Showing posts with label Ecuador. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ecuador. Show all posts
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, gave a dramatic statement from the Ecuadorian embassy in London today as he condemned his persecution and attempts to silence whistleblowers.
In a defiant statement from the Ecuadorian embassy’s ground floor balcony, 41 year-old Assange praised the nation of Ecuador for taking a "stand for justice" in giving him political asylum.
Addressing hundreds of loyal supporters outside the central London building this afternoon, the former computer hacker suggested there was “unity in oppression”.
He urged the American government “renounce its witch hunt against Wikileaks” and stop its “war on whistleblowers”.
He also thanked other helpful South American nations and supporters around the world, plus his family including his children "who have been denied their father".
He said: "Forgive me, we will be reunited soon." » | Andrew Hough, at the Ecuadorean embassy | Sunday, August 19, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ecuadorian embassy statement in full »
Friday, August 17, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Julian Assange faces arrest if he leaves his haven in the Ecudorean embassy in London to issue a statement on Sunday.
The WikiLeaks founder was granted political asylum by the Latin Americans after its ministers agreed he was facing persecution and the possible death penalty in America. But he remains holed up in the embassy in Knightsbridge, surrounded by police who want to arrest him for breaching his bail conditions.
Last night WikiLeaks said he would give a "live" statement "in front of" the embassy on Sunday, two months since he entered it. He could be seized if it is deemed he has stepped outside the building's diplomatically protected zone.
Despite his delight at being granted asylum on Thursday, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said the maverick Australian would not be allowed to fly to his newly adopted country and must instead answer rape allegations in Sweden.
It sets the scene for a diplomatic stalemate between London, which said it was “disappointed” by the long-awaited decision, and Quito, which has accused Britain of threatening to storm the building to seize Mr Assange. » | Martin Beckford, and Rosa Silverman | Thursday, August 16, 2012
Ecuador has now made its decision: to grant political asylum to Julian Assange. This comes in the wake of an incident that should dispel remaining doubts about the motives behind the UK/Swedish attempts to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. On Wednesday, the UK government made an unprecedented threat to invade Ecuador's embassy if Assange is not handed over. Such an assault would be so extreme in violating international law and diplomatic conventions that it is difficult to even find an example of a democratic government even making such a threat, let alone carrying it out.
When Ecuadorian foreign minister Ricardo Patiño, in an angry and defiant response, released the written threats to the public, the UK government tried to backtrack and say it wasn't a threat to invade the embassy (which is another country's sovereign territory). But what else can we possibly make of this wording from a letter delivered by a British official?
"You need to be aware that there is a legal base in the UK, the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987, that would allow us to take actions in order to arrest Mr Assange in the current premises of the embassy. We sincerely hope that we do not reach that point, but if you are not capable of resolving this matter of Mr Assange's presence in your premises, this is an open option for us."Is there anyone in their [his] right mind who believes that the UK government would make such an unprecedented threat if this were just about an ordinary foreign citizen wanted for questioning – not criminal charges or a trial – by a foreign government?
Ecuador's decision to grant political asylum to Assange was both predictable and reasonable. But it is also a ground-breaking case that has considerable historic significance. » | Mark Weisbrot | Thursday, August 16, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Ahead of decision on WikiLeaks founder's asylum claim, Quito accuses Britain of threat to trample international law
The diplomatic and political minefield that is the fate of Julian Assange is expected to come a step closer to being traversed when Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, gives his decision on whether his country will grant the WikiLeaks' founder asylum around lunchtime on Thursday.
The decision – if it comes – will mark the end of a turbulent process that on Wednesday night saw Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, raging against perceived threats from Britain to "storm" the embassy and warning that such a "dangerous precedent" would be met with "appropriate responses in accordance with international law".
The dramatic development came two months after Assange suddenly walked into the embassy in a bid to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual assault.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Patiño released details of a letter he said was delivered through a British embassy official in Quito, the capital of the South American country.
The letter said: "You need to be aware that there is a legal base in the UK, the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987, that would allow us to take actions in order to arrest Mr Assange in the current premises of the embassy."
It added: "We need to reiterate that we consider the continued use of the diplomatic premises in this way incompatible with the Vienna convention and unsustainable and we have made clear the serious implications that this has for our diplomatic relations."
On Wednesday night appeals were tweeted for Assange supporters to occupy the embassy to prevent British police from arresting him, and while there was a police presence outside the embassy, Scotland Yard insisted that officers were simply there to "police the embassy like any other embassy".
Patiño said he was "deeply shocked" by the diplomatic letter. Speaking to reporters later, he said: "The government of Ecuador is considering a request for asylum and has carried out diplomatic talks with the governments of the United Kingdom and Sweden. However, today we received from the United Kingdom a written threat that they could attack our embassy in London if Ecuador does not give up Julian Assange. » | Damien Pearse | Thursday, August 16, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Ecuador's president Rafael Correa has agreed to give Julian Assangeasylum, officials within Ecuador's government have said.
The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up at Ecuador's London embassy since 19 June, when he officially requested political asylum.
"Ecuador will grant asylum to Julian Assange," said an official in the Ecuadorean capital Quito, who is familiar with the government discussions.
