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Assange granted asylum in Ecuador (Photo: Jeff Fecke / Flickr)
According to a report in the Guardian attributed to an Ecuadoran government official, Rafael Correa has agreed to give the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum.
Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa has agreed to give Julian Assange asylum, 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.
The Ecuadoran foreign minister said safe passage from the British government remains an issue:
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.
Update: (h/t CTuttle in comments)
Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa has taken to Twitter to deny reports that Julian Assange’s asylum application has been approved.
“The rumour about asylum to Assange is false. There is still no decision. I am waiting for information from the Chancellor’s Office,” Mr Correa tweeted.
Earlier, a British newspaper had quoted an Ecuadorian government official saying “Ecuador will grant asylum to Julian Assange”.
However, President Correa said earlier this week he hoped an announcement was forthcoming on whether he would grant Assange asylum.
23 Comments
Bravo, Presidente Correa!
I’m no expert, but I understand from having lived in DC that diplomatic vehicles are rather inviolable. Why can’t the Ecuadorans put Julian Assange into a diplo-car, take him to a plane and put him on it, then fly him out of Britain?
I guess I don’t understand the difficulty. Perhaps the logistics aren’t part of their offer?
Yes, if this offer is something more than “Get here and you can have asylum” but actually conveys transport that’s not subject to GB law, indeed.
Also from the Guardian piece:
How come we never hear about this stuff in America? (also from the article)
I wouldn’t put it past Obama to have Assange illegally snatched from the Ecuadorean embassy, or to work something up with the British where Assange is guaranteed free passage in an Ecuadorean diplomatic vehicle, which then has “car trouble.”
The difficulty is pretty simple. Nothing to stop the Brits from snagging Julian out of the car, sticking him on a plane to sweden and then apologizing.
Nothing to stop the Brits from waiting until he’s on a plane, then forcing the plane to land and proceeding as above.
Nothing to stop the Brits from disclosing his route to The Drone King.
Boxturtle (And even if they agree, you still must trust the British government)
In my younger days, the USA or GB was almost always cast as the good guys in these cloak-and-dagger capers. It is so sad to think that our team wears the black hats nowadays, especially given the great power the USA wields internationally.
We once used our power for good. Or did so often enough that we could comfort ourselves with stories about ballet dancer and literature-producer defections. No more.
Correa risks becoming America’s “next Hitler” if he pulls this off, I suppose.
I wouldn’t put it past Obama to shoot him down over the ocean and blame Iran.
Boxturtle (Or to kidnap him ala Israel and Eichman)
And the proportion of the USAmerican people who would cheer our newly successful Olympic producers in these actions is discouraging large, I’m afraid.
Stop reading my mind!
Boxturtle (The only difference is that we’re more clumsy about it than the Soviets)
The possibilities, and the tech available, are endless. I see an Oval Office meeting with some CIA lab underline: “Or, Mr President, we could….”
Because our current CIA Director is so used to standing up to Presidents who want to do something illegal.
I’m betting that most people wouldn’t even notice a backpage item reported only in the foreign press.
Boxturtle (Besides, with Aniston getting married again there’s not going to be much room left)
I suppose the Tampa festivities might provide exactly the right kind of cover. I mean, if our President can kill American citizens, what’s one Aussie less on the planet’s surface, really?
Lefty Governments is South America are making me real proud! The one benefit of the Iraq and Afghan wars was the CIA was stripped of the manpower they needed to keep Right Wing governments in power in South America.
As to the question about diplomatic cars being protected Assange is wanted by another government Sweden and America I am sure wants him but I don’t know if they have asked for him.
England never agreed to give Assange diplomatic immunity every country must accept diplomatic staff before they come into the country.
So the car might be protected but I am not sure Assange is.
The next question is what is England and Ecuador willing to do to get Assange out of England or in jail?
Oh. When is the bombing of Ecuador to begin?
We’ll show then some “shock & awe”.
Yes, HM Government would never use drones. Slitting their wrists in a forest is so much more economical.
Not so fast, Teddy…! 8-(
Ecuador’s president denies reports Julian Assange granted asylum…
Statecraft via Twitter! Post updated, many thanks, sir.
De nada, Teddy…! ;-)
Yeah, Teddy. We’re the other side in the Mission:Impossible scenario now. Inevitable, one supposes, given the enthusiasm with which the victors of the First War Part Two rapturously embraced so many aspects of the Thousand-Year Reich, from the all-encompassing propaganda, to the SuperWeapons (TM), to the institutional superstition, to the subjugation of women, to the elevation of warmachting–oops. Slipped.–to the brutal suppression of dissent…you get the picture.
RT reported on the visit of Assange’s mother to Ecuador. RT is worth checking daily for news missed from other sources.
http://rt.com/