http://www.granma.cu/ingles/ouramerica-i/17-agosto-julian-assange.html
Havana. August 17, 2012
Ecuador grants Julian Assange asylum
QUITO, August 16.—The Ecuadorian government today granted Julian Assange
political asylum, given that, to date, the founder of WikiLeaks has not
received guarantees from the governments of the UK or Sweden that he will not
be extradited to the United States, where he considers that his life will be
endangered.
Demonstration in support of Assange outside the Ecuadorian embassy in
London.
Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño detailed the legal arguments on the
basis of which asylum has been granted Assange, taking into account the
national tradition of accepting refugees and not exposing any citizen to life
threatening situations, PL reports.
He also referred to the possibility of approaching the International Court of
Justice to resolve the situation in the event of the British government denying
Assange safe conduct so that he can leave his country’s embassy in London and
travel to Ecuador.
In this context, speaking at a press conference, British Foreign Minister
William Hague stated the UK will not allow the WikiLeaks founder safe passage
out of the country, given that he is sought in Sweden and the government is
simply fulfilling its responsibilities in this matter.
Patiño also mentioned that his country had convened urgent meetings of the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the Union of South
American Nations (UNASUR) and the Organization of American States (OAS) to
discuss a common response to British threats to enter the embassy and arrest
Assange.
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