The Ecuadorian government’s action against Julian Assange in cutting his communication with the outside world is disproportionate and irresponsible, according to the former Ecuadorian foreign minister Guillaume Long.



In an interview with the Guardian, he said the measures being taken against the WikiLeaks founder were not justified.

On Tuesday, the Guardian revealed that the previous government in Ecuador had bankrolled a multimillion-dollar spy operation to protect and support Assange in its central London embassy.

Revealed: Ecuador spent millions on spy operation for Julian Assange Read more

The current Ecuadorian government is denying Assange access to the internet and has installed a jamming device to prevent him from using nearby wifi.

It has also put an end to the stream of visitors to the embassy, where he has been holed up since 2012, with only his legal team now allowed in.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pamela Anderson arrives at the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge with gifts for Assange in November 2016. Photograph: Danny Martindale/GC Images

Assange’s supporters fear the ban imposed on 28 March will be indefinite and increase pressure on him to leave the embassy.

Long said his government had also put in place similar restrictions on Assange in 2016 in response to WikiLeaks’ publication of Hillary Clinton’s emails and those of the Democratic party during the US presidential election campaign.



But he said the current ban was based on a less substantial issue. “I do not think the measure is proportionate. I think Ecuador probably thought this has been done before, let’s do it again. And I do not think it has been done in a responsible manner,” he said.

Long, who supports Assange’s right to asylum, was foreign minister from March 2016 until May 2017. The ban in 2016 was short, lasting only for the duration of the final stage of the White House race from 18 October until election day on 8 November.

“We are seeing now access in general to Julian is being restricted. I understand it is open-ended. There is no set date for a reconnection,” Long said.

Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012, seeking asylum amid a Swedish investigation into allegations by two women of sex crimes, which he denies. He said at the time that he did not fear the Swedish investigation, but if he were to return to Sweden, he would be extradited to the US.

How Julian Assange became an unwelcome guest in Ecuador's embassy Read more

Long did not know about Ecuador’s surveillance operation on Assange but said he had visited the embassy many times and was conscious of being watched.

Ecuadorian surveillance was imposed, Long said, before he became foreign minister and was not primarily about Assange, but the security of the embassy and its staff. Given the interest in Assange, it was a difficult working environment inside the embassy, he said, with concerns about the security of communications.

If – or when – Assange leaves the embassy, he is likely to face a prison sentence in the UK for skipping bail, with estimates of the sentence varying from three to 12 months. Assange’s biggest fear is being extradited to the US, where he could be jailed for more than 40 years over WikiLeaks’ release in 2010 of tens of thousands of classified US military and state department documents.



The Guardian understands the US has yet to formally request Assange’s extradition, though it is likely it would make such a request once he is in British custody.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jeff Sessions, the US attorney general, confirmed the Trump administration’s interest in Assange last year. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft Images

The Obama administration did not push the Assange issue, but there has been a change under Donald Trump. The US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, described Assange as a priority last year, and over the past few months, the FBI and others have been interviewing various people associated with WikiLeaks.

Long said Ecuador’s president, Lenín Moreno, is not particularly favourable to Assange’s request for asylum, marking a shift towards returning to the US sphere of influence.

Why does Ecuador want Assange out of its London embassy? Read more

He said the greatest pressure during his time as foreign minister came not from the US, but the UK. “The UK was the most aggressive. I had a number of meetings with UK representatives, [including with Foreign Office ministers]. The meetings were difficult. They were tense. There were strong disagreements,” Long said.



“There were some sort of veiled and not so veiled threats it would affect relations not just with the UK, but the European Union, including when Ecuador wanted to sign a trade deal with the European Union. None of this was in writing but it was implied ... The UK wanted us to chuck him out of the embassy. That is pretty much what was required of us.”



Assange became a naturalised Ecuadorian citizen in December, having spent more than five years in the embassy. On top of that, the Ecuadorian government offered him a position in December as a senior diplomat, complete with salary, which he accepted. But the UK Foreign Office refuses to recognise his status.

The Metropolitan police deployed about half-a-dozen officers around the embassy 24 hours a day from 2012 to 2015 at a cost of £13.2m. When they were pulled out, partly as a result of embarrassment over the cost, they were replaced by covert surveillance.

Assange’s supporters say the cost since would be roughly the same, making for a total that could be in the region of £26m.

The police presence was stepped up again a few months ago, with marked cars positioned outside the embassy and another in a side-street, with one officer deployed on the pavement ready to grab Assange should he leave, his supporters say. At the time, having been made a diplomat, there were police concerns he might make a dash for an airport, claiming diplomatic immunity.

His supporters are dismissive of the idea of flight as fantasy, given how well-known he is. The Foreign Office has retained his Australian passport, though the Ecuadorian embassy may have given him an Ecuadorian passport.



A court battle is the more realistic option, one his supporters hope he would win if the UK was to baulk at the idea of sending Assange to the US for what could possibly be a life sentence.