UK and Ecuador holds talks over fate of Julian Assange The Wikileaks fugitive has spent six years in hiding at the embassy

The Government has held discussions with Ecuadorian officials over the fate of Julian Assange, the country’s President confirmed yesterday.

The founder of the WikiLeaks website was granted political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in June 2012 when he was facing sexual assault allegations in Sweden. The case was dropped last year.

But Mr Assange, a 46-year-old Australian, has feared extradition to the US, and the death penalty, for publishing top-secret US documents in 2010.

Discussions

President Lenin Moreno, who attended a disability summit in London this week, said he was “continually speaking with the British Government”.

He indicated that Ecuador was seeking assurances that Mr Assange would not face the death penalty.

Speaking in Madrid, Mr Moreno said: “We are continually speaking with the British Government, with the ambassador [and] their representative in Ecuador.

“The only person I have never spoken to is Mr Assange. The death penalty does not exist in Ecuador…the only thing we want is a guarantee that his life will not be in danger.”

No support

Mr Moreno also made clear that he did not support Mr Assange’s work.

He said: “I have never supported the interception of private emails to be able to obtain information, regardless of how valuable it may be, to bring to light certain undesirable actions carried out by governments on people.”

Mr Assange made global headlines in April 2010 when his website published footage showing US soldiers shooting dead 18 civilians from a helicopter in Iraq.

In April 2017, the US Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, said that Mr Assange’s arrest was a “priority”.