Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Won’t Face Death Penalty On Ecuador’s Request

Arrested Wikileaks founder Julian Assange may not face the death penalty in the U.S if extradited.

The arrest of this Internet activist took place in London on April 9 from the Ecuador Embassy on two warrants—one from the U.K. and other from the US.

Assange faces a U.S warrant of December 2017 relating to his alleged conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, the Army intelligence analyst, who leaked many classified materials to WikiLeaks.

The U. S reportedly gave this assurance to the South American country, during back-channel negotiation to finally evict the activist from the London embassy and face the legal process.

Since Ecuador opposes death penalty it wanted an explicit assurance from the U.S. that Assange would be spared from capital punishment if extradited.

The first request in this regard went to the U.K. seeking assurances that it would not extradite Assange to a country where the death penalty exists.

According to reports, the U.S assurance followed a deal brokered by Ecuadorian ambassador to Germany and his U.S. counterpart in Germany.

The U. S envoy Richard Grenell updated the State Department about the South American country’s request, to which Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein favorably responded.

The report said Ecuador took a decision to insulate from Assange in March 2018. Assange has been hiding in its London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced a case of sexual assault on a woman.

Burden on Ecuador

The Latin American country was facing the pressure of financial burden as well. It reportedly spent $10 million on Assange, including food, medical expenses, legal counsel and other things in the last seven years.

However, there is no official confirmation from the U.S. Justice Department that the U.S. would spare the death sentence.

In the U.S, there are 41 federal offenses punishable by the death penalty. Treason and espionage are part of such crimes.

It is unknown if the U.S contemplated an espionage charge on Assange under the indictment filed in March 2018 in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The indictment alleged Assange in 2010 sought to assist Manning in cracking a password stored at the United States Department of Defense computers on a Secret Internet Protocol Network that houses classified documents and communications.

Ecuador complains of cyber attacks

Meanwhile, Ecuador stated that it suffered extensive cyber attacks on the web pages of public institutions after it terminated the political asylum of Assange.

According to Patricio Real, Ecuador's deputy minister for information, the attacks “principally came from the United States, Germany, Brazil, Romania, Holland, France, the United Kingdom, and Austria. Cyber attacks also came from within the country.

Assange’s arrest followed President Lenin Moreno removing his country's diplomatic protection after accusing Assange of interfering in the processes of other states and “spying.”