MOSCOW, (Sputnik) – The chief of London’s Metropolitan Police Bernard Hogan-Howe said Tuesday that the costs of Julian Assange’s security guards near the Ecuadorian Embassy in London are to be reviewed.
"We won't talk about tactics but we are reviewing what options we have. It is sucking our resources," Hogan-Howe said in an interview with the LBC broadcaster.
The current 24-hour security measures have cost British taxpayers nearly 10 million pounds ($15 million).
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was granted asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in June 2012. Assange is accused of sexually assaulting two women in Sweden and may face extradition if the security around the embassy is dropped. If that is the case, Assange could be sent on to the United States to face trial over the release of secret government documents by the WikiLeaks website.