The British government has threatened to invade the Embassy of
Ecuador in London and arrest WikiLeaders founder Julian Assange, who is
seeking political asylum there.
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.
Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ricardo Patino, released
details of a letter he said was delivered through a British embassy
official in Quito, and said that the Ecuadorian government would
announce on Thursday whether it would give Assange asylum,
telegraph.co.uk reports.
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.
“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.”
Patino said, “Today we received from the United Kingdom an express
threat, in writing, that they might storm our embassy in London if we
don’t hand over Julian Assange”
He said the letter was “improper of a democratic, civilized and rule abiding country.
“If the measure announced in the British official communication is
enacted, it will be interpreted by Ecuador as an unacceptable,
unfriendly and hostile act and as an attempt against our sovereignty. It
would force us to respond,” he said.
“We are not a British colony.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign office said Britain remained “determined” to extradite Assange to Sweden.
“We have an obligation to extradite Mr Assange and it is only right that we give Ecuador the full picture.
“Throughout this process we have drawn the Ecuadorians’ attention to
relevant provisions of our law, whether, for example, the extensive
human rights safeguards in our extradition procedures, or the legal
status of diplomatic premises in the UK.
“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.
“We have an obligation to extradite Mr Assange and it is only right that we give Ecuador the full picture.
“Throughout this process we have drawn the Ecuadorians’ attention to
relevant provisions of our law, whether, for example, the extensive
human rights safeguards in our extradition procedures, or the legal
status of diplomatic premises in the UK.
“We are still committed to reaching a mutually acceptable solution,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment