"The suggestion that as long as the death penalty is off the table, Mr Assange need not fear persecution is obviously wrong … No one should have to face criminal charges for publishing truthful information … Since such charges appear to have been brought against Mr Assange in the United States, Ecuador should continue to provide him asylum", Pollack told the newspaper The Telegraph.
Assange’s lawyer in Ecuador, Carlos Poveda, has told Sputnik that his client was ready to surrender to UK authorities after receiving written guarantees from London that he would not be extradited to the United States or any other country.
The whistleblower has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy since 2012. Assange has repeatedly suggested he might be apprehended outside the embassy and extradited to the United States.
READ MORE: Assange Readies Lawsuit Over 'Fabricated' Story on Meeting Manafort — Reports
In November, WikiLeaks suggested that the US authorities might have brought sealed charges against Assange, citing a filing in an unrelated case that used Assange's name in an "apparent cut-and-paste error".