WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange must ultimately leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno stated during an event in Madrid, broadcast by the Europa Press agency, TASS reports.
"Yes. But it must be reached through dialogue," the president said in reply to the question about whether Assange must leave the embassy. "The only thing we want is a guarantee that his life would not be in danger."
Earlier, the Independent daily reported that during his official visit to the UK, Moreno held talks with British officials on turning Assange over to the UK police.
In 2012, Assange asked Ecuador’s embassy in London for asylum in order to avoid extradition to Sweden, which had issued a warrant for his arrest on sexual harassment and rape charges. Assange dismissed the accusations as politically motivated. His worst fear was that Sweden might deport him to the United States, where he would face 35 years in prison or capital punishment for publishing secret documents of the Department of State. Since that moment, Assange has remained on the premises of the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Moreno, who serves as Ecuadorian president since May 2017, has stated several times that Assange cannot make any political statements from the country’s embassy in London. In March of this year, the Ecuadorian officials deprived Assange of Internet and mobile connection, as he continued to make political statements.