UK denies Assange safe passage for medical checkup
Britain has rejected a request by Ecuador to allow whistle-blower and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a safe passage in order to receive a medical checkup.
Reports on Wednesday said Assange sought medical assistance after he experienced a sharp pain in his right shoulder.
“We are requesting a special safe passage permission that would last just a few hours, just so that he can go and get an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and come back,” Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said.
Patino added, however, that Britain had said Assange was allowed to leave the Ecuadoran embassy in London – where he has been staying over the past few years in order to avoid extradition to Sweden – but that he would be arrested upon exit from the embassy.
“The reply we have had from Britain is that he can leave whenever he likes for any medical care he might need, but the European arrest warrant for Assange is still valid. In other words, ‘he can leave – and we will put him in jail,’” the Ecuadorian foreign minister added.
Earlier this week, Britain said it would stop providing 24/7 security outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London for the safety of the WikiLeaks founder, saying it costs the UK too much.
The 44-year-old is currently dodging Swedish prosecutors, who want to question him over rape allegations that Assange denies.
This comes as Stockholm said in August that it was dropping its investigations into other sexual assault allegations; however, he still faces the allegation of rape, which itself will expire in 2020.
This comes as Stockholm said in August that it was dropping its investigations into other sexual assault allegations; however, he still faces the allegation of rape, which itself will expire in 2020.
Assange could also face extradition to the United States and a trial over the leak of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents from 2010.
He has been at the Ecuadorian embassy in London since August 2012.
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