Media Nusantara: [inti-net] Ecuador grants Julian Assange asylum

Minggu, 19 Agustus 2012

[inti-net] Ecuador grants Julian Assange asylum

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/ouramerica-i/17-agosto-julian-assange.html

Havana. August 17, 2012

Ecuador grants Julian Assange asylum

QUITO, August 16.—The Ecuadorian government today granted Julian Assange political asylum, given that, to date, the founder of WikiLeaks has not received guarantees from the governments of the UK or Sweden that he will not be extradited to the United States, where he considers that his life will be endangered.

Demonstration in support of Assange outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño detailed the legal arguments on the basis of which asylum has been granted Assange, taking into account the national tradition of accepting refugees and not exposing any citizen to life threatening situations, PL reports.

He also referred to the possibility of approaching the International Court of Justice to resolve the situation in the event of the British government denying Assange safe conduct so that he can leave his country's embassy in London and travel to Ecuador.

In this context, speaking at a press conference, British Foreign Minister William Hague stated the UK will not allow the WikiLeaks founder safe passage out of the country, given that he is sought in Sweden and the government is simply fulfilling its responsibilities in this matter.

Patiño also mentioned that his country had convened urgent meetings of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Organization of American States (OAS) to discuss a common response to British threats to enter the embassy and arrest Assange.

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