ASYLUM

Julian Assange to Take Legal Action Against Ecuador

The WikiLeaks co-founder claims the country has violated his “fundamental rights and freedoms.”

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is planning to take legal action against Ecuador, the BBC reported Friday. Assange has been living in the U.K. embassy in Ecuador since 2012 after seeking asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual-assault claim that was eventually dropped. Assange claims the country has violated his “fundamental rights and freedoms” by limiting his internet access and threatening to remove his asylum protections. WikiLeaks claimed Assange’s access to the outside world has been “summarily cut off.” The embassy removed Assange’s internet connection in March, claiming he was “interfering in other countries’ affairs.” Last weekend, some of those restrictions were lifted, and he’s now able to use the embassy’s wifi on his personal computer and phone, The Guardian reports. In a statement, Wikileaks alleged, “Ecuador’s measures against Julian Assange have been widely condemned by the human-rights community.” Assange’s lawyers said they are challenging the legality of the “special protocol” in place for his asylum, saying it censors his freedom of opinion, speech, and association.