On Monday, Correa told state-run ECTV that he would decide this week whether to grant asylum to Assange. Correa said a large amount of material about international law had to be examined to make a responsible informed decision.
Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patiño indicated that the president would reveal his answer once the Olympic Games were over. But it remains unclear if giving Assange asylum will allow him to leave Britain and fly to Ecuador, or amounts to little more than a symbolic gesture. At the moment he faces the prospect of arrest as soon as he leaves the embassy for breaching his bail conditions.
"For Mr Assange to leave England, he should have a safe pass from the British [government]. Will that be possible? That's an issue we have to take into account," Patino told Reuters on Tuesday. » | Irene Caselli in Quito | Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The Ecuadorean government is seeking to avert the "evil" of the extradition of Julian Assange to the US, according to a senior legal adviser to the country's embassy in London, where the WikiLeaks founder has sought sanctuary with a view to claiming asylum.
Diplomats for the small Latin American country said they had been seeking assurances from the UK that Assange would not be extradited to the US after the completion of legal proceedings in Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual assault.
Lawyers for Assange, who has been living in the Ecuadorean embassy for five weeks, believe there are secret plans to extradite him to the US to face trial, possibly for conspiracy to commit espionage. If found guilty, the 40-year-old could face life imprisonment.
Two officials at the Ecuadorean embassy said it had been seeking assurances from both the UK and Sweden that Assange would not be eventually sent to the US, but had received no answer. They saidEcuador would now formally ask the US if there were any legal proceedings against Assange or "an investigation which has identified him as a target and which may result in a later extradition request".
The senior legal adviser said: "In legal terms … the evil that Ecuador wishes to prevent is the extradition [of Assange] to the US. Now if there are ways and means of that being tied down, I think that would be a just solution." » | Paul Lewis | Thursday, July 26, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Ecuadorean ambassador is expected to fly to her nation's capital this weekend for talks on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's request for asylum.
Mr Assange has been at the Ecuadorean embassy in London since Tuesday and is seeking political asylum in the country to prevent him being extradited to Sweden.
The 40-year-old Australian faces allegations of sex crimes in the Scandinavian country, which he denies.
Ecuadorean ambassador to Britain Anna Alban, who met with the British government on Wednesday morning, is due to fly back to her home country to discuss the matter in Quito.
A spokesman at the embassy would not officially confirm the visit "until she is on the plane". » | Saturday, June 23, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Rafael Correa says officials will 'discuss with and seek the opinions of other countries' before decision is madeEcuador's president has acknowledged the diplomatic and political minefield created by Julian Assange's application for asylum, and indicated that a decision on the WikiLeaks founder's appeal is likely to take longer than first thought.
Speaking to reporters in Quito, Rafael Correa said: "We are going to have to discuss with and seek the opinions of other countries. We don't wish to offend anyone, least of all a country we hold in such deep regard as the United Kingdom."
Once a decision is made, Correa said, "we can talk about safe passage and such things".The WikiLeaks founder requested asylum at the country's embassy in London on Tuesday, citing the UN declaration on human rights. He is on bail after losing the last of his appeals against extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual offences, but insists such a move could place him at greater risk of possible future prosecution by the United States over the WikiLeaks cable releases in 2010.
Ecuador's deputy foreign minister, Marco Albuja, said on Wednesday that the country would make a decision within 24 hours, but Correa said: "He [Assange] presented his reasons. We are going to verify them. We will take the time necessary. Ecuador is a country which defends the right to life. We have to see whether there is a threat to Julian Assange's life." » | Esther Addley | Friday, June 22, 2012
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THE GUARDIAN: Socialite who donated to WikiLeaks founder's bail money also defends him over fears of extradition to USOne of Julian Assange's most prominent supporters, Jemima Khan, has said she would like to see the WikiLeaks founder, who has made an asylum bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, confront the rape allegations made against him by two Swedish women.
The socialite and charity fundraiser, who faces losing the £20,000 she put towards his bail money after Assange took refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy in London and sought political asylum, said on Twitter that the women deserved a response to their allegations.
She wrote: "For the record, in response to those asking about Assange & bail money.... I personally would like to see Assange confront the rape allegations in Sweden and the 2 women at the centre have a right to a response."
But Khan, one of several high-profile celebrities and activists who have supported Assange since his arrest in December 2010, said she also believed Assange was justified over his fears of being extradited to the US if he goes to Sweden.
"[T]here is no doubt that Assange has a real fear of being extradited to the US nor that the US gov is out to get WikiLeaks," she tweeted. » | David Batty | Friday, June 22, 2012
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THE GUARDIAN: WikiLeaks founder uses Australian radio interview to highlight US attempts to draw up charges against himJulian Assange has admitted that he has no idea whether his bid for political asylum in Ecuador to avoid extradition to Sweden will be successful.
The WikiLeaks founder, who has sought refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he did not know when a decision on his asylum request would be made.
His comments came as one of his most prominent supporters, Jemima Khan, said she would like to see him confront the rape allegations made against him by two Swedish women.
Khan, who faces losing the £20,000 she put towards his bail, said on Twitter that the two women "have a right to a response".
