Ecuador Mulls Giving Julian Assange Asylum
June 24, 2012
In this Feb. 1, 2012 file photo, Julian Assange, the 40-year-old WikiLeaks founder, arrives at the Supreme Court in London.
Ecuador says it is giving serious consideration to giving Julian Assange political asylum, after the founder of the WikiLeaks website made the request at the country's embassy in London. British authorities say they will arrest Assange if he leaves the embassy.
Julian Assange walked into the Ecuadorian Embassy on Tuesday and has been staying there ever since. He spoke to a radio station in his native Australia from the embassy.
"Ecuador back in 2010 suggested that perhaps I should come to Ecuador and be given residency, so they are sympathetic over a long period of time so we hope that the asylum application will be viewed favorably," he said.
The Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said his government was considering the asylum application.
"We'll take the time that is necessary because we're dealing with a very serious topic that we take on with absolute responsibility. However, in the meantime, Mr. Assange is in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and under the protection of the Ecuadorian state," he said.
Julian Assange founded the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, which published confidential files on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and thousands of U.S. cables sent between overseas diplomats and Washington.
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