Ecuador President Talked About Diplomatic Asylum granted to Assange

Rafael Correa

Today during an interview with several local radio stations in Loja (Ecuador), President Rafael Correa justified the diplomatic asylum granted yesterday to Wikileaks’ founder, Julian Assange.

The president stressed that a key factor to grant him asylum was that he “was not provided an extradition to a third country.”

He also acknowledged that Assange can stay indefinitely in the Embassy of Ecuador in London and reiterated his defense to freedom of expression.

One of the reporters asked him about the lawsuit he filed against the authors of Big Brother Book, which is considered by some quarters as an attack to freedom of expression. Regarding this topic Correa said: “These guys lied. Let’s see, prove me that I knew about the contracts of Fabricio Correa. They lied in bad faith.”

Moreover, referring to the actions of Assange, who revealed thousands of secret diplomatic cables from several countries, he said: “It is not that I agree with everything Assange has done, but he does not deserve the death penalty. To be extradited to another country is unacceptable“. (FL)