Exclusive: Ecuador will no longer intervene with the United Kingdom for Assange – Minister of Foreign Affairs

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador does not intend to intervene with the British government on behalf of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in talks about his situation at the London embassy. Tuesday the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador.

In an interview with Reuters, Foreign Minister José Valencia said Ecuador's only responsibility was to ensure Assange's well-being after the Australian national sued the country for the news. the conditions of his asylum in front of the London embassy.

"Ecuador has no responsibility to take further action," Valencia said. "We are neither the lawyers of Mr. Assange, nor the representatives of the British government. This is a problem that needs to be resolved between Assange and Britain. "

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not immediately respond to e-mails requesting comments after regular business hours.

Greg Barns, an Australian lawyer who advises Assange, said in an email that "recent developments in this case" show the need for the Australian government to intervene to help "one of its citizens who faces a real danger ".

This position marks a break with the previous practice of Ecuador of maintaining dialogue with the British authorities on the situation of Assange since he had granted asylum in 2012 , after being a refugee at the London Embassy in Ecuador, after British courts had ordered his extradition to Sweden.

This case has since been dismissed, but friends and supporters allege that Assange now feared being arrested and extradited to the United States after he left the embassy.

WikiLeaks, who published the American diplomatic and military secrets when Assange led the operation, faced an investigation by a US grand jury.

Valencia said that he was "frustrated" by Assange's decision to take legal action in an Ecuadorian court last week over the new conditions of his asylum, the obligatory to pay medical bills and phone calls, as well as to clean up after her cat.

"International agreements do not force Ecuador to pay for things like Mr. Assange's laundry," he said.

The Ecuadorian President, Lenin Moreno, said that the asylum was not supposed to be eternal, but he said he was worried about the possibility of extradition of Assange to the states -United. Valencia said on Tuesday that it had not discussed Assange's situation with the US government.

Last December, Ecuador granted Assange citizenship to Ecuador and asked to be named a member of the country's diplomatic mission in Britain and Russia, which would have guaranteed him safe passage to leave the country. embassy. Britain rejected the request.