But Assange said his asylum bid had highlighted what he insists are attempts by the US government to draw up charges against him for leaking hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents via WikiLeaks.
"The department of justice in the United States has been playing a little game, and that little game is that they refuse to confirm or deny the existence of a grand jury," Assange said in a phone interview with ABC radio. "We are hoping what I am doing now will draw attention to the underlying issues." » | David Batty | Friday, June 22, 2012
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Thursday, June 21, 2012
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THE GUARDIAN: Assange's representatives say he was forced to seek asylum because he fears a 'political prosecution' in the USJulian Assange sought political asylum because he believed he would not "see the light of day for 40 years" if he was extradited to Sweden, according to his New York-based lawyer.
Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents the WikiLeaks founder in the US, said Assange and his legal team considered it highly likely that he would face an onward extradition to the US if he were sent to Sweden. "The concrete reality [is] that he was facing a political prosecution in the US, he was facing the death penalty or certainly life in jail. Faced with that, he had extremely limited choices."
Barring a last-ditch appeal to the European court of human rights, Assange could have expected to be extradited imminently, after the supreme court rejected the last of his attempts to resist removal to Sweden over accusations of sex assaults made by two women in August 2010.
The Assange team believes the US is likely to seek to prosecute him on espionage charges, which carries a potential death penalty, and that his chances of resisting any such extradition warrant would be more difficult in Sweden, where he would not receive bail during investigations into the alleged sex crimes and where his lawyers believe political and public opposition to a US extradition claim would be weaker. » | Esther Addley | Wednesday, June 20, 2012
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Police will arrest Julian Assange even if he is granted asylum with one legal expert claiming his only way out of the country is becoming Ecuador's representative to the UN.The WikiLeaks founder has spent the past two nights holed up in the South American country’s London embassy, in an attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes.
He will discover later today if Ecuador plans to grant him asylum.
But it is widely accepted he will still face arrest the minute he walks out of the Knightsbridge building, where police are waiting, as he has breached his bail conditions. He is meant to remain at a bail address in Tunbridge Wells between 10pm and 8am every night while his extradition appeals continue.
Mr Assange, a 40 year-old Australian, cannot be given diplomatic immunity by Ecuador as conferred on other embassy staff, because the Foreign Office would not approve the application.
And even if he were made an Ecuadorian citizen or granted asylum, he would still be liable to be arrested on departure from the embassy.
Speaking on the steps this morning, a policeman told reporters: “I am not aware of any agreements which would allow him safe passage out of the UK.”
Scotland Yard confirmed: “A successful asylum bid does not change the fact that he has breached his bail conditions.” » | Martin Beckford, Home Affairs editor | Thursday, June 21, 2012
Verwandt »
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Frieden, Wahrheit, Gerechtigkeit? WikiLeaks-Gründer Assange preist Ecuador - ein Land, in dem Journalisten wegen Präsidentenbeleidigung zu drei Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt werden. Ecuadors Präsident zeigt sich beeindruckt von diesen Worten, man prüfe Assanges Asylantrag ausführlich.Hamburg - Ecuador will den Asylantrag von WikiLeaks-Gründer Julian Assange ausführlich prüfen. "Wir werden uns die Zeit nehmen, die nötig ist, weil es sich um eine sehr ernste Angelegenheit handelt", sagte der ecuadorianische Präsident Rafael Correa in einem Fernsehinterview mit dem venezuelanischen Sender Telesur. Assange war am Dienstag in die Botschaft Ecuadors in London geflüchtet. Präsident Correa sagte nun: "Wir werden ihm so lange Asyl gewähren, wie es nötig ist." » | lis/AFP/AP/dapd/Reuters | Donnerstag, 21. Juni 2012
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LE POINT: L'Équateur va étudier la demande d'asile de Julian Assange : Le président Rafael Correa veut vérifier que le fondateur australien de WikiLeaks a eu droit à un procès équitable. » | Source AFP | jeudi 21 juin 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Ecuador has moved to the left under socialist president Rafael Correa, worsening its relations with the United StatesBritain's diplomatic relations with Ecuador have historically been low-key but cordial. However, the 2007 election of a socialist president Rafael Correa, led to a sharp change of direction in the Latin American state's foreign policy, away from the US and its regional allies and towards a radical bloc led by Venezuela.
In 2009, Correa closed a US military base, renounced Ecuador's national debt and joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (Alba) created by the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez as a counterweight to western influence in Latin America, alongside Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia. Relations with neighbouring Colombia nosedived in 2008 after a Colombian incursion into Ecuadorean territory, saying it had come under fire from left-wing Farc guerillas operating there.
Ecuador has also given diplomatic support to Iran in its standoff with the west over its nuclear programme. Correa visited Tehran in 2008 and announced the opening of embassies in each other's countries, while building up defence cooperation with Iran. Iran has also provided loans for the construction of hydroelectric power plants. In 2010, the US government declared Ecuador as being in violation of international regulations on money-laundering and financing terrorism, further worsening ties with Washington. » | Julian Borger, diplomatic editor | Tuesday, June 19, 2012
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