Julian Assange is ‘a problem’ and his asylum claim is a ‘nuisance’ fumes Ecuador president

He became president of Ecuador last year. Mr Assange’s asylum was granted under the government of Rafael Correa (2007-2017) but Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa has ratified that Ecuador will maintain the agreement.

Mr Correa said recently in an interview with AFP that he fears Mr Moreno’s government will withdraw Mr Assange’s asylum due to pressure from the United States.

Mr Assange’s interference in other countries affairs has annoyedMr Moreno and former leader Mr Correa cut off the Wikileaks founder’s access to the Internet to stop him trying to influence the US presidential campaign.

It was revealed Mr Assange was in contact with the Trump campaign and released stolen Democratic emails before the 2016 presidential election.

And Mr Assange recently drew ire from Mr Moreno when he openly supported Catalan separatists.

Mr Assange responded via Twitter in September, writing: “If President Moreno wants to gag my reporting of human rights abuses in Spain he should say so explicitly—together with the legal basis.”

To stop his interference, Ecuador made the cyber-activist sign an agreement.

Mr Moreno said: “”We are constantly requesting Mr Assange that he must comply with the norms of an asylum and last month he signed an agreement that he will not intervene again in Ecuadorian politics, (nor) in the politics of the other countries.” 

Mr Assange fled to the embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden for alleged sex crimes, which he denies, and has remained in the building ever since. 

Sweden later shelved its investigation, but Mr Assange faces arrest by British authorities for fleeing justice in the Swedish case. 

He fears British authorities will then allow his extradition to the United States where he is wanted for the publication by WikiLeaks of classified information in 2010.

(Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.)