Someone must pick up the tab for Julian Assange’s asylum in Ecuador’s U.K. Embassy, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa told the international media in Quito, Wednesday.
The president informed the media that Assange will be questioned by Sweden in coming days.
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Presidente @MashiRafael mantiene #ConversatorioMedios internacionales en Palacio de #Carondelet #Quito pic.twitter.com/mUmCzGa6L8
— Presidencia Ecuador (@Presidencia_Ec)
January 20, 2016
“President Rafael (Correa) holds an international press conference in the Carondelet Palace in Quito.”
teleSUR’s Pablo Vivanco, reporting from the event, said that Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño said that now that Sweden has accepted Ecuador’s long-standing offer to question him in the embassy, it must swiftly move toward a legal process of whether to try or free him.
Patiño also reiterated to journalists that Assange’s case could have been resolved sooner had the Swedish authorities accepted the offer of questioning earlier and if it has processed the necessary paperwork more swiftly. The foreign minister reiterated to teleSUR Ecuador’s respect for the Swedish legal system.
IN DEPTH: Assange: 1000 Days
Assange, who has been holed up in Ecuador’s London Embassy for over three years after appealing for asylum, is wanted for questioning by Sweden. Ecuador granted him asylum due to Assange’s fears he would be extradited to the United States to spend up to 45 years in prison after his website, WikiLeaks, leaked classified documents.
INTERVIEW: Assange talks to teleSUR