Ecuadoran Embassy in London cuts off Julian Assange's internet

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on a balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Photo / AP

Julian Assange, the controversial founder of WikiLeaks, has been barred from using the internet or receiving visitors at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, where he has been holed up for nearly six years, the Ecuadoran Government announced.

Ecuador said it has suspended Assange's ability to communicate with the outside world because he violated an agreement he signed with his hosts at the end of 2017 not to use his communiques to interfere in the affairs of other states.

"The Ecuador Government warns that the conduct of Assange via his messages on social media puts at risk the good relations that Ecuador maintains with the United Kingdom, the European Union and other nations," the statement said.

Ecuador did cite any examples of this alleged breach. Earlier this year, Assange was a fierce supporter of separatist leaders in Spain's Catalonia region who wanted to secede.

The head of that movement, the former regional president of Catalonia, was arrested over the weekend in Germany. Spanish authorities seek his extradition and return to Madrid, where he faces possible charges of treason and misuse of public funds.

Assange sought refuge at the Ecuadoran Embassy, located in one of London's most exclusive neighbourhoods, in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning about alleged sex crimes. Assange has denied the allegations. Swedish authorities have since shelved their investigation on grounds they could not get access to him.

Earlier this year, Assange lost two legal bids to quash a British arrest warrant that was issued after he skipped bail and fled to the embassy.

Assange has expressed fears that if he leaves the embassy, he will be arrested and extradited to the United States for questioning over WikiLeaks' role in publishing a trove of classified US documents.

Assange was granted Ecuadoran citizenship late last year, and the government said it has protected him. But in its communique, the South American nation seemed to be saying that enough was enough.

Statement by Brian Eno & Yanis Varoufakis: Restore Julian Assange’s access to visitors and the outside world. Now! https://t.co/QNVvtGBo7b #Yanis Varoufakis

— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) March 28, 2018

Yanis Varoufakis, a former Greek minister, and Brian Eno, a British musician and record producer, said they had "great concern" when they heard that Assange has lost access to the internet and was no longer allowed to receive visitors.

"Only extraordinary pressure from the US and the Spanish governments can explain why Ecuador's authorities should have taken such appalling steps in isolating Julian," they wrote in a statement.

This is not the first time his hosts have cut off his access to the internet. In October 2016, the embassy temporarily denied Assange internet access out of concern that WikiLeaks was interfering in the US presidential election. In the northern summer of 2016, the anti-secrecy site published hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee.

The Ecuadoran Government said it cut off Assange's Internet yesterday.

In his latest tweets, posted yesterday, Assange responded to a comment by Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan who, in a debate in Parliament, called Assange a "miserable little worm" who should hand himself over to British authorities to face justice.

Assange tweeted in response: "As a political prisoner detained without charge for 8 years, in violation of 2 UN rulings, I suppose I must be 'miserable'; yet nothing wrong with being a 'little' person although I'm rather tall; and better a 'worm', a healthy creature that invigorates the soil, than a snake."