Ecuador has 11 Reasons to Grant Asylum for Assange

Julian Assange was granted asylum in Ecuador

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patiño, today revealed 11 reasons, that the Government of Ecuador has analyzed, for the granting of asylum to the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange.

• Assange is a communications professional who has received international awards for his defense of Speech and Press freedom.
• Assange shared privileged information with other media from various countries.
• There is evidence that countries that produced the information, want to retaliate against Assange by its disclosure.
• Despite the efforts of Ecuador, these countries have not given assurances that Assange would not be a victim of such retaliation.
• Ecuador considers it is likely that Assange will be extradited to a third country outside the European Union without guarantees.
• ‘In that case, Assange would not have a fair trial and his human rights would not be respected.
• The prosecutor in Sweden has had a contradictory attitude in the case, which is why he is being criticized in that country.
• Assange has suffered a violation of his procedural rights during the investigation.
• Assange has not received asylum in his country (Australia).
• There are indications that the U.S. and the UK would not respect the laws and international treaties and would apply national laws to prosecute Assange.
• If Assange would be held on custody in Sweden, he could not defend himself and would be at serious risk of being extradited to the United States.

(MZ)