Ecuador president Rafael Correa rebukes Julian Assange for mocking Australian politicians

Updated

Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa has chastised Julian Assange for making fun of Australian politicians in a video shot at his place of refuge in Ecuador's London embassy.

The video, by a Melbourne-based comedy group, has been watched more than 460,000 times since it first appeared on YouTube less than a week ago.

It features actors playing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and former prime minister Julia Gillard, along with Mr Assange, who is wearing a wig and singing a parody of John Farnham's You're The Voice.

"We have sent him a letter: he can campaign politically, but without making fun of Australian politicians. We are not going to allow that," Mr Correa said in Suriname, on the sidelines of a South American summit.

The WikiLeaks founder is running for a Senate seat in Victoria in the Australian election, despite being holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy.

"The rules of asylum in principle forbid meddling in the politics of the country that grants asylum," Mr Correa said.

"But as a matter of courtesy we are not going to bar Julian Assange from exercising his right to be a candidate. Just so long as he doesn't make fun of Australian politicians or people."

The WikiLeaks founder took refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy in London in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about sexual assault allegations.

Mr Assange fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States to face charges related to WikiLeaks' disclosure of a huge trove of classified US military and diplomatic documents.

ABC/AFP

Topics: federal-government, federal-elections, elections, government-and-politics, world-politics, australia, ecuador, united-kingdom

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