010.

The Australian activist says he had consensual sex with the women.

Mr Assange, who enraged Washington in 2010 when his WikiLeaks website published thousands of secret United States diplomatic cables, says he fears he could be sent to the US, where he believes his life would be at risk.

In the past he has appealed for the Australian Government to intervene, but the Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon told Radio National there is little Australia can do.

"We've certainly made diplomatic contact and we've obviously been providing consular support as well but ultimately, I think you and your listeners would understand that this is a matter between Mr Assange and Ecuador," she said.

"Increasingly it seems it's a matter between Ecuador and the UK."

Professor Rothwell said the threat by the UK will be viewed seriously by governments around the world.

British Threat to Raid Ecuadorean Embassy is a Grave Violation of Diplomatic Conventions

British Threat to Raid Ecuadorean Embassy is a Grave Violation of Diplomatic Conventions and International Law

Thursday, 16 August 2012 10:24

WASHINGTON--(ENEWSPF)--August 16 - The U.K. government’s threat to raid the Ecuadorean Embassy in order to arrest Julian Assange is itself a serious violation of international law and diplomatic conventions and deserves international condemnation, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Co-Director Mark Weisbrot said today. Were British police to breach the inviolability of the embassy, it would set a dangerous precedent, he added. Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño revealed the threat yesterday, just hours before he announced that asylum had been granted this morning.

“The British threats are really unprecedented and an offense to the international community,” Weisbrot said. “It is a Mafia-like response, saying we can settle this question by force rather than law because no one can stop us.”

Weisbrot noted that “The U.K. government would not resort to such extreme threats if this case were really just about a foreign citizen who was wanted for questioning – not criminal charges or a trial – in a neighboring country. Clearly there are other motives involved.”

“Who is Assange to provoke such an overreaction? He is merely wanted for questioning in Sweden, yet the Swedish authorities have rejected numerous opportunities, including Ecuador’s recent offer, to question him in London. They have done so without even offering a reason.”

Weisbrot noted that WikiLeaks has revealed much embarrassing information about the U.S. government and its allies – including evidence of possible war crimes, and that this could be part of the reason why the U.K. government is willing to flout international law in order to extradite him.

“Were the British to actually revoke Ecuador’s diplomatic immunity and raid the embassy, what kind of precedent would this set? It would be one where asylum from political persecution would never be secure.”

Weisbrot noted that Assange’s fear of persecution in the U.S. was well-founded: “Leading Democrats such as Senator Dianne Feinstein have repeatedly called for his prosecution under the Espionage Act, which carries a possible death sentence or life in prison. Vice President Biden has referred to him as a ‘high-tech terrorist,’ and other political figures and pundits have called for his assassination.”

Weisbrot added that Assange need only look at the case of Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier accused of leaking information to Assange’s organization WikiLeaks, to get an idea of how he might be treated. Manning was held for 11 months in pre-trial solitary confinement, in conditions condemned by the UN special rapporteur on torture as “at a minimum cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of Article 16 of the Convention against Torture… ” and also violating his presumption of innocence.

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The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) was established in 1999 to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives. In order for citizens to effectively exercise their voices in a democracy, they should be informed about the problems and choices that they face. CEPR is committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner, so that the public is better prepared to choose among the various policy options.

Source: commondreams.org