Ecuador's Court Denies Bail To Swedish National Suspected Of Assange Links - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th May, 2019) A court in Ecuador has turned down a request of a Swedish citizen, suspected of having links to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, for release on bail, local media reported on Thursday.

According to the Comercio newspaper, the ruling was issued by judge Yadira Proano.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed in April that its national was detained in Ecuador, amid reports that the man was Julian Assange's close friend. Ola Bini, a resident of Ecuador, was arrested at Quito airport as he was about to fly to Japan, shortly after Assange was captured by UK police at Ecuador's embassy in London.

On April 16, Bini's lawyer Carlos Soria told Sputnik he had filed an appeal against his client's detention. On May 3, the court rejected it, reaffirming that Bini should remain in pre-trial detention.

Soria has voiced concern in a comment to Sputnik about the influence of politics on the court ruling.

Ecuador's Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo reportedly said Bini had visited the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where Assange lived for almost seven years.

The world-famous whistleblower was arrested in London on April 11 after seven years of taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy. Assange had to seek refuge in the embassy of the Latin American country due to rape allegations, following his visit to Sweden in 2010. He vehemently denied all the allegations against him. On May 1, a court in London sentenced Assange to 50 weeks in prison for breaching bail by seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy.