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Ecuador justifies illegal police intrusion into its embassy, Assange’s lawyer says

Earlier, Ecuador’s President announced that Ecuador has made a sovereign decision to withdraw diplomatic asylum from Julian Assange over regular violations of international conventions

LONDON, April 14. /TASS/. Ecuador’s authorities are making statements justifying illegal intrusion of British police into the country’s embassy in London to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, his lawyer Jennifer Robinson told Sky News TV channel on Sunday.

"Ecuador has been making some outrageous allegations" in order to "justify the unlawful and extraordinary act of letting police come inside an embassy," Robinson said.

According to the lawyer, Assange has stayed inside the embassy for so long "because of a real and legitimate fear of US extradition which, as we saw on Thursday, proved to be justifiable fears."

"I've been visiting him for the last seven years. This man has been inside a room with no outside access. Inside the embassy it's become more difficult. The politics changed when Ecuador's political situation changed with a new leader," she noted.

Earlier, Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno announced that "Ecuador has made a sovereign decision to withdraw diplomatic asylum from Julian Assange over regular violations of international conventions." He emphasized that "Mr. Assange’s aggressive and disrespectful behavior, as well as his hostile statements about Ecuador made it impossible for the country to continue providing asylum to him."

Assange, who in 2006 set up WikiLeaks that published classified documents on certain governments, including the US, was arrested by the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police Service at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday, after Ecuador’s president had announced the withdrawal of his asylum.

In 2012, Assange sought refuge in London's Ecuadorian Embassy to escape extradition to Sweden, which had issued a warrant for his arrest on sexual harassment and rape charges. Assange dismissed the accusations as politically motivated.

His worst fear was Sweden might extradite him to the United States, where he would face 35 years in prison or capital punishment for publishing classified State Department documents. The rape case was dropped in 2017 but the United Kingdom continued to insist that Assange be arrested over his failure to appear in court in London.