Julian Assange Coming To The US? WikiLeaks Founder Facing Eviction From Embassy In Ecuador

Julian Assange could be evicted from the Ecuadorean embassy in London by the start of Spring if opposition candidate Guillermo Lasso comes out on top in next month’s Ecuadorean presidential election.

Assange has been housed at the embassy since June 2012. Ecuador granted the WikiLeaks founder asylum after Sweden sought his extradition to face questioning over an accusation of sexual assault. Assange claimed that he could face extradition to the United States and be prosecuted over the leaking of documents, videos and diplomatic cables obtained by Chelsea Manning. Those leaked materials would lead to the founding of WikiLeaks.

But Lasso, of the right-wing Creo-Suma Alliance, has argued that it’s time for Assange’s stay to come to an end.

“The Ecuadorian people have been paying a cost that we should not have to bear,” he told The Guardian in an interview published Thursday. “We will cordially ask Señor Assange to leave within 30 days of assuming a mandate.”

The man who granted Assange asylum, current president Rafael Correa, will not be eligible for re-election having already served two terms. However, his vice-president Lenín Moreno, has maintained a steady lead in the polls and currently has around a 10-point advantage.

Still, even if Lasso does not come to power, Assange’s time in the embassy could soon be over. Ecuador’s top diplomat has expressed his frustration with the ongoing situation, decrying the “human cost” of housing Assange in an embassy that has been under constant surveillance by British police.

Assange, too, has appeared increasingly desperate for a solution. He has vowed to accept extradition to the U.S., providing his rights will be “protected,” when Manning’s commuted sentence ends in May.

And earlier this week, he again appealed to British and Swedish authorities to honor a United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that he was being “arbitrarily detained.”

"I call on UK and Sweden to do the right thing and restore my liberty," he said. "These two states signed treaties to recognize the UN and its human rights mechanisms.”