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WikiLeaks announced Friday that Julian Assange had filed a lawsuit against the government of Ecuador for "violation of his fundamental rights and freedoms".
The whistleblower's website said that its general counsel, Baltasar Garzon, had arrived Thursday in Ecuador for the official launch of the case. Assange entered the Embassy of Ecuador in London in 2012 and got political asylum, but it now appears that relations have deteriorated.
In March, Ecuadorian officials cut off their Internet connection and telephone lines. WikiLeaks said that Assange was not allowed to get in touch with journalists and human rights organizations. Authorities had placed three signal jammers to block all communications, noted WikiLeaks.
According to a statement, Assange's legal representatives would dispute a "special protocol" put in place by Ecuador, which required its lawyers to disclose personal information, including social media information and serial numbers of their devices, before to be able to consult it.
"According to the protocol, the embassy could seize the assets of Mr. Assange or his visitors and deliver them without a warrant to the British authorities," said the platform online, via Twitter.
The legal action came after the Ecuadorian President, Lenín Moreno, pledged to work more closely with the British authorities to end the stalemate in which Assange, founder of the site in 2006, had founded the site.
Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported that Ecuador had asked in a nine-page memo Assange should stop "interfering in the internal affairs of other states" if his Internet was reestablished. Other rules, said AP, include guarding her cat and cleaning the bathroom.
It was not clear if the founder of WikiLeaks had accepted the document.
Assange thinks that if he leaves the embassy, he will be extradited to the United States for his work on the site. In 2012, he entered the building to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning about allegations of sexual assault. This case has since been closed.
British authorities have stated that Assange was still wanted because he had jumped bail six years ago. Trump administration officials last year said that the detention of WikiLeaks' founder was a top priority.
"The American case against Julian Assange dates back to the Obama administration in 2010, but has been expanded under Trump to include the biggest leak in the history of the CIA, Vault 7," said WikiLeaks Friday, referring to the alleged leakage of cybertools from the Central Intelligence Agency in March.
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