A video, obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail, allegedly shows Julian Assange, practicing what appears to resemble some kind of martial arts routine during his confinement at the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK. The outlet posted the clip, appearing to be the CCTV footage from a tiny kitchen and an adjoining larder. It revealed how Assange who had spent several years in the embassy without leaving the premises until he was forcefully dragged out by the Metropolitan Police, might have kept himself occupied and fit during his nearly 7-year long confinement.
The man resembling the WikiLeaks founder is seen imitating boxing moves, moving around the tiny room, doing rather erratic arms exercises and jumping as well as drinking something from a carton. The date of filming, 18 November 2018, is also seen on the screen.
Since Assange was arrested, numerous allegations concerning his behaviour during the confinement emerged as Ecuadorian officials explained their decision to let the police detain the whistleblower.
The country’s president, Lenin Moreno, said that he had decided to revoke the diplomatic asylum granted to the WikiLeaks founder by his predecessor, Rafael Correa, over Assange’s "repeated violations of international conventions and daily-life protocols", such as smearing excrement on the embassy walls.
READ MORE: WikiLeaks Dubs Ecuadorian President's Criticism of Assange 'Grotesque Lies'
This echoed earlier claims by Ecuador's Ambassador to the UK Jaime Marchan, who told the Daily Mail, about Julian Assange's "daily protests" during his seven-year reclusion in Ecuador's diplomatic premises in London.
"When Assange wanted to be unpleasant, he put excrement on the walls and underwear with excrement in the lavatory. We had to remind him to flush the toilet and clean the dishes. He had to be reminded of normal standards of behaviours all the time. He would always leave the cooker on", Marchan told the media outlet.
In response, Julian Assange's lawyer has accused Ecuador of "outrageous allegations", and spreading lies about the whistleblower’s behaviour inside its embassy in London. His lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, claimed the Ecuadorian government lied to justify expelling Assange from its embassy.
Assange was arrested at the embassy last week after Ecuador withdrew his political asylum status. A judge in London has found him guilty of skipping bail in 2012 when he faced extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges.
The whistleblower feared that Sweden would hand him over to the United States, where he could be subject to the death penalty for leaking classified Afghan War logs. The US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against him on much milder charges of conspiracy to hack a government computer.