Ecuador's President Accuses Assange Of Espionage During His Stay In London Embassy

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2019) Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno said there was evidence that the founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, had been engaged in espionage activity during his time at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

"We have all the evidence that the room, where Assange was staying, was turned into a center of espionage, from where it was possible to observe and detect various elements of defense, economy, policy of friendly countries with the help of cyberattacks," Moreno said at a press conference after a meeting with US State Secretary Mike Pompeo.

Assange was arrested in London on April 11 and thereafter sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for jumping bail back in 2012, when he claimed asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid being extradited to Sweden over sexual assault charges and possibly being sent to the United States.

After Assange's arrest, Washington filed a relevant request asking London to extradite the whistleblower. Once the request is approved, Assange will face up to 175 years in US jail for classified government data leaks. A Swedish court, however, refused to arrest the WikiLeaks founder in absentia, meaning that Sweden would not be able to demand his extradition.

On June 13, UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid said that he had signed the US request over Assange's extradition. From now on, it is up to the court to decide whether the whistleblower will be extradited. The relevant hearing will be held in February 2020. The trial will last for five days and will be preceded by several technical hearings.