MOSCOW, August 18 (RIA Novosti) — Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said Monday he may soon leave the Ecuador embassy in London, where he has sought refuge for more than two years.
“I’m leaving the embassy soon,” Assange said, without elaborating on when and how.
The whistleblower also said his health condition has been aggravated over the two years he has spent in the Ecuadorean embassy in Britain.
“The claims that women in Sweden have accused me of serious offences, of rape, are false," said the 43-years-old, commenting on the criminal charges against him. Assange stressed that he has not been “Charged with an offence here in the United Kingdom, or Sweden, at any time”.
Assange also noted that even prisoners have a right to spend a minimum one hour a day outside, while he has not had any such opportunity since the embassy does not have a garden.
“Europe is meant to be a place where the rule of law is respected, where basic rights are respected... but somehow a situation has developed where basic rights that we have previously universally accepted are no longer respected,” added Assange.
Earlier on Monday, Sky News television suggested that Assange may surrender to the police because of his poor health, which includes heart and lung problems. However, Assange’s lawyer, Christian Hrafnsson, strongly denied that his client was going to leave the embassy in the foreseeable future in an interview with the RT television channel. An RT correspondent also interviewed a Wikileaks spokesperson, who denied the rumors as well.
Julian Assange created the WikiLeaks website back in 2006, taking the role of editor-in-chief. Wikileaks made its name by releasing scores of classified diplomatic and military documents from governments around the world, most notably the United States. The whistleblower was charged for sexual assault in Sweden in 2010, but released on bail.
Since 2012, Assange has been hiding in the Ecuadorean embassy in central London, facing extradition to Sweden if he so much as steps outside of the embassy. Assange later received political asylum in the South American country, but British police officers have been stationed outside the building round-the-clock for over two years, ready to detain him.
