World
09:36, 28-Jul-2018
'I never agreed with what Assange does,' says Ecuador’s president
Updated
08:43, 31-Jul-2018
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Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno said Friday he never supported Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s activities, as he confirmed he was in talks with the UK to end Assange’s stay in his country’s London embassy.
"I have never agreed with what Mr. Assange does,” Moreno said at an event in Madrid, adding he had inherited the "problem" from the previous government.
"I have never supported the intervention of private emails to be able to obtain information, regardless of how valuable it may be."
Moreno also confirmed a July 15 report in the Sunday Times that Ecuador and Britain were in talks to try to end Assange's stay at Ecuador's London embassy.
"We are permanently speaking with the British government" as well as with Assange’s legal team, Moreno said.
Australian-born Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning about allegations of sex crimes which he has always denied.
Those allegations have since been dropped but Assange would be arrested by British police, should he leave the embassy, for breaching bail conditions.
Assange believes that would pave the way for extradition to the United States for the publication of a huge cache of US diplomatic and military secrets on the WikiLeaks website.
Source(s): Reuters